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Displaying Full Screen Images Using LightCrafter 4500

Dennys Pelegrin
Prodigy 60 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DLPC3435

Hello All,

I'm trying to use the LightCrafter 4500 for a 3D printing application to display a sequence of full screen images similar to the way images are displayed here: http://nanodlp.com:8080/

I have the DLP connected to a PC using an HDMI cable and would like to do this for several hundred images, but I am unsure of how to do so. I have looked through several posts in the forums and I think what most people do is that they put images into the flash memory and display what is stored in the memory, but flash memory does not have enough storage for what I am trying to do. If possible, could someone please provide a step-by-step method as to how I can display a sequence of several full screen images in a non-windows operating system environment (full screen images that take up the absolute entirety of the monitor) without the use of flash memory? I would also like to be able to control when these images change (sometimes I might want an image to display for one second while another displays for two seconds).

Side Note: I am using LabVIEW to control all my other hardware, so if this can somehow be done in LabVIEW too, then that would be great.

Thank you for your time,

Dennys Pelegrin

  • 0
    TI__Expert 3240 points

    Hello there, thanks for utilizing E2E. That is a great question! If I understand correctly, you are trying to stream in patterns using the HDMI input and you are looking for a way to control the timing of the pattern progression to have variable exposure times. I will do a bit of research and try to get you a clear answer tomorrow.

    Best,
    Danny W

  • 0
    TI__Expert 3240 points

    Hi Dennys,

    After doing some research I believe I can give you an answer. The video mode allows for different resolutions with the same aspect ratio, but to achieve full screen resolution in pattern sequence mode (pixel accurate) the HDMI input resolution must be 912 x 1140. This information can be found in section 1.4 of the user’s guide.

    The way you are trying to use the pattern sequence mode to stream over HDMI is not in the recommended use case. The suggested application is to have pattern exposure times less than the VSYNC to VSYNC timing (typically 60Hz) from the HDMI. This ensures no data is changed while the selected pattern is being displayed. In the user’s guide “Figure 3-10. VSYNC Pattern Trigger Mode” shows that the first VSYNC signal coming from the HDMI source will start the pattern sequence. To clarify the user’s guide, the VSYNC signal does not act like a trigger to display the next pattern; it is a signal to notify the arrival of new data. The exposure time for each pattern can be controlled through the GUI under the ‘pattern sequence’ -> ‘sequence settings [variable exposure]’ tab, as described in section 3.3.1 of the user’s guide.

    Some brainstorming has come up with some possible workaround you might want to try.

    1. In order to ensure the same data is being displayed you could control the period of the VSYNC signal to change at the end of the programmed pattern exposure. 
    2. Or control the number of 60 Hz frames your image is being sent over the HDMI port (from the source) to match the exposure timing you set in the GUI to be displayed.  

    I hope that clears things up for you. Feel free to reach out with any more questions you might have.

     

    Best,    

    ~Danny W 

  • 0 in reply to Danny White
    Prodigy 60 points

    Dear Danny,

    Thank you for your reply. I have some more questions that I would appreciate your help answering.

    Pattern sequence mode has a fixed exposure time. What if I want to trigger the change in the pattern from an external signal such as from LabVIEW or from other hardware that is connected to the DLP?

    Pattern sequence mode assumes that each pattern/image (slices for 3D printing) are stored in the flash. What if have more than 100+ images? These won’t fit on the flash. Thus I need to display these images using HDMI connected to the PC.

    However my question is, when I connect the DLP to the PC, it shows up as a second monitor, thus displaying the Windows desktop and the Windows environment. How can I get it to display only my images in full screen?


    Sincerely,

    Dennys Arturo Pelegrin Santos

  • 0 in reply to Dennys Pelegrin
    TI__Expert 3240 points
    Hey Dennys,

    Pattern sequence mode has a fixed exposure time. What if I want to trigger the change in the pattern from an external signal such as from LabVIEW or from other hardware that is connected to the DLP?

