DLP670S: DLP670S

Hi Michael

Thank you for your help.

Yes, following your guide that I could correctly program the firmware(master and slave). And The image from flash is displayed normally.

But the external video is no display, whether HDMI or DP port.

When I switch to video pattern mode, the error as below:

So I don't know what operation should be correct to switch external video mode.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

I'm glad it worked out for you!

As for the external source:

Because the DLPC670S is a dual-controller device, I would recommend you take a look into Section 3.5 video mode of the DLP LightCrafter Dual DLPC900 Evaluation Module (EVM) User's Guide (Literature Number: DLPU102A).

This section takes you step-by-step on how to set up your video settings. May I ask you to perform the following tests as a baseline control? This will ensure that I can test a similar setup in my lab with another dual-DLPC900 controller, the DLP9000, and get similar results if we need to dig deeper.

1. Go to video mode under operating mode or through the top tab of the DLP(R) LightCrafter(TM) DLPC900 GUI (v5.0.0)
2. Click the Source Settings box
3. Under IT6535 Receiver, select 'Get' - does it return Power Down?
   1. If it does, your video source is not yet locked, please continue below
4. Select the external source (HDMI or Display Port) and click 'Set' now
5. Under Source Select, please select the top-most drop-down menu and select 'Internal Test Pattern'
6. In the second box under Source Select, please select 'Checkerboard'
   1. A checkerboard should now be projected
7. You may select other sources to test if those work as intended
8. If the steps 6 and 7 successfully project the intended images, go back to Source Select and select the appropriate source for your application
9. Use the Dual DLPC900 EVM User's Guide linked above to help configure for your application.

Please let me know if this resolves the error message on the GUI.

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

Yes, I have followed your steps. The 'Internal Test Pattern' such as 'Checkboard' or 'Images from Flash' all worked correctly.

But when switching to  'Parallel RGB' and setting HDMI input referance section 3.5 of the Dual DLPC900 EVM User's Guide as below picture, there is no external video displayed. And error is 'Video Source are not locked'

I am not sure whether any steps have issues.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

I hope you do not mind me taking a step back and going through Section 3.6.5 Creating a Pattern Sequence in Video Paattern Mode instead? Normally, the user would only need to click on the HDMI radio button in the IT6535 section of Video Settings and wait a few seconds for the video sync to lock. Please be sure to check if the PC or host supplies the correct resolution and frame rate for the DLP670S as well.

From the picture you have provided me, it looks like the sequencer is still running, possibly from the internal patterns. Is there any chance you can perform a standby command and wait the two minutes for the DMD mirrors to park before trying again? If this does not work, we can take this chat offline or plan for a live debugging session.

I also apologize for the delay, but I was not able to come into the office today for personal reasons. I will be testing in the lab tomorrow to see if I can reproduce these results on the DLP9000 (another dual DLPC900 controller).

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

I attempted to operate in Video Pattern Mode. But when switching Video Mode to Video Pattern Mode, it will point out that Video Source not locked like this.

And I observed that the  check box is not selected when running in Video Mode of HDMI as below picture. 

At this time the DMD is no display. I think it is not running in Internal Test Pattern.

Now the resolution and frame rate is as below.

My PC have recognized the EVM as a monitor lile below.

So I think IT6535 receiver is OK. Is it possible that the config of dual DLPC900 and FPGA are not compatible to the external video source.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

May I see a scope shot of the sync signal coming out of the ITE chip in this case? Below are images of where you can find the test point and measure using a probe tip:

The image above can be found in the schematic on the DLPC900 EVM page on TI's website.

The third image shows where this is relative to the ITE chip, circled in Green and labeled ITE_VS.

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

I have measured the signal of ITE_VS, and the scope shot is as below.

When I switch to video mode and set to HDMI source, the ITE_VS signal is as above.

When I switch IT6535 receiver to power down, The ITE_VS is a  high level.

So I think the ITE_VS is working normally.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

Thank you for the scope shots, they're very helpful.

Based off of the time div, it appears that the ITE_VS signal has a period of around 33 ms, which equates to a frequency of 30 Hz. Is this correct? I see that your previous picture has a resolution of 2716x1600 (@30 Hz?) as well. May I know if you have tested the following with HDMI or DP? The IT6535 does not support HDMI 2 cables (which can run at 60 Hz) whereas HDMI 1 can only go up to around 30 Hz. Display port should be able to run at 60 Hz, however.

