Red Ray and DisplayPort connectivity?

[Robert Kurhajetz]

an integration question; we are trying to integrate the RR into an exhbit space and the 4k unit (from Planar) in the space requires DisplayPort. Anyone have any insight on getting these devices to play together?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

If it only has DisplayPort, which seems rather odd, you will need a signal converter that can convert an HDMI 1.4 @ 4K or quad HDMI @ 1080p into a DisplayPort 1.1 signal.

In a nutshell, you're probably screwed though... I only know of a couple HDMI to DP converters out there, none of them support more than 1920x1200 resolution and they are expensive... Kinda like this one: http://www.startech.com/AV/Converters/Video/Active-HDMI-or-DVI-to-DisplayPort-Converter~HDMI2DP

Which Planar unit is this?

 

[Shiblon Wixom]

You may have to use a mATX system, to import HDMI 1.4 4K through a 4k studio BM card and output a 4K display port signal through a discreet GPU card, like a GTX 760.

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

The integrators are still sorting out the issues at our facility. As Jeff points out it seems like this particular Planar Clarity system has some support for HDMI and also a Planar feature called "Big Picture Plus" they are still working thru - hopefully all will become "self evident" at some point : )
thanks for the replies

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Robert, I'd like to ask you a favor - please post what you learn in resolving this issue.

The early days of UHD/4K are plagued by a mishmash of interconnect standards that introduce far too many failure points. Specific - proven - cross conversion methods are crucial info in 2014. Model numbers, driver versions, etc if you would be so kind...

Cheers - #19

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

just received an update with more details: the guys have apparently run out of options trying to connect the RR to the Planar wall. So they asked me to post to see if anyone might have any insight on feeding the RR's 4k content into a Planar Clarity Matrix LCD 3X3 Video Wall System with G2 architecture?

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Shiblon's suggestion is where I would start. At this stage of the evolution of UHD/4K signal format/routing development, feeding the output from the RedRay into another device that can output the kind of DisplayPort signal the Planar rig can handle is probably your only option.

RedRay was designed and built prior to the manifestation of "proper" interconnect protocols for UHD/4K, something I would argue is still a disaster. A more robust incarnation of HDMI 2.0 might have made this all much easier, but that ship sailed. The growth rate of the UHD/4K ecosystem faces enough headwind without plugging devices together being a science project.

The industry seems to be more than happy to sell us all devices that sport interfaces with no real future - the better to sell you a new "widget" in 2016 instead of 2019, even if by other measures your existing widget is up to the task. Part of me would like to see such profiteers hoisted on their own petard, but that would mean UHD/4K suffering the same fate as S3D, hardly the preferred outcome.

What do I want? A physical connection that can be locked in place with plenty of headroom for newer chipsets to push data rates significantly higher over time. Evidently that's too much to ask. To be clear, I'm not hammering RED about this - they did the best anyone could at the time - this is more about the desire to stop tossing $500 or more worth of cables in the dumpster every year just because I/O standards have become a leverage point for spurring faster replacement cycles.

Cheers - #19

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The Planar Clarity Matrix is supposed to have HDMI input. The current offering does. Seems to me that the RedRay should feed the Clarity via the 4 x HDMI outputs each as a 1080p quadrant of the 4K image.

 

[Ron Lagerlof]

Jeff, or anyone, I just got a new 2013 Sony XBR 4K display today. (Seiki is out the door...) Hooking up RR, it defaults to 1080 when connected to port 4. Is there any other way to force RR into 4K mode, or force resolution on the Sony?

 

[Stacey Spears]

The RR decides resolution at boot time and you can't change it without another reboot. Have you tried another HDMI input on the display? Maybe the EDID is reporting 1080p for that input. I know one of the Sony projectors only supported 4k on specific inputs.

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

we are working thru some configuration issues with both in-house and integrator folks - the info we've been able to glean so far is that the Planar's processor maximum input is 3840 x 2160 - this is all new enough to most of us that I'm not sure if that is normal or not. I'm guessing that the normal procedure for the RR and the Planar is that if you try swapping cables that you need to power cycle both the RR and the Planar's processor to guarantee that everyone's in sync. The good news in all of this is that we have finally gotten RCX and the rrenode plugins to work and we can play that back (at least at 1080) to test that the processing works....small steps...

 

[David Kuhn]

3840x2160 is fine... there's some muddling about of the '4K' naming convention... so I like "QHD" for it's simplicity - 4 1080p displays worth of resolution in a 2x2 matrix. Redray works fine at qhd over one hdmi (1.4) OR you can output 4 1080p hdmi (as Jeff mentioned). I've only ever used the single output and have tested it successfully with 3 displays (though the Seiki was a pita to get working).

