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Alcorn Mcbride Digital Video Machine 4 User Manual

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Digital
Video
Machine
User's Guide
by Alcorn McBride Inc.

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Summary of Contents for Alcorn Mcbride Digital Video Machine 4

  • Page 1 Digital Video Machine User’s Guide by Alcorn McBride Inc.
  • Page 3 Digital Video Machine 4 User’s Guide Alcorn McBride Inc.
  • Page 4 Customers using or selling Alcorn McBride Inc. products for use in such applications do so at their own risk, and agree to fully indemnify Alcorn McBride Inc. for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Welcome! ................. 1 Features ........................2 Technical Support ......................3 Getting Started ................ 5 Give AMI Terminal a Try! ....................5 How Do I Configure the DVM4?..................6 How Do I Make My Own MPEG File?................6 How Do I Put My Media Files onto the DVM4? ............6 Multiple DVM4’s with Same IP Address:...............7 How Do I Synchronize Channels on the DVM4? ............7 Most Importantly!......................7...
  • Page 6 Banner Location .................... 18 Banner Velocity ..................... 18 Current Status ....................19 Current File ....................19 Device ID Set....................19 Firmware Version Request ................19 IP Address Set....................19 Gateway Address Set..................20 Subnet Mask Set ................... 20 Assign Channel to Group ................20 Select File to Group..................
  • Page 7 Single Channel Playlist Example ..............38 Playlist Example using ‘AND’ operator ............39 Playlist Example using ‘AFTER’ operator ............40 Playlist Example – Synchronizing Channels..........41 Scheduler................43 The Basic Idea for Commands ...................43 File Format / Tutorial ....................43 Fields in Detail....................45 Restrictions ....................49 Comments &...
  • Page 8 Index ..................75...

  • Page 9: Welcome

    Welcome Welcome! Thank you for purchasing The Alcorn McBride Digital Video Machine 4™. The DVM4 is an affordable 4-Channel solution for independent and synchronous video playback. Along with this, it gives you the ability to apply text and graphics overlays on your videos. You will find that the DVM4 was designed to offer an abundance of features for a variety of themed entertainment and retail solutions.

  • Page 10: Features

    Features The Digital Video Machine 4 offers a wide range of features including: • Plays high resolution MPEG-2 Video on 4 individual channels. • Synchronization of multiple channels. • Composite, RGB and YUV outputs. • Plays hours of video from removable drive. •...

  • Page 11: Technical Support

    Welcome Technical Support You can obtain information about specifying, installing, configuring, updating and programming your Alcorn McBride Digital Video Machine 4 from several sources in the table below. For… Contact… When?… Telephone Support (407) 296-5800 M-F 9am–6pm (EST) Fax Support...
  • Page 12 Welcome!

  • Page 13: Getting Started

    Give AMI Terminal a Try! Want to make your introduction to the Digital Video Machine 4 a breeze? Download AMI Terminal - Alcorn McBride’s latest PC software for communicating with the DVM4 and other products. This Windows application allows you to easily configure and control your new DVM4 with the click of a mouse button.

  • Page 14: How Do I Configure The Dvm4

    How Do I Configure the DVM4? The easiest way to configure the DVM4 is via remote control. There are a variety of Serial and Ethernet commands that allow you to configure video output settings, IP Address information, FTP passwords, and much more. To make this a little easier, we have designed a variety of applications (ie.

  • Page 15: Multiple Dvm4'S With Same Ip Address

    Multiple DVM4’s with Same IP Address: If you use the same computer to talk to several DVM4’s straight from the factory, you’ll need to do the following: Each time you communicate over Ethernet with a different DVM4, open a DOS window.
  • Page 16 Getting Started...

  • Page 17: Rear Panel

    Rear Panel Composite Video (Breakout Cable) There is one RCA Composite Video connector available for each channel of the DVM4. These can be found on the 25-Pin Breakout cable provided with the DVM4. Be sure that this cable is securely connected in the connector labeled “Audio/Video Breakout”.
  • Page 18 RGB Mode Pinout Component (YUV) Mode Pinout Composite Mode Pinout Rear Panel...

  • Page 19: Ethernet Connector

    Ethernet Connector This RJ-45 connector provides connection for a standard 100-Base TX Ethernet cable. This cable would normally be connected to a hub, but may also be connected directly to a PC’s Ethernet card using an Ethernet null, or “cross- connect”...
  • Page 20 Rear Panel...

