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Double check it, of course it may be something else, but nothing comes to mind from past experience. BTW Dataton has implemented upcoming changes to Datatpath cards it relates to this issue. In v5 and earlier, when the card starts up, WATCHOUT uses the DataPath interpretation of the input signal specs. If no signal, it can lock in a low res spec and then fail to switch up when a higher resolution signal is presented. In v6, WATCHOUT will use the signal specs entered in the live video object instead. Provided the Live Video signal defintion matches your actual signal when it later appears, this issue will be eliminated. i.e. The Datapath 'no signal at startup' issue and its after effects has been addressed in WATCHOUT 6 with an alternate approach.

We have placed BlackMagic Design DeckLink Quad equipped WATCHOUT Display computers in numerous regional locations for a national sports broadcast network. As a US sports network, they are native 720p59.97. Television studios are a stable environment, in this use the card always sees the same signal type. Once they are configured correctly - they are trouble free. About the only thing to be aware of is the SDI connector provided on this card is not the ubiquitous BNC. The DeckLink Quad uses DIN 1.0/2.3 connections rather than larger BNC type connectors. i.e. Molex, Winchester, Canon, Switchcraft, Canare, etc. ... Show Sage bundles four male DIN 1.0/2.3 to female BNC patch cables in its standard price for the DeckLink Quad option card. No one gets caught by surprise that way

I have seen something like this when the WATCHOUT Display software is started with no signal on the DataPath capture card input. The capture card is actually locking in a wrong setting with no input to reference, and when you actually provide a signal and call the input from WATCHOUT, it does not adjust to the correct setting, resulting in what you describe. Provide the input signal at power up and it usually works ok.

Assistance carrying out Mike's recommendation: Uninstall, Disable, or Remove Windows 7 Media Center WATCHOUT Display & Production computer Tweaking list: Windows_7_Tweaking_list_2.1.pdf 186.26KB

Strange. I know we have run three DataPath VisionRGB e2s for a total of six simultaneous 1080p60 inputs. Our standard motherboard would not handle that, but an alternate server motherboard did function correctly. After we ran the test and confirmed three e2s function, the customer ultimately cut it down to two e2s cards, and those are operating as expected. So I am confused that DataPath says you can not run two two-input cards.

Those products appear to be for 6G-SDI - not DisplayPort, can you be more specific on which BMD products provide DisplayPort 1.2 switcher / DA ? I am looking for similar solutions, also looking for a DisplayPort EDID manager capable of 4K. Anyone out there seen these yet?

As Jonas says, no interlaced output from WATCHOUT. The reason you see the logo screen on startup, logo screen is shown in GDI mode until a show is loaded and the progressive only restriction is not yet in effect. Show load forces the switch to DirectX 3D and the progressive only restriction then goes into effect. Displays go black because your switcher is unable to accept the progressive signal it is receiving. Other customers encountering this, inserted scalars on each channel - to externally convert progressive to interlaced - $$$ ouch.

Off topic alert While I agree with the point of your statement, might disagree on the specifics. More like 2 frames for capture and 1 frame for de-interlace. But yes, some delay is inevitable.

Have you considered initializing the input signal at the start of your show and never closing it? If you are not programming content for standby, a quick way to do that without changing any of your existing cues is to add a standby layer on the main timeline and cue for the live input on the standby layer from time 0 for the full duration of the main timeline. This has cured many similar issue to the one you describe.

Found at WATCHOUT Shortcuts

tee, hee. TomT, one of us may have misinterpreted Claude's post. I took it more light hearted. i.e. Yes, Claude, Dataton does like to use Apple hardware in their trade show exhibits of PC products. The new WATCHOUT 6 interface viewed on a big Apple flat panel sure did look good in real life. But, Macs do run Windows well under bootcamp. WATCHNET is available for both MacOS and Windows. WATCHOUT Remote on those platforms and more. Point is, Mac is part of Dataton's "world", just not for the star player - WATCHOUT I guess Dataton feels the Apple hardware is attractive (prettier) and I would probably agree. But I am with you, they should not send such subliminal messages - in this case, form follows function should rule the day ?

The specific type of extender and the display itself will both effect EDID stability. Personally, I would either add an EDID manager for each output or choose an extender that includes EDID management. At the very least, make sure your extender has its own power supply, do not rely on solutions that draw power from the display connection. You might be able to get away with the software EDID management in the graphics card Catalyst Control Center, although external EDID management is a bit more bulletproof.

Virtual Displays in WATCHOUT 6 A virtual display is a display area in the stage window that is not assigned to any output directly. Instead, the virtual display area in the stage also appears in the media item list. The virtual area's media item can then be mapped to a real output by placing the virtual display media item on a timeline and positioning it on the stage on a real output, as desired. Virtual displays must be used in conjunction with display devices that can remap portions of the received display signal to different real display areas. for example An LED signboard that is 7680 pixels wide by 270 pixels high (many sports stadiums contain such long ribbons of LED display on the soffets bewteen seating levels, for example). Using virtual displays, the 7680 x 270 information can be output on one 1920x1080 output. You would define four 1920x270 virtual displays and place them side by side on the stage. You would then take four 1920x270 virtual display's media items, place them on a timeline and place their 1920x270 rectangles on the real 1920x1080 display rectangle, stacked one on top of the other. LED signboards that are commonly configured as long ribbons typically connect via a processor that can then strip out the four 1920x270 areas and re-assemble them as 7680 x 270. Hope this helps.