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

updates - details on Clarity wall

updates - details on Clarity wall

here's some additional details on the Clarity wall:
Cabling for High ResolutionThe DisplayPort Loop In of the Quad Controller module is also the input used to loopsignals from one Quad Controller to the next. The DisplayPort connection is the onlyone that can handle high speed (pixel clock greater than 165MHz) signals. Thatmeans that only one high speed source can be used when enabling the Planar’s BigPictureTM.Connect the signal to any of the Quad Controller modules and cable tho Loop Out ofthat controller to the Loop In of the next controller, and so on. The Loop Outconnection of the last Quad Controller will remain unconnected.Multiple DisplayPort sources may be used in the system if each one is connected to adifferent Quad Controller. A typical application for this would be a system with anexternal video processor. By using one high resolution output of the processor perQuad Controller, the overall number of processor outputs needed will be reduced. Inthis situation, no loop through cables are needed.Configuring a New High Resolution InputWhen a new signal is acquired or the Big Picture setup has changed, the processorsmust communicate various information to each other. Because of limitations in theRS485 link, this communication can take several seconds to occur. During this time,the image on the wall may not be scaled correctly. You will see each display pop intoplace as the RS485 communication completes. Once you have made a change, youcan speed up this period of resynchronization by pressing ENTER on the SYNCHRONIZEHIGH RESOLUTIONS line in the WALL CONFIGURATION menu. Be aware that the sameprocessing must happen when switching to a low resolution input after displaying ahigh resolution input, and this control may be used in that case as well.When using the quick configure option, the system will synchronize automatically.When a configuration is saved in a slot, the necessary information about highresolution inputs is saved as well. Once a configuration is set up, the easiest way toreturn to that configuration later is to recall it from a slot (see "Saving Configurations"on page 97). You must have the input in place at the connector before recalling theslot.Handling Vertical Resolutions Greater Than 2047 PixelsThe processing chip has a 2047 line limitation in detecting a video source. If it gets asource that is greater than 2047 lines, the reported line total is the actual total minus2048. The firmware works around this limitation by making educated guesses aboutthe true total. Since the majority of applications will want to display native resolutionon the Clarity Matrix, the firmware specifically looks for input resolutions that aremultiples of native resolution. So, if it sees a reported input resolution of 1366 x 256,it will assume that the actual input resolution is 1366 x 2304 (a 1x3 column of nativeresolution). Similarly, it will assume 1366 x 1024 is actually 1366 x 3072. The onlyresolutions that have a vertical line count greater than 2047 are those that aremultiples of potential native resolutions: 1366 x 768 or 1920 x 1080.

Supported Resolution Summary
Up to 2045 pixels horizontal
Up to 2047 pixels vertical
Pixel clock less than 165MHz


2046 to 4097 pixels horizontally
Up to 2047 pixels vertically
Pixel clock less than 165MHz
Supported on all inputs

• Supported on all inputs.
• Big Picture (Wall mode) must be selected to spread image over more than one display
horizontally.
• System will take several seconds to scale correctly.





1366x2304
1368x2304
1360x3072
1360x2304
1366x3072
1368x3072
1920x2160 (<=30Hz)
1920x3240 (<=24Hz)
960x1060
960x3240 (<=48Hz)
Pixel clock less than 165MHz
2720x2304
2732x2304
2736x2304
2720x3072
2732x3072
2736x3072
3840x2160
Pixel clock less than 165MHz
Resolutions with pixel clock greater than
165MHz and less that 330 MHz
Up to 2047 pixels vertically





• Supported on all inputs.
• Big Picture (Wall mode) must be selected to spread image over more than one display vertically.




• Supported on all inputs.
• Big Picture (Wall mode) must be selected to spread image over more than one display horizontally
and vertically.
• System will take several seconds to scale correctly.

• Supported only on DisplayPort Input
• Big Picture (Wall mode) must be selected to spread image over more than one display
horizontally. (Even if the horizontal resolution is less that 1920, it still must spread
horizontally, so 1920x2160 @60Hz can’t be displayed.)
• System will take several seconds to scale correctly.
Clarity Matrix Video Wall Installation Guide
134
2720x2304
2732x2304
2736x2304
2720x3072
2732x3072
2736x3072
3840x2160 (<=30Hz)
Pixel clock great than 165MHz and less than
330MHz
• Supported only on DisplayPort Input
• Big Picture (Wall mode) must be selected to spread image over more than one display horizontally
and vertically.
• Must enable high resolution inputs in the WALL CONFIGURATION menu.
• System will take several seconds to scale correctly.

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

we expect to be testing a possible interface solution soon - hope to be able to report news on this within the next week.