connollycleary Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Am Throwing this question out to the house, because I need to know if this will work before I sign a big cheque!We are on the point of buying a Sanyo XF1000 for a permanent installation. It will need to switch itself on every evening at sunset (variable of course) play a film in a loop till midnight and then switchoff. It will need to be completely autonomous. There will be nobody there to operate it. We've never done precisely this before, but we've just finished a DMX lighting piece, run by a max patch on a macmini (http://www.connolly-cleary.com/Home/Wheels.html); we power up the DMX at sunset and close it down at midnight; works well; if we could do something similar, sending control codes (projector on : C00; projector off: C01) to the projector from the macmini via a USB/RS232, it would save us some trouble. I think I could also make a shell code in terminal…Can anyone tell me for sure if this will work? Anyone have experience with controlling projectors with a Mac? Is USB to RS232 viable? The 2nd alternative is a PC, I suppose. Am not very familiar with PCs, but that shouldn't be a problem. However, new PCs don't seem to have com ports either, and I don't know if I can find something as neat (and economical) as a macmini, which I would simply strap to the top of the projector (don't want to be running wiring to a command post). I've nothing against using a mediaplayer and some sort of device like an Arduino to command the projector, but I'd have to get someone to do it for me, and once again, I need to know for sure it will work before I sign the cheque for the projector.Any help much appreciated!CheersD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason5d Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 easy. Buy a Panasonic projector - they have built in scheduling and so does the mac you want to use. we have a similar project running right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connollycleary Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 Thanks. Any idea which panasonic? Need something very bright (like the sanyo which is 12000 lumens). easy. Buy a Panasonic projector - they have built in scheduling and so does the mac you want to use. we have a similar project running right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scjb Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Don't forget the mini-ITX form factor if you wish to reconsider the PC route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connollycleary Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 mini-ITX looks interesting. Will have to look into it. Probably an economic solution. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHYoung Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 There are many ways to do this, Id actually not use the mac, but a second little box like an amx event controller and turn it on and off with this, there are a wide variety of devices that also will do this , but ther amx is proven and works. If you go your own way and send the codes, dont just send the code once, send on three times with a second between them, then repeat every hour its running, send the off three times also. WE would supply an amx unit programmed and tested if required. Panasonic dont make an equivelent to the sanyo you have settled on, so forget that, their 12k is a triple chip dlp unit and costs 5 times what an xf1000 does, its a high end unit, but probably overkill if your project is all about maximum brightness/ cost at Xga resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connollycleary Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 Alright. Am assuming we will need a mediaplayer, the amx and the sanyo? Will have a look and get back to you. Might be interested in you supplying it. Thanks.There are many ways to do this, Id actually not use the mac, but a second little box like an amx event controller and turn it on and off with this, there are a wide variety of devices that also will do this , but ther amx is proven and works. If you go your own way and send the codes, dont just send the code once, send on three times with a second between them, then repeat every hour its running, send the off three times also. WE would supply an amx unit programmed and tested if required. Panasonic dont make an equivelent to the sanyo you have settled on, so forget that, their 12k is a triple chip dlp unit and costs 5 times what an xf1000 does, its a high end unit, but probably overkill if your project is all about maximum brightness/ cost at Xga resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Hi there, We have a Sanyo projector, not quite as bright as the one you're looking at, but having looked at the manual, it seems to work in the same way. We bought the network card for the projector (part number is in the manual online and is available for your model) which enables us to control the projector remotely over Cat5 from a PC. We use the Sanyo software 'PJ Network Manager' which is a free download from Sanyo and enables you to remotely monitor things like lamp life and a host of other settings (really useful if the projector is not easily accessible) as well as having a very easy to use scheduler that you can set to turn the projector on or off at specific times every day, or even on individual days, depending on how complex your needs are. We run this software on a PC in the background and the PC runs digital artwork, adverts, powerpoints or whatever we want to show on it.I find that this is easy to set up, and one set running, seems to be completely happy (and has been for over a year now) Do google 'PJ network manager' for more details to see if this may be of use and please PM me if you want more specifics about this installation we have. cheers, Dicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHYoung Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 there are a lot of suggestions here, but its all very well offering 7 day daily scheduling, ie every monday - friday 9-5 not saturday or sunday. but few units give you calender scheduling, ie different on a daily basis as required for the from dusk to dawn kind of schedule. Also if you want something to run unattended dont use a pc, they occasionally stop working or so ive heard, and even if they dont crash for no reason, what happens when the poweer goes off? you need equipment that comes back on quick and running without any interaction. Its also good practice to have the projector set to Start on power up, that way momentary powerr glitch and it all starts up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 It will need to be completely autonomous. There will be nobody there to operate it. With the best will in the world, at some point, something will go wrong, perhaps a power blip, or "brownout" and the Mac/PC/Projector may react badly to this.I have UPS on the PCs that run my projectors which seems to solve most power-related problems, and going back to my post about the pj network software, this can be configured to email alerts to an email address, so that when the lamp needs changing, or another fault happens with the projector, someone can be alerted, which could be particularly useful in the situation you describe. From my experience in a venue where we have many projectors running for 14 hours a day plus, there is no such thing as a completely autonomous solution, you just have to put in as many fail-safes as you can (UPS, email alerts, weekly visual checks by technical staff), and if there isn't anyone vaguely technical on site where you're going to put this projector then you need to supply some sort of basic fault-finding laminated sheet so that the caretaker or whoever is on site can get things back up and running on that day when something does go wrong! Let us know what you decide to do. Dicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason5d Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 All of the big panny projectors have a timer built in. The pt-dz12000e is hd and 12K but it is expensive, sothe Sanyo with event controller may well be the mostcost effective option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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