Mad Projector Control

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Karlyn Hemmerling

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Aug 3, 2024, 2:08:43 PM8/3/24

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I'm sorry, but if it needed two remotes originally, then the roku remote probably can't control the projector's volume and power. You could look up known projector brands like epson, optoma, benq, lg, and so on.

Yes, you should get a universal that allow for code search, and blink back of code result. Then you up all brands that use that code in the library code list, then try the same brands in the roku remote.

I am thinking you have something similar to the RCA RPJ133. (Looks like a projector powered by a Roku Streaming Stick and indicates it includes a Voice Remote). [ -RPJ-133-Theater-Projector-Streaming/dp/B083TD3V4J].

I am thinking that the included Roku remote may not be able to control the volume of the projector directly. I am no remote enthusiast though, but I did not find any instructions on programming Roku remotes to a projector. (I am not sure if Roku remotes have IR codes for projectors).

I think you have to have a peripheral audio setup like an Audio Video Receiver or the like for the Roku remote to control the volume. (And then, assumingly , you plug the Streaming Stick into the Receiver with HDMI to the projector).

We are having trouble getting the Roku remote that came with our RCA RPJ133-B Home Theater Projector to pair with the device. The roku screen is displayed but the remote will not work with it at all. The directions say the remote will pair with the device automatically when the batteries are placed in it, but not so. Any advice?

We would recommend starting with the troubleshooting steps in this support link: How to fix your Roku voice or simple remote that is not working. If still no dice, please reply here with the serial number of the Roku device associated with the affected remote. This can be found at the back or underneath the player itself.

I am trying to figure out how to control a Panasonic PT-RW930 through art-net. I want to be able to control the light output so that instead of a 0 count hard shutter, I can fade the actual light output. Under Art-Net Setup in the projector, I set the Net and Subnet as 0, set the Start Address as 1, and put each projector in their own universe. Under watchout, I created a DMX-512 output with the universe of each projector, and set the channel as 6 since the settings in the projector say that channel 6 is Light Output. But it doesn't seem to be working. I don't have a good understanding of DMX or addresses, so if anyone could offer any wisdom, it would be much appreciated!

The file to run using the instructions on that page (ArtNet-Monitor.jar) is located in the dist directory. This will let you verify that WATCHOUT is outputting the exected Artnet data on the expected universe and channel.

Hi all, thanks for your responses so far. I am online and I go an artnet monitor. I added the output universe and channel. I can see from my other computer that the production computer is outputting data from universe 2, channel 7, but if I'm reading the artnet monitor correctly,the data doesn't seem to be reaching the projectors.

Is it possible it's the IP address? I currently have everything on a 10.101.100.x on subnet mask 255.0.0.0. Under the projector settings, it had "Art-Net SETUP" and I set it to ON(MANUAL) so it would follow the IP address of the projector under Network setup. When I had it set to ON(10.x.x.x) or ON(2.x.x.x), I couldn't connect to the web control.

Attached is my project file. I would appreciate any ideas. For reference, we have 4 Panasonic projectors. My thought had been to put each projector on its own universe and have them each have a start address of 1.

For all of those who were struggling like me and couldn't find any straighforward answers, I finally have some solutions after a lot of trial and error. In my specific example, I left the Art-Net setip on manual.

The only numbers you really want to change is the Universe and Start Address. More on those specific numbers later. In my case, I had 4 panasonic projectors. I learned that you have to set a dummy DMX output in Watchout for Panasonic that's set to 1 at all times. If I had a projector on Universe 1, then I would send data to Universe 1 on Channel 512. I guess Panasonic doesn't like listening to Watchout unless something is getting sent to every channel on a universe.

