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Video on a RBG matrix


gc75067

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Would love to be able to play movie clips on a RGB matrix next year.  Is there a way to make this visual to where it doesn't look like Minecraft?

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Depends on how ar away the viewers will be to some degree. I have a 50X64 matrix that is about 40-feet from the road - I have the pixels (flat pixels) in a mesh about 1 7/8" apart. Everything is very clearly visible from the road and even a bit in closer. I would say if people will view it from 60-feet away you might get away with 3" spacing - but unless they are right on top o it I wouldn't spend the money for 1" spacing. Just my thoughts.

 

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19 minutes ago, jamills706 said:

Depends on how ar away the viewers will be to some degree. I have a 50X64 matrix that is about 40-feet from the road - I have the pixels (flat pixels) in a mesh about 1 7/8" apart. Everything is very clearly visible from the road and even a bit in closer. I would say if people will view it from 60-feet away you might get away with 3" spacing - but unless they are right on top o it I wouldn't spend the money for 1" spacing. Just my thoughts.

 

Thanks. My viewers will mostly be right around the 45ft mark.  May I ask where you go your matrix?

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6 minutes ago, gc75067 said:

Would love to be able to play movie clips on a RGB matrix next year.  Is there a way to make this visual to where it doesn't look like Minecraft?

I assume you are referring to very low resolution.  The only real solution is a high number of pixels.  If you really want to run video, I highly recommend looking into P10 or P5 matrix panels.  That's really the only way to get decent resolution unless you are planning on building a matrix that is 60 feet wide and 40 feet tall (and that will only give a little over 640 x 480 with one inch pixel spacing - hardly high res by today's standards).

OK, while I was delayed doing something else, I see jamills responded.  What he says is true for graphics that are designed around a very low resolution display, but to get decent video, you need more more pixels.

Now, back to P10 panels.  There are two major ways to drive them.  One is as "normal" pixels sequenced via lighting software.  To do this currently requires using a Falcon Player installation that can be run in Bridge mode with LOR driving it.  That's how I am driving my P5 and P10 matrix panels.  The other way is via sender and receiver card.  The sender card most commonly used, takes DVI video and converts it into a data stream and the receive card takes the data stream and drives the panels.   If what you are going to use the matrix for is EXCLUSIVELY video, that is likely the best way to go.  However you then lose the ability to sequence anything else on it.

The other solution for video is to use either a large screen video display or video projector.

 

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49 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

I assume you are referring to very low resolution.  The only real solution is a high number of pixels.  If you really want to run video, I highly recommend looking into P10 or P5 matrix panels.  That's really the only way to get decent resolution unless you are planning on building a matrix that is 60 feet wide and 40 feet tall (and that will only give a little over 640 x 480 with one inch pixel spacing - hardly high res by today's standards).

OK, while I was delayed doing something else, I see jamills responded.  What he says is true for graphics that are designed around a very low resolution display, but to get decent video, you need more more pixels.

Now, back to P10 panels.  There are two major ways to drive them.  One is as "normal" pixels sequenced via lighting software.  To do this currently requires using a Falcon Player installation that can be run in Bridge mode with LOR driving it.  That's how I am driving my P5 and P10 matrix panels.  The other way is via sender and receiver card.  The sender card most commonly used, takes DVI video and converts it into a data stream and the receive card takes the data stream and drives the panels.   If what you are going to use the matrix for is EXCLUSIVELY video, that is likely the best way to go.  However you then lose the ability to sequence anything else on it.

The other solution for video is to use either a large screen video display or video projector.

 

Thanks for the info.  If my math is correct, it doesn't appear very cost effective to make a big screen out of these for video.

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On 12/13/2018 at 1:19 PM, gc75067 said:

Thanks for the info.  If my math is correct, it doesn't appear very cost effective to make a big screen out of these for video.

that depends on how big you want to go, P10's are around $8 each and P5's are $12-14.  You need to figure a size first and then go from there, if you are going super bigly then video projection may be the way to go.  P5's are suppose to support HD (1080p).  I am using a 4ft x 4ft screen and have pushed HD content to it (720P), I am using P10's.  Resolution is dependent on pixel spacing, tighter the pixel spacing the sharper the image you can use.

Edited by caniac
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On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 5:10 PM, caniac said:

that depends on how big you want to go, P10's are around $8 each and P5's are $12-14.  You need to figure a size first and then go from there, if you are going super bigly then video projection may be the way to go.  P5's are suppose to support HD (1080p).  I am using a 4ft x 4ft screen and have pushed HD content to it (720P), I am using P10's.  Resolution is dependent on pixel spacing, tighter the pixel spacing the sharper the image you can use.

Thanks for the reply.  Do the Px panels come with the pixels in them? If so,  my math got way out of hand thinking that I was going to have to buy 10's of thousands of lights to install on the panels.  

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25 minutes ago, gc75067 said:

Thanks for the reply.  Do the Px panels come with the pixels in them? If so,  my math got way out of hand thinking that I was going to have to buy 10's of thousands of lights to install on the panels.  

the grid in a P10 is super tight, you would go blind trying to push those pixels.  You connect them via ribbon cable and then that gets connected to a color light card or Raspberry Pi.

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4 minutes ago, caniac said:

the grid in a P10 is super tight, you would go blind trying to push those pixels.  You connect them via ribbon cable and then that gets connected to a color light card or Raspberry Pi.

"connects to a color light card or Raspberry Pi"? I read something about connecting them to beaglebone and octosomething cards on a falcon board? I obviously have a lot more reading to do.  I have some Falcon boards that I have never used but no Raspberry Pi due to plans on running show from my PC.  I would love to run a 4'x8' (64 panels) but not sure the wife will let me spend that plus by the rest of the RGB stuff I want for next year.  What all would I need to run a 4'x8' correctly? I can try submitting my budget request for the year lol.

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beaglebone and octoscroller if you want to do 96 panels. Start with a 2 x 2 tune to sign to tinker and then when the wife goes wow, go big.  for what you want you would definitely need a BBB and Octo, you would have to ask around to see if a color light card can do that (it might).  definitely more than my Pi and Pi hat can do.  you have all sorts of options.

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Essentially there are three options for driving a Px panel from sequencing software.  1)  Raspberry Pi with a Pi Hat, 2) Beaglebone and Octoscroller, 3) Pi driving a ColorLight card.  In all of those, the Pi or BB will be running Falcon Player.  That part can either be done directly on the Pi or BB (from xLights or Vixen) or in Bridge mode.  To drive them from the LOR show player (how I'm doing it) requires that Bridge mode be used.  That essentially just makes the Pi or BB look like any other E1.31 controller (as far as LOR is concerned).

For a small matrix, the Pi is the easiest route to go.  For a larger matrix, the BB and Octoscroller is better and at least some of the experts say that the Pi and ColorLight is the top of the line.  That is what I'm doing, although neither of my matrixes are large.

2 hours ago, gc75067 said:

Do the Px panels come with the pixels in them?

Yes.  A P10 panel is 160 x 320 mm (or just over 6 x 12 inches) and has 512 pixels (10mm spacing).  A P5 panel is the same size and has 2,048 pixels in it (5mm spacing).

 

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