  • Page 21: Detailed Command Summary

    DVM2). This section discusses the most commonly used commands in detail, and then lists the entire Pioneer/Alcorn McBride Inc. protocol for the DVM4 in tabular form. This ASCII based protocol is universal among all control interfaces for the DVM4.

  • Page 22: Select File To Channel

    You may have up to 4 groups (1-4). Select File to Channel Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to select the specified A/V clip, Overlay Image, Banner, or Playlist. If the media being searched is a Banner or Image, it will be displayed on the screen immediately.

  • Page 23: Loop Play

    Message Response: R<CR> Comments: If the video material ends with a non-black screen, that picture will be displayed until another video file is played. Loop Play Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to play the currently selected video file and loop back to the beginning upon completion.

  • Page 24: Audio Control

    Command bytes: [<ID>@]cRJ<CR> Message Response: R<CR> Audio Control Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to mute or unmute the audio. Command bytes: [<ID>@]ncAD<CR> where n is 0 (Mute) or 1 (Unmute). Message Response: R<CR> Video Control Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to mute or unmute the video.

  • Page 25: Video Aspect Ratio

    Video Aspect Ratio Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to switch the video aspect ratio setting of the designated channel. This may be useful for displaying letterbox material, or displaying material on a wide-screen monitor. This setting will be stored permanently in the DVM4’s configuration.

  • Page 26: Banner Font

    Banner Font Description: This command changes the font used to draw banners on the designated channel. Many common fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New are supported. If you attempt to select a font that does not exist on the DVM4, the default (Arial) will be used instead.

  • Page 27: Current Status

    Current Status Description: This command causes the designated channel to report its current status. Command bytes: [<ID>@]c?P<CR> Message Response: <State><CR> where <State> is ‘Playing’, ‘Stopped’, ‘Error’, etc. Current File Description: This command causes the designated channel to report its current chapter or video file.

  • Page 28: Gateway Address Set

    Gateway Address Set Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to set its Gateway address. Command bytes: [<ID>@]nnn.nnn.nnn.nnnGW<CR> Message Response: Gateway IP String<CR> Subnet Mask Set Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine 4 to set its Subnet Mask address.

  • Page 29: Loop Group

    [<ID>@]ngPG<CR> or [<ID>@]nngPG<CR> or [<ID>@]nnngPG<CR> or [<ID>@]nnnngPG<CR> or [<ID>@]nnnnngPG<CR> where n, nn, nnn, nnnn or nnnnn is the file number in ASCII. Message Response: R<CR> Loop Group Description: This command causes all channels in the specified group to play and loop. Command bytes: [<ID>@]gLG<CR>...

  • Page 30: Reset System

    Reset System Description: This command will cause the Digital Video Machine to restart. Command bytes: [<ID>@]XX<CR> Message Response: R<CR> Set Time Zone Description: This command sets the Time Zone information on the DVM4. ‘n’ is the number of hours you are behind the UTC. (Eastern = 5, Central = 6, etc.) Command bytes: [<ID>@]nTZ<CR>...

  • Page 31: Set Daylight Saving Time Support On/Off

    Set Daylight Saving Time Support On/Off Description: This command is used to enable and disable Daylight Saving Support. Command bytes: [<ID>@]nSD<CR> Message Response: R<CR> Set Daylight Saving Time Type Description: This command is used to toggle between different Daylight Savings Time conventions.
  • Page 32 Detailed Command Summary...

  • Page 33: General Command Summary

    General Command Summary The following table shows the complete Digital Video Machine 4 control protocol. Using these commands, an external controller or PC can accomplish extremely complex tasks. Throughout the following table, <CR> means carriage return, a byte with the hexadecimal value of 0D. Brackets, [ ], denote optional message bytes.
  • Page 34 channel. g=0(No Group), 1=(Group 1 ), ..,4=(Group 4) Group Play gPG<CR> R<CR> upon receipt Plays currently selected file. Group Play File ngPG<CR> R<CR> Only file number 0-99999 nngPG<CR> addressing is supported. nnngPG<CR> (not frames or time). nnnngPG<CR> nnnnngPG<CR> Group Play and Loop gLG<CR>...
  • Page 35 Set Longitude [<ID>@]nLO<CR> R<CR> n= longitude ex. 26LG, n26LG, -15LG, s15LG Set Latitude [<ID>@]nLA<CR> R<CR> n= latitude ex. 26LA, w26LA, -15LA, e15LA Set Time [<ID>@]mTI<CR> R<CR> m=hh:mm:ssTI (ex. 01:02:56TI) - military time Set Date [<ID>@]mDA<CR> R<CR> m=mm/dd/yyyy (ex.12/12/2003DA) use slashes, dashes or periods.