Additionally, I would recommend that you run in dual pixel mode for the DMD while you are in the video mode. You may have to play around with your video settings and wait about 3-5 seconds for the video source to lock between setting the option. Section 3.5 mentions dual pixel mode in the Dual Chip User Guide and says that it allows for higher data rates by loading 2 pixels per clock instead of one pixel per clock.

To repeat, I would like to know the following:

1. Are you using HDMI 1 or HDMI 2 cable? Please repeat test with DP if possible. (It may be easier to test this with DP)
2. Are you able to run at 2716x1600 @ 60 Hz if the picture you sent before was only @ 30Hz?
3. Are you able to lock external video if running in dual pixel mode?

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

1. I don't understand what means about HDMI 1 or HDMI 2 cable. I have tested with DP with 2716x1600 @ 30Hz and switch to dual pixel setting. But it is not able to lock external video.

2. whether HDMI or DP, there is no 2716x1600 @ 60 Hz to set. I only set 2716x1600 @ 30 Hz as external video source. Of course, there are other lower resolution @ 60 Hz could be selected. So I switch to 2048x1200 @ 60 Hz and measured the ITE_VS signal as below scope shots.

3. I am also not able to lock the external video when running in dual pixel mode.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

Please allow me another few days to work on this and see what is going on. I will be talking with other teammates to see if they have any ideas.

Thank you for your patience,
MIchael Ly

Hi Michael

Thanks a lot for your support.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

It's my pleasure.

May I know if you have tried to run the DLPC900 and DLP670S on a different graphics card and/or computer? What graphics card are you currently using?

I am still trying to contact more members in the mean time.

Thanks again,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

I operated the DLPC900 and DLP670S on two different computers.

The graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 for DP.

And The graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB for HDMI.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

I realized I did not answer your question about HDMI 1 vs HDMI 2. HDMI 1 (1.4 being the most common type of HDMI 1 cable these days) supports up to 3840 x 2160p @ 25 / 30 Hz and 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz.

HDMI 2 cables, on the other hand, support for 4k ultra @ 60 Hz. In short, HDMI 1 cables do no support greater than 30 Hz frequency, and the IT6535 receiver on the DLPC900 does not support HDMI 2 if you wish to use HDMI for >30 Hz applications.

This is why, for the DLPC900, we recommend using display port, as the IT6535 receiver readily supports DP, which has supported 60Hz since its first release.

Given your graphics cards, are you able to run some of the more standard resolutions on the DLPC900 with DLP670S such as a 1080p resolution at 60Hz  with DP? I see that one of the pictures above was from the Advanced display settings in the Windows 10 Display manager?

I would recommend that you play around with the GUI's video mode tab's settings and see if anything works for you. My recommendation is to first start with the Port Config Controls block. Perhaps it is the pixel clock, data enable, or H/Vsync setting?

Here is one example of a display port 2560x1600 @ 60 Hz using a DLP9000 DMD running off an NVIDIA Quadro 600 card:

One quick test you may perform is to use a video or pattern generator such as an Astro. Do you happen to have a video/pattern generator available for this?

If not, then I would recommend also testing other resolutions that your graphics cards support.

I am very sorry about the brute force recommendation so far.

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

I am sorry that I have not any video generator for DP or HDMI.

I will follow your steps and proposals to do more GUI's settings with my graphics card.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

Thank you. Please keep me updated.

I'm curious as to why it is not locking. May I also get a picture of your controller board and DMD in case I am missing something with the hardware setup?

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

Here is my controller board and DMD board as the pictures.

Regards,

Yang

Hello Yang,

Thank you for the photos, we are reviewing.

Best,

Aaron

Hi Yang,

Thank you for the photos. I have compared to the DLPC900DEVM I have in my lab, and your controller board looks correct to me except for one jumper that I cannot see. It does not make sense to me, but is your ASIC RESET (J10) populated? This seems very unlikely because this would have held the board in reset mode and the GUI would not have acknowledged a board connection.