Theoretically you could set every projector to different universes with a starting address of 1, you would just need to send a dummy cue to each of those universes. I learned that you could set one dummy cue to Universe 255 and it would send something to everything, but that might be too extreme. You could set all projectors to the same universe and offset the starting address. So I guess you could do Projector 1 at Universe 1, Starting Address 1 and Projetor 2 at Universe 1, Starting Address 50. So Projector 2's channel would start at 50. Each projector theoretically only takes up 11 channels, but to be safe, you could create bigger offsets. But this way, you only need to send one dummy cue to one universe.

You also have to set an output in Watchout to Enable Artnet. In this case, if I'm using Art-Net setup 1, I would send something to Universe 1, Channel 7. After that, you might want to delete the enable output in Watchout because that's where things got sticky. You could also then change the channel in a custom user profile on the projector and get rid of the Enable feature once it's set. Alterntively, you just have to make sure Enable is always set to 1 in Watchout. I also discovered that when you initially Enable Art-Net on one of the default profiles, the projector powered off because Watchout sends 0 to the other channels in that universe because of the dummy 512 channel and by default, 0 to the Power channel, powers off the projector. For projectors where you can't set a custom art-net user profile, you have to send the neutral default values. For example, I believe for Panasonic, you want ot send 50% to Lens Shift H and V for it to do nothing.

I also found that sometimes commands weren't being received by the projector at all, so I turned off Art-Net under Art-Net setup and turned it back on. I would also delete the outputs in Watchout and recreate them and then it would work.

I hope this helps someone else because it sure was a journey for me, even though this has been a feature for many years. This process is also different for other projectors. From what I hear, it's pretty straightforward for Barco, but for Epson, you have to potentially set more dummy channels.

This is frustratingly uncommon from projector manufactures. In my experience - many projectors shut down the NIC when they go to sleep. You may have luck if your model has an RS232 port and you can find some relevant documentation.

I did find this protocol manual. Not sure if it would apply to my projector or not. I am also not technically capable of implementing something like this. Been out of development for too long. There is an RS232 port on my projector and the manual does say it is used for remote control.

My advice would be to test in a terminal program first before doing any coding. I just kind of skimmed over the docs & it looks like you need to send hex data. RealTerm might be the best program to use for testing hex commands.

This is kind of a long shot, but I am wondering if anyone has had any success in controlling the shutter function of a DZ21k projector via ArtNet. It seems as though I have all of the settings inside the projector correct, and I have patched the address to match the address of the projector (and selected ArtNet as the output). I just can't seem to get it to work! Anybody have any thoughts??

I have though come across some artnet things that seem to be off by one. ie you set the device to universe 2 and then EOS needs to have the device patched at 3/ or 1/ (cant remember which way round now), So worth just trying the universes one up and one down from what you think it should be set to, in case its that issue.

I'm assuming that the network interface is enabled (and if on Nomads make sure its the only one when you start Nomads, at least until you've got things working ok as there appear to be different experiences of whether Nomads supports more than one network interface)

There is a parameter to enable/disable Art-Net control.
IIRC, you have to pulse it to "Enable" and then back to "Disable" for each command. I don't quite remember whether you set the values you want before or after raising to "Enable" though, and the manual doesn't say.

Agree that the count of universes should work like that but just saying that not all manufacturers have read the rules, I have two bit of equipment that need to be set with different universes even though they are in the same universe at the EOS end. One of them got the numbering off by one, and probably started at 1 instead of 0. It messed me up for quite a while until almost out of desperation I tried changing the universe and it sprung into life.

the universe numbering is indeed off by one. in Eos I've set it to Universe two but I've had to tell the projector to listen on Universe 3. i used Wireshark to monitor the packets my Ion was sending and saw that the DMX universe was coming across on 3. I was able to park the enable/disable channel so that its always enabled. In shell the Artnet is "start 2" so i think its network 0 and subnet 2; which seems to match what Richard is saying.

Now I'm wondering whether I can use the serial communication capability of the board to send some serial commands to a projectors RS232 input. It's a Dell MP5100 projector and I do have a PDF containing the pin assignment, the communication settings and the possible command sets, please find some lines of it included below.