  • Page 37: Ethernet Control

    The user data sent in the UDP packet follows our AMINet Ethernet protocol. AMINet was originally developed for use with our Ethernet Machine which provides an Ethernet backbone for communication between Alcorn McBride Show Controllers. Now the same, easy to use protocol can be used to control the DVM4.

  • Page 38: Control Message Checksum

    serial protocol command. For example, A DVM4 Control Message containing the Command bytes 7@?V<CR> would cause the DVM4 on the network with Unit ID 7 to send back a UDP packet containing its version information. Please see the Pioneer / AMI Serial Protocol section for detailed information about the rest of the command set.

  • Page 39: Udp Message Layer

    UDP Message Layer The control source sends UDP Packets to the DVM4. A UDP Packet contains information about the packet source (IP Address, Port number) as well as definable user data. The user data contains the entire DVM4 Control Message including all AMINet specific bytes.
  • Page 40 Ethernet Control...

  • Page 41: Serial Control - Rs232

    Serial Control – RS232 The unit may be controlled using serial RS-232 (9600 baud rate, 8 data bits, No Parity , and 1 Stop bit -- 9600 8N1) messages via the 9-pin serial port located on the back panel of the machine. The protocol is ASCII-based, and many commands are similar on structure to Pioneer Disc protocol.
  • Page 42 Serial Control – RS232...

  • Page 43: Playlists

    Playlists Playlists provide a mechanism for the DVM4 to automatically execute a series of commands in a predefined sequence. Playlists often allow the unit to be used to perform complex functions that would normally require an external controller. Playlists can perform functions as simple as looping a single clip, or more complex functions like synchronizing multiple clips.

  • Page 44: Extra Commands

    Example: ; My Playlist File 1PL ;Play File 1 2PL ;Play File 2 < If this Playlist were searched to Channel 1 of the DVM4, the command 1PL would behave like a serial command of 11PL. If you were to search the same file to Channel 2, 1PL would behave like 12PL and so on.
  • Page 45 Char Meaning All commands AND’ed together will be implemented at the same time. Without the AND operator, a command will not be executed until the previous command is completed. The playlist will go no further until all commands in this set have been completed. See Examples Make the following command wait the time defined in the brackets before AFTER[dd:hh:mm:ss] executing.

  • Page 46: Example Playlists

    Example Playlists Single Channel Playlist Example ; ply00405.lst ; Play a simple series of videos – Loop playlist when complete ; Play Video #1 (vid00001.mpg) – 30 seconds long ; Play Video #2 (vid00002.mpg) – 30 seconds long ; Loop to beginning of playlist <...

  • Page 47: Playlist Example Using 'And' Operator

    Playlist Example using ‘AND’ operator ;play a series of videos and load a new banner with each new video ; Play Toothbrush Ad – Show Current Price on Banner 5PL AND $2.99BT ; Play Short Entertaining Movie ; Play Potato Chip Ad – Show Current Prices on Banner 7PL AND $1.99BT ;...

  • Page 48: Playlist Example Using 'After' Operator

    Playlist Example using ‘AFTER’ operator ;play a video and start banner 15 seconds later 1PL AND AFTER[00:00:00:15] "Hello"BT AND AFTER[00:00:00:30] "Enter Here"BT < The AFTER operator can be very useful when you want to time the execution of events in a playlist. An obvious example of this would be have banner text appear at specific segments of a video.

  • Page 49: Playlist Example - Synchronizing Channels

    Playlist Example – Synchronizing Channels ;play 4 channels in sync using 1 playlist (search to channel 1) ; Assign all 4 channels to group #1 1AG AND CHANNEL[2] 1AG AND CHANNEL[3] 1AG AND CHANNEL[4] 1AG ; Play files 1,2,3, and 4 in sync on all 4 channels 1PL AND CHANNEL[2] 2PL AND CHANNEL[3] 3PL AND CHANNEL[4] 4PL <...
  • Page 50 Playlists...