Have you been able to find any settings that work for your board or has it been able to run at a different resolution using an external source?

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

The jumper J10 is not installed, because it is only connected one pin. So the DLPC900 could boot normally and test pattern displayed correctly.

Now I can not succeed to display external video. I think the parallel port configurartion I get is not correct as below.

Another question, how can I determine the FPGA firmware is correct?

As my observation，D5 is lighting when power on which indicate FPGA initialization completely.

But I am not sure the FPGA firmware is suitable for DLP670S.

Regards,

Yang

Hi Yang,

Thank you for clarifying about the J10 jumper.

May I please know what configuration you were using for the parallel port configuration shown above? What was the expected resolution?

If you think the firmware for the FPGA is corrupt, please refer to Section 3.12 - Intel (Altera) FPGA Programming of the Dual Controller Manual if you would like to reprogram the FPGA with the DLPC900 LightCrafter GUI you installed.

As far as testing the FPGA, there is little chance that the FPGA firmware is incompatible, as there is only one firmware for the FPGA that we provide for the DLPC900DEVM, and that firmware should work for all the dual controller DMDs listed in the datasheet.

The reason I think it is unlikely is because the FPGA is only used as a video splitter for the controller. It will get a stream of data from the ITE receiver and then split the video into left and right halves. So long as the FPGA powers up correctly, as indicated by LED D5, it should function correctly because it was not designed to be complex.

Thank you,
Michael Ly

Hi Michael

I tested HDMI video source with 2560×1600 @30Hz, and the GUI configuration is below.

After I switch the resolution to 1920×1080 @60Hz, so the GUI configuration is below.

According to my demand, the external video source is necessary to my application.

So may I remove the external video module including ITE receiver and FPGA in my design?

Thank you,

Yang

Hi Yang,

The IT6535 receiver cannot display HDMI at 60 Hz. I recommend you use Display Port for any 60 Hz or greater video frequency.

Please do not remove either chip, as they are used as the interface for external video on the DLPC900 evaluation module. Without the FPGA, dual pixel mode is not possible, and without the IT6535 chip, you will have no receiver for external video.

When attempting to lock the video, do you happen to know if the white curtain (DMD displays all white) is displaying while it is not locked? The white curtain is defined in the internal test patterns and will default to that pattern when not locked to an external source in its parallel RGB mode.

Secondly, do you happen to know if your evaluation module has the EDID programmed for the resolution you want? There are two jumpers to program the EDID. J3 is the HDMI EDID jumper and J4 is the DisplayPort EDID jumper.

I will need additional time to ask my team member who is off until the week of January 3rd if you have questions about how to program the HDMI or DP EDID.

Regards,
Michael Ly

Hi, Michael

In my use, there is no external video requirements. I only need use pre-stored pattern mode and a little pattern on-the-fly mode.

Because the demand for miniaturization, I must reduce the PCB size as much as possible.

I think my EVM has the correct EDID programmed, because my conputer could identify the HDMI or the DP port as a monitor.

Regards,

Yang

Hello Yang,

Are you needing further help with this.  I am confused by the previous statement, "According to my demand, the external video source is necessary to my application." and the latest statement, "In my use, there is no external video requirements. I only need use pre-stored pattern mode and a little pattern on-the-fly mode."

Please let us know.  Thanks.

Fizix

Hi Fizix

I am sorry to bring you confusion because of my error description.

I mean "According to my demand, the external video source is not necessary to my application".

So I do not need the external video source.

Now I want to confirm whether I can remove  the ITE receiver and FPGA in my design?

Thanks,

Yang

Yang, 

The video receiver and FPGA can indeed be removed.  I have inquired with our ASIC team on what should be done with the inputs of the RGB buses on the controllers.

Please allow a day or two since some of their team is not yet back from the holidays.

Fizix

Yang,

I hope to hear back from them by close of business on Friday, but I have not yet gotten a response.

Fizix

Hi Fizix,

It doesn't matter. I will be waiting for your further information.

Thanks for your support.

Yang

Hi Yang,

There is still no response on our end, but we will let you know when we have any notable updates next week.

Thanks again for your patience,
Michael Ly

Hi Fizix,

OK, I understand. 

Thank you for your help.

Yang