OK, obvious questions first - version of WATCHOUT? Were the computers tuned as per the WATCHOUT Display & Production computer Tweaking list? Did you know Microsoft allows the installation of Windows 7 Professional under a Windows 8 Professional license? Since proper WATCHOUT preparation requires reformatting the hard drive and installing Windows from scratch anyway, would it not make more sense to install Win 7 instead of Win 8? Installing Windows 8 just makes your life more complicated with no discernible upside (at this time).

As it relates to the video signal, HDBaseT™ and Panasonic Digital Link are essentially the same. reference: Panasonic - Projector Global - Equipment Compatible with Digital Link also: Digital Link FAQ 1. What is the difference between DIGITAL LINK and HDBaseT™? DIGITAL LINK is based on HDBaseT™ technology, but it has other added features, including two-way communication with Panasonic projectors and interoperability with major AV control manufacturers (Crestron, Extron, Atlona, etc.) and also supports their control protocol. HDBaseT™ or Panasonic Digital Link, has nothing to do with WATCHOUT per se, it is a generic hardware question related to the graphics card that is connected to the HDBaseT™ or Digital Link transmitter.

WATCHOUT visual output is not available in the form of ArtNet/DMX. PixelMapping in this context is a completely different meaning than the 3D object pixel mapping available in WATCHOUT 6. Pixel mapping in the DMX context is about mapping video pixel behavuor to DMX channels. "if all you have is a hammer, everything tends to look like a nail". 'DMX mapped video' sounds like a more accurate moniker for this. A DMX approach to transporting visual content is resolution limited by nature, so it tends to be on the wrong end of the spectrum of WATCHOUT strengths. I suspect there are devices that accept one of the standard progressive video signal formats, either digital - DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, HD-SDI, or analog - VGA and output video mapped to DMX. Not a crazy price to pay for WATCHOUT's production / animation tools more on this below ... In WATCHOUT To output DMX as a cue to an output device, you are limited to one universe., that is completely unrelated to DMX pixel mapping however. To receive DMX as an update to an input device, you are limited to one universe as well. To record DMX and play it back, pretty sure you can have 16 universes. A bit tedious, as you can only record one universe at a time. To record multiple universes you must make multiple passes. For its intended use, multiple recording passes at the completion of production is usually not such a big deal. End result is a 16 universe DMX "player" included for free in WATCHOUT. So that may be an interesting method to test for DMX mapped video playback in an installation. Use a third party video to DMX convertor during production, record it for installation playback without the converter. Recording universe sized chunks of video in multiple passes may be a video synchronization concern however

uhh, let's see, the first frame shaker I worked with was an Ampex model that was a companion to an Ampex VPR80 1" reel to reel video deck (1979). In addition to synching frame rate to a reference (genlock), a proper broadcast time base corrector will work within the frame to provide line by line correction of the old analog video signal, a common issue with analog video tape playback.

I do not know, don't have any USB capture devices to compare. The obvious test would be to run a PC with both an Intensity Pro and an Intensity Shuttle. Feed them the same signal and display them side by side, any differences would be obvious. Problem is, it makes little sense for a typical user to posses both. BTW BlackMagicDesign just outdated the PCIe x1 Intensity Pro (up to 1080i60/720p60) and replaced it with the new PCIe x4 Intensity Pro 4K (up to 2160p30/1080p60) for the same price! And the specs says "Intensity Pro 4K includes a broadcast quality time base corrector", to be used with analog inputs while digitizing old tape based video. Hmm, maybe this should be a new topic ...

Not much doubt the USB 3.0 capture devices would work. The question is, do USB 3.0 capture devices introduce more delay than PCIe capture devices. Past experience says USB 3.0 capture devices do add additional delay - ymmv.

Well that is a bit confusing, there is such a thing as WATCHOUT scripts, but I believe you really mean AutoHotkey scripts for WATCHOUT, not the same thing

No, not aware of any way to disable the no signal indication in the WDM driver used by WATCHOUT. (Vison software does not use the WDM driver, it uses a proprietary DataPath driver, so it has additional functions not defined in the Microsoft WDM standard.) I am a bit surprised this is working for you. My experience is, when the computer is booted up, if there is no signal on the capture card, it defaults to 800x600 and locks that in, so that when a signal is presented to the card, it does no adapt to the new signal resolution. Even though I had not cued up the capture card, it still initializes and locks a resolution on power up. Granted I was using VGA when I observed this. Point is, for stable results, a signal should be present on the card at all times. That, or simply end the cue so that you do not see it when signal is lost.

Very well good be an issue with the switch not being fully Windows 7 compliant. We saw that issue a lot when Windows 7 first came out, Win XP used a different set of default NIC settings. As a quick test, simply connect production straight to display with a standard ethernet cable, the issues should disappear. If that is the case, you can detune the advanced NIC settings to work with a non-compliant switch, although that is easier said than done.

Passive cables like that are easy to find. Cable needs to be active, so that is not going to help.

Yes, simply create very short auxiliary timelines ( i use one second duration) that contain control cues to play or pause the desired timeline. i.e. timelines can control other timelines. Place your midi note input in the trigger field of the aux timeline used to control other timelines. Toggling function is best left to live operator control, where the operator can dtermine the current state and decide wether to toggle the action. i.e. Toggling play pause from a control system would be risky, a positive play and a separate positive pause would be much safer. But if you must, a simple aux timeline with one play cue to the other timeline, a pause cue to itself, a pause cue to the other timeline, a pause to itself, followed by a loop back to run the first play cue to the other timeline would accomplish the desired result (providing there are no pause cues in the controlled timeline).

Normally WATCHOUT will not provide support for the outputs on a second graphics card. Did you get six outputs working in WATCHOUT in that setup?