  • Page 51: Scheduler

    Scheduler The DVM4 has a down-to-the-minute scheduler based upon its internal real time clock. According to the time of day and date of year, the DVM4 can start a video, banner, image, etc… at 3pm on January 1 2002, for example. This functionality is built into a feature called the Scheduler.
  • Page 52 Here is a table of delimiters for your reference: Delimiter Field Starting time (hh:mm) (military time) Starting date (mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy . You can use periods, slashes, or dashes to separate dates) Ending time (hh:mm) (military time) Ending date (mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy . You can use periods, slashes, or dashes to separate dates) Event –...

  • Page 53: Fields In Detail

    The Repeat Number acts as a multiplier of the Repeat Period. They should be read in conjunction like this: “Repeat this event every 30 minutes”. You may have noticed a slight change in the times and strings used in the examples above.
  • Page 54 T:Boot T:Sunrise T:Sunset D: Start Date The Start Date is the month, day, and year your event becomes active. For most cases being active simply means gets executed. You specify it in a variety of ways. You can use periods, slashes, or dashes to separate the fields of the dates. Dates from the year 2000 to the year 2099 are supported.
  • Page 55 R: Repeat Number The Repeat Number acts in one of two ways: • With no Repeat Set field present. • With a Repeat Set field present: With no Repeat Set field present: This is the most common usage of the Repeat Number. It acts as a multiplier of the Repeat Period.
  • Page 56 P: Repeat Period The Repeat Period defines how long to wait. It is multiplied or indexed according to the presence of a Repeat Set field. (See the Repeat Set and Repeat Number sections for details) Periods can be one of the following: Sunrise, Sunset Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Minute...

  • Page 57: Restrictions

    Sets can be one of the following: Month January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December Examples: R:5 P:day S:month ;repeat 5 day of every month R:2 P:monday S:month ;repeat 2 Monday of every month R:4 P:Thursday S:November ;repeat 4 Thursday in November...

  • Page 58: Order Of Operations

    Order of Operations Here is a listing of times when the DVM4 checks the schedule and the operations afterwards. 1. The DVM4 loads the searched schedule at: a. Boot up b. When the schedule is searched. c. Every night at midnight. 2.
  • Page 59 • Double Occupancy - two events in the same slot. The following types of events exist in the DVM4: • One-shots -One time events with no repeat • Loops - Repeating events • Finites - loops that have an end time and end date •...

  • Page 60: Loading New Schedules On The Dvm4

    6. Infinites started on a later slot will take precedence over earlier infinites. 7. If two or more events with the same profile are scheduled for the same start slot, the first one found in the file will be executed. This should only occur as a mistake.

  • Page 61: Logging

    Logging Schedulerlog.txt will be kept in SCHEDULES directory, if the INI file has the correct entries. It logs the time and date of events in the scheduler. See the INI file section to turn this on. Scheduler...
  • Page 62 Scheduler...

  • Page 63: Transferring Files To The Dvm4

    Transferring Files to the DVM4 There are several ways to get files (videos, playlists, schedules, etc.) into the DVM4. The first method involves connecting to the DVM4 from your PC or Local Area Network using a network card and the Ethernet port on the back of the DVM4.
  • Page 64 Transferring Files to the DVM4...

  • Page 65: Networking Your Dvm4

    Networking Your DVM4 The Ethernet connection is a useful tool for transferring video and other files to and from the unit. It is also useful for transferring feature updates and controlling and monitoring the DVM4. Ethernet is a physical medium for transferring data.

  • Page 66: Connecting To The Dvm4 Directly From A Pc

    Connecting to the DVM4 directly from a PC If you are not connecting to the DVM4 from your Local Area Network (LAN), the Internet, or an Ethernet hub, you should follow these instructions: 1. Plug one end of the red “Null-Ethernet” cable that came with your DVM4 into the Ethernet port on the rear of the DVM4.
  • Page 67 8. Unless you are using Windows XP or Windows 2000, your computer will require you to reboot to change the settings. Click the Yes button to do so. 9. Once your computer has finished rebooting, launch a Web Browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.). 10.

  • Page 68: Connecting To The Dvm4 Over A Local Area Network (Lan) Or The Internet

    Connecting to the DVM4 Over a Local Area Network (LAN) or the Internet Note: This process can only be accomplished once you have already connected to the DVM4 directly and have changed the default IP address to an address approved by your Network Administrator. To connect to the DVM4 over a LAN or the Internet: 1.

  • Page 69: Update Operating System

    2. Compare the Operating System version on the Alcorn McBride Website to the version on the DVM4. 3. If the version on the Alcorn McBride page is the same, there is no need to download. If the version on the Alcorn McBride page is newer, click the Download Now button.
  • Page 70 Networking Your DVM4...

