Philips Video System Manager Pro Series, User Manual

Page 1: ...Video System Manager Pro User Guide ...

Page 2: ...Graze ColorPlay ColorReach DIMand EssentialWhite eW iColor iColor Cove IntelliWhite iW iPlayer Light Without Limits Optibin and Powercore are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Philips Solid State Lighting Solutions Inc in the United States and or other countries All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners PUB 000199 01 R01 ...

Page 3: ...ista 20 Automatic IP Address Configuration for Mac OS X 21 Static IP Address Configuration for Mac OS X 21 Video Management Tool Software Installation 22 Windows Installation 22 Mac OS X Installation 22 Chapter 4 VSM Pro Basic Operation 24 Overview 24 Using the Control Panel 24 Control Panel Menus 25 Accessing the VSM Pro User Interface 26 Connecting to the VSM Pro User Interface 26 Chapter 5 Over...

Page 4: ...r Guide 3 Display Frame 42 Adjusting Brightness 43 Network Optimization Features 43 Synchronization 43 Frame Rate 44 Additional Features 45 Log File 45 File Backup 45 Appendices Appendix A 46 Test Patterns 46 Index Index 48 ...

Page 5: ...ide for detailed instructions on how to create a video map VSM Pro accepts direct input from external devices including media servers To accommodate most sources Philips offers two versions of hardware The digital media version supports input via industry standard DVI and VGA connections the analog version supports analog input via BNC composite and S Video connections Key Features Ease of use VSM...

Page 6: ...ning Chapter 2 contains an overview of the workflow used to design a VSM Pro installation and includes a VSM Pro installation example Hardware and Software Setup Chapter 3 provides step by step hardware and software installation instructions steps for setting up a PC or Mac on the dedicated lighting network and instructions for connecting to the VSM Pro User Interface Basic Operations Chapter 4 co...

Page 7: ... and Powercore fixtures Powercore fixtures work with Ethernet Data Enablers Powercore fixtures perform onboard power processing and receive Ethernet data via the Data Enablers Low voltage fixtures work in unison with Ethernet Power Data Supplies Ethernet Power Data Supplies blend power processing with data transmission capabilities Power Data Supply and Data Enabler specification sheets and instal...

Page 8: ...Introduction 7 VSM Pro User Guide ...

Page 9: ...o screens and permanent building covering displays Flex systems including iColor Flex SL iColor Flex SLX and eW Flex SLX are not constrained by fixture size shape or most importantly an architectural space For example if creating a video display that covers the exterior of a 45 story high rise flexible strands can be wrapped horizontally around the structure at each floor interval This method crea...

Page 10: ... close enough together to accommodate video at acceptable minimum and maximum viewing distances Images on an LED video display appear to be sharper to the human eye as the distance to the display increases Likewise images appear less visible as the distance decreases The spacing or pixel pitch between LED nodes determines the minimum and maximum viewing distances for discernible video output Note ...

Page 11: ... output requires 337 920 nodes PAL output requires 405 504 nodes and digital video output requires 786 432 nodes However with VSM Pro you can use far fewer nodes to display high quality video To reduce the required node count for any video format VSM Pro samples and distributes pixels from the source video to match your installation For additional control of the node count you can specify how VSM ...

Page 12: ...og video sources provide some or all of the same features as digital sources with reduced pixel resolution Analog sources are typically used for displaying abstract effects rather than video on an LED installation see the cover photo Source Media Formatting Media assets require formatting prior to use with VSM Pro For example a 2K digital video source file 2048 x 1080 pixel resolution requires dow...

Page 13: ...ress server assigning an IP address to any connected computer To ensure optimal network performance and unencumbered IP addressing hardware must be set up on a dedicated Ethernet LAN Local Area Network VSM Pro supports an Ethernet LAN up to three Gigabit switches deep The maximum specification for a CAT 5e cable run is 328 ft 100 m However fiber optic cabling is preferred for most installation con...

