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Not all active adaptors are 4k60p capable. Anyway … Forget WATCHOUT for a minute. Quit watchpoint on the display computer and using the graphic card’s control panel, can you set the desired resolution? WATCHOUT is simply asking Windows its current resolution. . If the answer does match the numbers you have entered in the display specifications, it simply initiates DirectX 3D rendering mode. If the answer does not match the numbers you have entered in the display specifications, WATCHOUT will then ask Windows to set the resolution you have entered in display specifications. If Windows comes back and says it can not do that, the message you see is the result. BTW make sure there is no typo in the display specifications.

This is typically caused by a hardware shortcoming in the connection from the graphics card output to the display. I might add the most common cause that I have encountered for this issue is any adaptation away from DisplayPort. i.e. a DisplayPort to HDMI adaptor not capable of 4K resolution. Note, there are two kinds of DisplayPort to HDMI adaptors - active and passive. A passive adaptor relies on the graphics card supporting a compatibility mode where the card internally switches from DisplayPort signal types to legacy HDMI signal types. This type of capability is often referred to as DisplayPort ++. The legacy compatibility mode often offers less possible resolutions when compared to native DisplayPort signals. So the graphics card recognizes the HDMI adaptation and switches to output legacy HDMI signals. Many graphics cards are unable to output 4K in the legacy compatibility mode required by passive adaptors. An active adaptor on the other hand operates the graphics card in native DisplayPort mode. i.e. the graphics card only outputs native DisplayPort signals. An active adaptor isolates the graphics card from the adaptation, the card only sees native DisplayPort connection. The active adaptor then converts native DisplayPort to legacy signal types required by HDMI. Native DisplayPort often provides a much wider range of output resolutions when compared to legacy mode. And that is not just 4K. I once encountered this issue with an HDMI display operating at 1400x1050. This could not be accomplished with a passive adaptor, only with an active adaptor. So if you are converting to HDMI, you may require an active adaptor rated at 4k60p to correct this error. Note, active and passive adaptors often look the same and active adaptors are only slightly more expensive, often as little as $5-$10 more.

Need more information. Of course, the display computer must be running and displaying the initial logo screen for it to show up in the production network window. The initial logo screen should be showing the IP address it is using - (1) what is that address? (2) What is the IP address of the production computer? (3) Describe how the two are connected? (a network cable for each connected to an unmanaged switch or something else). Other potential issues include firewall on either station (both should be disabled).

While WATCHOUT is designed to allow multiple independent shows on the same network, it is required all shows be the same WATCHOUT version.

The initial release of WATCHOUT 7 will not include video over DNX/ArtNet. Pretty small market, so it did not make the first pass. This function is planned in a future release. DMX/ArtNet is quickly overloaded by the high pixel counts of modern video, the applications tend to be relatively low resolution. In the meantime there are boxes with video in and ArtNet output to accomodate these applications. The Schnick-Schnack-Systems Pixel-Gate is an example of such a device, I am sure there are others. I suspect the cost of one of those boxes paired with the cost of a WATCHOUT server is still competitive with other server solutions.

To add to this, when you go online, you will get an error for every piece of media referenced by a cue. But most important, the updated .watch file will be transferred. So you could adjust media cues too as long as you do not add media. I have done this remotely when tweaking other people’s shows. In my case the most important part is keeping my saved changes the same (older) version.

Yes

BTW The information about no network operation does not apply to WATCHPAX. The no network info would be better suited in its own topic about autostart.txt (i will check into doing that). This topic is meant to provide the default contents of a factory provided autostart.txt file. The factory file documents script startup in the form of script comments. WATCHPAX should operate standalone. without setting a loopback nic.

Thank you for taking the time to confirm satisfactory resolution. Helpful to others who may arrive here via search, etc.

I always configured Microsoft’s loop back adaptor when no physical connection is available. This adds a new NIC to the list that is used instead of the hardware NIC on the motherboard. How to install Microsoft Loopback Adapter on windows 10

a bit of a surprise, Dataton include Deltacast capture cards in most WATCHPAX 6x series servers.

I have seen the same issue with Panasonic projectors TCP control when commands are sent to close together. it is telling that Panasonic does not use that command set for their own software control of the projector. WATCHOUT’s string cues are rudimentary, there is no flow control and there is no processing of any return information from a controlled device. Just the same, the strings are being sent. I suggest you contact Panasonic and ask them why their projector is ignoring valid TCP commands.

I suspect the divider wall does not change during a performance? It would be easiest to load a different show file for each scenario. I suspect stage tiers would be the most convenient way to customize blending for each scenario / show file.

To clarify terminology, Dataton does not recommend hardware other than Dataton WATCHPAX. That said, the WATCHPAX 62 uses an nVidia RTX A4000 with nVidia Production Branch driver version 473.47 Keep in mind, Dataton continues to use Windows 10 Enterprise Long Term Service Branch build 1607 on current production WATCHPAX.

Generally speaking, No. Any performance improvements are in areas that do not effect WATCHOUT, with one possible exception - capture cards. Updating drivers for Windows 10 on older hardware may be challenging, if at all possible. Any security improvements would likely have to be disabled. Any new features would be irrelevant to WATCHOUT. i.e. if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

WATCHOUT is written to standards, not specific hardware. The only hardware Dataton supports are Dataton WATCHPAX. Beyond that, it is up to the builder to certify their choices conform to the required standards. Hardware selection is the relatively easy part of building a server. The challenging aspect is tuning and testing the operating system and drivers.

Dataton recommends no audio in movie files. Instead, export the audio separately and play it in synch with the movie. https://knowledge.dataton.com/knowledge/embedded-audio-in-watchout BTW Separating embedded audio is automated in v7

I am under the impression that screenshot is disabled while in DirectX 3D Full Screen rendering mode. Even if you could, the background activity would likely interfere with smooth playback. And you would have to screenshot each output independently, so you are back to the four output issue.

There is no easy way with a fully utilized system other than adding resources. Create a virtual display that covers the area you wish to view and then scale the virtual to an available output. This may require an additional server to gain the extra output.

How are the WATCHPAX addressed in the computer field of Display settings - IP or WATCHOUT name? Two NICs should be ok, but you may need to change the NIC order in Windows. WATCHOUT does not provide an option for choosing a network port, it always defaults to the first NIC in Windows NIC order. (Always restart WATCHOUT after changing NIC order.) Can not imagine why this has changed if this had been running for months. ”… I have a 6-projector installation that had been stable for months …” Is the show still running triggered from the show control network without WATCHOUT Production? I do not think you have mentioned version, but you did mention WATCHPAX 4 which require v6.1.5+, that is close enough.

Ping is a TCP transmission, the automatic discovery is accomplished with UDP, so ping tells you little about the issue you are experiencing. Windows 10 home and pro have a habit of turning their firewall on by themselves. Brware unmanaged switches that make any kind of security claim. The may block UDP because the continuous UDP transmissions from WATCHOUT may be mistaken for a Denial of service attack.

No

required when working with NDI streams, there are probably other things as well

This issue may arise on systems with both a motherboard gpu and a discrete gpu like your NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. Find the WIndows settings for graphics and set the display settings to use the nVidia RTX card for WATCHOUT

I very much appreciate the input. Was not aware of the AMD energy saving concern. Wouldn’t that be variable rather than all the time?