  • Page 71: Dvm4.Ini

    DVM4.INI In the MEDIA folder (where you are located by default when you log in via FTP) is located DVM4.INI. It contains settings that you can use to setup default behavior of the unit on power-up. Below, you will find an example of this file containing all of the entries and descriptions. All of these are changed automatically when you send a command to change them via the remote control interfaces.
  • Page 72 * This setting can be PEER or MASTER. PEER Mode (Default) means that all channels in the same group will slave to each other. If any channel drifts out of sync, it will adjust its playback to match other members of the group. All channels will play audio, but this audio may drop out momentarily if a sync adjustment needs to be made.

  • Page 73: Autorun.ini

    AUTORUN.INI If you are interfacing to the DVM4 disk directly, this file can be found in the MEDIA directory. For the FTP interface, the file will be located in the root directory. Any application that does not have an external controller will rely on this file to automatically start Videos, Playlists, Schedules, or Overlay graphics when the machine is powered on.
  • Page 74 AUTORUN.INI...

  • Page 75: Automatic Updates From Cd's, Dvd's, And Usb Devices

    Automatic Updates from CD’s, DVD’s, and USB devices The Digital Video Machine 4 has the ability to automatically detect media files located on devices connected to it. You can connect a media device that is natively supported under WinXP, like a USB key, USB harddrive, Compact Flash adapter, or CD/DVD drive.
  • Page 76 5. In the MEDIA folder, the unit has several subfolders: VIDEOS, IMAGES, BANNERS, PLAYLISTS, and SCHEDULES. As in steps 3 & 4, create the appropriate folder inside the MEDIA folder on your device for whatever files you want copied to the DVM4, then copy your files to the appropriate directories.

  • Page 77: File Names

    File Names File names are represented in simple DOS 8.3 format – in other words, an eight- character name, a period, and then a three-character extension. The name is typically made up of eight characters specifying the type (VID for audio/video file, PLY for Playlist), and the number of the file (5 digits from 00000 to 99999).

  • Page 78: Test Files

    – NTSC 30 second Green Timecode clip vid00008.mpg – NTSC 30 second Blue Timecode clip vid00010.mpg – PAL 30 second Red Timecode clip vid00012.mpg – NTSC Alcorn McBride Animated Logo img00100.bmp – Example overlay bitmap ban00200.txt – Example multi-line banner sch00300.txt –...

  • Page 79: Power-Up Operation

    Power-Up Operation The order of power When power is first applied to the Digital Video Machine 4, it up execution allows initializes itself and performs a self-test. Approximately 30 seconds the DVM4 to use the later, the DVM4 will complete it’s boot process and begin processing removable drive to the following items: update itself.
  • Page 80 Power-Up Operation...

  • Page 81: Making Videos

    Making Videos What Is An MPG File? MPG is short for The Digital Video Machine 4 plays MPG files that contain digital MPEG, which video encoded in high-resolution by an algorithm known as stands for Motion “MPEG-2”. Picture Experts Many encoding systems produce MPG files, but not all MPG files may Group, the be played on the DVM4.

  • Page 82: The Mpeg-2 Program Stream

    MPEG-2 Formats The MPEG-2 Program Stream The DVM4 plays MPEG-2 Program Streams. This stream is a Variable or Constant bitrate stream containing both audio and video. In order to achieve NOTE: We do not playback of video only, you must encode an elementary stream of silent recommend using audio that will be combined with your elementary video stream to create a VBR when playing...
  • Page 83 Index Active Mode Request..............19 Addressable Commands..............13 AMINet..................29 AMITerm..................5 Audio .................... 74 Audio Control ................16 autoexec ..................14 baud....................13 Betacam ..................73 Bitrate ................... 74 CCIR-NTSC.................. 74 CCIR-PAL ..................74 channels ..................25 Checksum ..................30 Chroma Format ................
  • Page 84 MPEG .....................6 MPEG-1 ..................73 MPEG-2 ................ 2, 69, 73, 74 MPG....................69 NTFS.....................55 NTSC ....................2 Operating System................61 PAL....................2 parity .....................13 Pioneer ..................13 Pioneer Error Codes ..............23 Play ..................14, 20 power-up .................14, 71 Program Stream ................74 protocol ..................13 Rear Panel ..................9 removable drive ..............55, 71 ....................37 Repeat Resolution ..................74...

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