Page 14: ...nd connect to the VSM Pro User Interface The computer can be disconnected when not in use for map creation or tasks via the User Interface Testing a Video Display using VSM Pro VSM Pro has multiple built in test patterns both static images and moving images Following installation you can use the test patterns to verify that fixtures and nodes are functioning test a video map isolate issues and ide...

Page 15: ...ept and proposed a solution based on laser cut steel panels offering 85 transparency The pattern in the steel panels is diamond shaped conforming to the original steel net and each opening contains an iColor Flex SLX LED node The curved transparent LED screen is nearly invisible during the day and has full visibility as a video display at night VSM Pro flawlessly accommodates the curved three dime...

Page 16: ...20 LED nodes Fiber optic cable 164 ft 50 m 197 ft 60 m 230 ft 70 m 262 ft 80 m 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca 1 Gbit Switch 8 sPDS 480 ca...

Page 17: ...ndwidth Since the VSE Pro controller will be the primary device driving network communications and the network will be isolated from outside network traffic the following switch features can be disabled Back pressure Packet filtering Broadcast storm control Firewall protection 4 Prepare the source video For best results optimize the source video content using external media tools prior to sending ...

Page 18: ...witch is located on the back of the device Select a convenient but unobtrusive rack location for mounting the controller that meets the following environmental specifications Electrical Specifications Power requirements 100 220 VAC 50 60 Hz auto switching Environmental Specifications Operating temperature range 50 90 F 10 35 C Maximum 90 relative humidity ETHERNET ...

Page 19: ... appropriate port on the back panel of the VSE Pro If working with an analog media source first attach the provided Composite Video breakout cable to the Composite port on the back panel of the VSE Pro then connect a user supplied BNC Composite Video cable or S Video cable to the appropriate plug on the breakout cable Note that only the BNC Composite Video and S Video plugs on the breakout cable a...

Page 20: ...M Pro User Interface via a web browser and upload or download VMT maps System Requirements Windows Mac OS X Windows XP Vista Mac OS X 10 4 9 or greater 256 MB RAM 256 MB RAM 40 MB free disk space 40 MB free disk space CD ROM or DVD drive CD ROM or DVD drive Network Address Configuration Once connected to the dedicated lighting network the VSE Pro controller manages all network traffic Additionally...

Page 21: ... DNS address is present in the Internet Protocol TCP IP Properties dialog box record these numbers in case you need them for future use 6 Click the radio button to select Obtain IP Address Automatically and Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically Click OK 7 To turn off firewall protection click the Advanced tab from the Local Area Connection properties window Deselect Protect My Computer and Netwo...

Page 22: ...s Accessories Command Prompt At the prompt enter IPCONFIG and press Enter The IP address should be 10 1 3 20 The Subnet Mask should be 255 0 0 0 Automatic IP Address Configuration for Mac OS X 1 From the Apple menu select System Preferences 2 Under Location click Network The Network dialog box appears 3 From the Location drop down list select Automatic From the Source list select Built in Ethernet...

Page 23: ... At the Confirm Selection window click Next to start installation 6 The Installation Complete window appears Click Close to exit the wizard Mac OS X Installation 1 In the VSE Pro User Interface main screen click the Video Management Tool v2 0 Mac OS X Installer link 2 If your browser does not automatically mount the disk image double click the downloaded file to open mount it This creates a mounte...

Page 24: ...Hardware and Software Installation 23 VSM Pro User Guide ...

Page 25: ...edia input type and device firmware version POWER button Power On or Off RESET button Reserved for troubleshooting LEDs Display network and hard drive activity Correct Reboot Procedure Press and hold then release the POWER button to shut down the controller Press the POWER button to reboot To maintain data integrity when the VSE Pro is running do not use the RESTART button or the master power swit...

Page 26: ... Size map resolution The size of the currently loaded VMT map The default resolution is 1024 x 768 Video Size input file resolution The detected resolution of the video input Frame Rate Frame Rate Displays the rate at which video frames are sent to the fixtures Brightness 0 100 Use the up and down navigational buttons to adjust the brightness of the video output The default setting is 100 brightne...

Page 27: ...IP address from VSE Pro As needed you can manually configure the IP address see Chapter 3 Network Address Configuration 3 Enter 10 1 3 101 in a web browser on the computer Interlacing Both Fields Even Field Only Configure video field interlacing to correct motion artifacts Node Positions Map Positions Distribute Whole Input Distribute Aspect Ratio Use the distribute nodes feature to expand a video...

Page 28: ...27 VSM Pro User Guide ...

Page 29: ...r installations displaying the same abstract visual effects simultaneously on all components However one DMX universe comprises only 512 channels which can control a total of 170 nodes Output to only 170 nodes is insufficient for video display To display video images LED based displays require thousands of individually controllable nodes VSM Pro manages large scale lighting systems via Ethernet co...

Page 30: ...onents during installation Once onsite connect to the lighting network VMT will automatically discover each Data Enabler or PDS and its IP address 3 Place fixtures on the grid then use the tools in VMT to orient the fixtures change node order etc 4 Associate each fixture with a Data Enabler or PDS 5 Name and save the map then transfer to the VSE Pro controller Compatibility VMT video maps are both...

Page 31: ...ller using the following steps 1 Start VSE Pro 2 Access the VSM Pro User Interface from a computer connected to the dedicated lighting network enter 10 1 3 101 in a web browser 3 From the main menu select the Load Map 4 Browse for the FAP file then select the Load button The User Interface displays a prompt once the file is successfully loaded Return to the main menu to view the newly loaded map n...

Page 32: ... and confirm that the VSE Pro is connected in the Status field 4 Select Transfer Map to VSE Download a Video Map from VSE Pro using VMT You can also download a video map from VSE Pro back to VMT for editing or backup 1 In VMT save your work if you have an open map 2 Open the VSE menu and confirm that the VSE Pro is connected in the Status field 3 Select Fetch Map from VSE ...

Page 33: ...re are three types of inputs accepted by VSM Pro digital video analog video and test patterns Digital Inputs DVI video VGA video Analog Inputs Composite video PAL Composite video NTSC S Video PAL S Video NTSC Test Patterns VSM Pro has a set of built in test patterns that can be selected as the input There are static image test patterns and moving image test patterns from which to choose see Append...

Page 34: ... you to power down and power up fixtures without having to manually refresh the test patterns How an Input is Displayed Based on Resolution By default VSM Pro displays 1024 x 768 resolution video If the input resolution is smaller than 1024 x 768 it is automatically centered on the LED display with unused pixels appearing as a black frame around the video content If the input resolution is greater...

Page 35: ...User Guide 34 Formatting Media Assets for Input For the best pixel reproduction format source video inputs as follows DVI or VGA Input 1024 x 768 resolution Analog Input 704 x 576 resolution PAL 704 x 480 resolution NTSC ...

Page 36: ...rop down list Select a PNG file for a static test pattern or select an OGG file for video Note For easy differentiation in the drop down list media inputs are bracketed with hyphens For example the DVI and S Video NTSC choices have hyphens whereas test patterns such as blue png have plain file names 5 Select Set to start displaying the selected input on your lighting installation Selecting an Inpu...

Page 37: ...ng the field interlacing pattern best suited for your LED lighting installation Distribute Nodes A useful feature that overrides video map settings to distribute pixels on your video display Display Frame Preview the source video signal by capturing a single frame Brightness Configure the displayed brightness level Network Optimization Features Packet Synchronization Specify how VSM Pro cues and d...

Page 38: ...n an LED video screen VSM Pro accepts gamma files created by external software Load a Gamma File 1 From the User Interface main menu select the Gamma Correction screen 2 Browse for a gamma correction file GAM format then select Load 3 Select Update to process video input using the gamma file Delete a Gamma File 1 From the User Interface main page select the Gamma Correction screen 2 Delete the gam...

Page 39: ...rface main menu select the Gamma Correction menu 2 Enter a new black level value 0 255 By default the black level value is 0 3 Select Update to make the change Configure a White Level Cutoff Value Similar to black level adjustment but used less frequently you can create a white level cutoff On a scale of 0 255 pure white output equals 255 If white areas of video output appear too dark you can crea...

Page 40: ...h frame You can specify the number of pixel rings you want to use up to 5 Frame smoothing can correct steppy video by creating output that is an average of multiple complete frames You can specify the number of frames that you want to average up to 5 Use the following steps to configure video smoothing 1 From the User Interface main menu select the Smoothing menu 2 Using the appropriate drop down ...

Page 41: ...source video Even odd sampling is ideal for improving vertical detail but may create motion artifacts Even even sampling removes the odd lines of video and doubles up the even lines which reduces motion artifacts but may produce apparent blocks of pixels Use the following steps to configure video field interlacing 1 From the User Interface main menu select the Interlacing menu 2 Using the drop dow...

Page 42: ...reading them out over the incoming video source but maintaining the aspect ratio of the video map You can distribute nodes spreading them out to fit the output resolution You can distribute nodes spreading them out at specified horizontal and vertical intervals Note When distributing nodes VSM Pro does not scale the source video VSM Pro displays each sampled pixel without modification Use the Disp...

Page 43: ...n use this setting to overlay bright green dots on top of the video image The green dots indicate the pixels you are sampling Gamma Correct Image Select this option to preview how gamma correction and black white levels are being applied to the video output Mask Node Positions in Image Check this setting to further fine tune node distribution Masking node positions hides all unsampled video pixels...

Page 44: ...nstantly send any received packets of data to connected fixtures and nodes Since Data Enablers and Power Data Supplies receive data at a slightly staggered rate from each other sections of the video display can appear to be out of sync if your system has limited bandwidth With the synchronize packets feature you can instruct all Data Enablers and Power Data Supplies to hold data until all packets ...

Page 45: ...ons Configure Max Frame Rate Limiting the frame rate is suitable for networks that can handle the initial data load of a video frame but struggle handling subsequent frames Configure Packet Delay For networks that cannot handle a single frame of video a packet delay spaces out data transmission easing the load Use the following steps to configure frame rate and packet delay parameters 1 From the U...

Page 46: ...ile menu provides access to VSM Pro system logs VSM Pro maintains a current version of the log and a saved version of the previous log File Backup The File backup enables you to access the currently loaded video map and gamma file if present for backup purposes ...

Page 47: ...ontally across the image red area grows i e pixels do not go back to black video NTSC Blue png NTSC sized blue rectangle NTSC Color Bars png NTSC test pattern Outline png Green pixels around the edge of the 1024 x 768 image PAL Red png PAL resolution red rectangle Rainbow ogg Rainbow pattern moving across the lights video Red png All red image SMPTE Color Bars png SMPTE test pattern Spectrum png R...

Page 48: ...47 VSM Pro User Guide ...

Page 49: ...8 Gigabit Ethernet switch 12 15 I input analog 18 32 input digital 18 32 installation example 13 14 installation hardware 16 installation software 16 interlacing 13 26 36 40 IP address configuration 20 K key features 4 KiNET Ethernet 12 L LAN lighting network 12 LAN media source 12 log file 36 45 M maximum viewing distance 9 media server 4 15 32 minimum viewing distance 9 O operating temperature 1...

Page 50: ...port contacts 6 test patterns 13 32 46 testing a video display 13 U user interface 24 26 35 V video maps 13 28 video maps compatibility 29 video maps creating 29 video output 36 VMT system requirements 19 W working with video sources 10 11 13 16 ...