    -The Pattern Sequence Mode does have fixed pattern exposure times, also there is a variable exposure pattern sequence setting that lets you control the exposure time for each pattern (section 3.3.2 of the user's guide). Both modes can utilize an external trigger section 3.3.1 of the user's guide, the trigger can be 3.3v or 1.8v depending on the voltage you select with the jumpers on the J10 connector . From my understanding, the next pattern will not be displayed until the EVM detects the external trigger.


    "Pattern sequence mode assumes that each pattern/image (slices for 3D printing) are stored in the flash. What if have more than 100+ images? These won’t fit on the flash. Thus I need to display these images using HDMI connected to the PC.
    However my question is, when I connect the DLP to the PC, it shows up as a second monitor, thus displaying the Windows desktop and the Windows environment. How can I get it to display only my images in full screen?"

    -I am doing a little more research on this matter, but I do know you can extend your monitor in the Windows display settings (to make the lightcrafter's image like a second monitor, not a mirror image). Make sure the lightcrafter's display is set to 912 x 1140 to get a full screen image, as seen in Section 1.4 line 20 of the user's guide.

    Hope that helps some,

    ~Danny W
  • 0 in reply to Danny White
    Prodigy 60 points
    Danny,

    Thank you for the response.

    I have already connected the DLP to my Windows PC in "Extend" mode. Thus, the DLP acts as a extend monitor with resolution of 912x1140px.

    How can I display my images (slices for 3D printing) on the DLP (extended monitor) in full screen mode? The images that appear on the DLP are in a Windows environment, thus always containing the images in a Windows container which has the Minimize/Maximize/Close button...

    Even if I figure out a way to get the images to display in full screen mode, how would I go about changing switching the images after each exposure? Would I have to build a Windows based program? If so, then would I need to the use the trigger on the DLP? How does the Pattern sequence mode or variable exposure pattern mode come into play with this method?

    Thank you for your time,
    Dennys Pelegrin
  • 0 in reply to Dennys Pelegrin
    TI__Expert 3240 points

    Hi there Dennys,

    Sorry about the hiatus. I have got some more information in the mean time on how the  video mode can be used in the type of application you are describing. The device transmitting the image data will need to know when the pattern exposure is complete. There are two output triggers from the EVM that can be utilized. These triggers would be used to notify the device transmitting the image data to move to the next image. It should be noted that the image will not change until the next VSYNC signal is received by the EVM. More information on the output trigger can be found in section "3.3.4 Trigger Controls".

     

     

     

    I understand this will be difficult/awkward to implement using a PC as the transmitting device, but hopefully you can see how this can be achieved in a system design.

    Please reach out if you have any more questions.

    Best,
    Danny W

  • 0 in reply to Danny White
    Prodigy 10 points

    I'm basically trying to achieve the same results. I understand that I need to control the display of my video card so that it is at the correct resolution (easy enough) but how do I get control over the VSYNC signal and the frame rate ?

  • 0 in reply to Daniel Emond
    TI__Mastermind 30600 points
    Hi Daniel,

    The VSYNC signal comes from the video source which is defined by the frame rate. These parameters are controlled on the source side and how you modify them will depend on your set-up.

    -Paul
  • 0 in reply to Daniel Emond
    TI__Expert 3240 points

    Hey Daniel,

    After doing some digging it appears there is a way to achieve what you are trying to do, but not by modifying the VSYNC and frame rate. What has been done in the past is for user's to use a third party program (such as MatLab, but there might be others) to stitch together the desired images with proper exposure times into a video file. When the pattern sequence mode has the proper exposure sequence created you can then play the video full screen.

     

    I hope that helps!


    ~Danny W 

  • 0 in reply to Danny White
    Prodigy 75 points

    Hi Daniel. I saw this post and your answer. Do you know if it is possible or even recommended to display still images to the DLP but not using HDMI interface but only the RGB24 format (that would be, create a timing sequence to send pixel values), for my application it is not required to transmit video, just images. Do you understand what I mean??

    I was thinking about writing a program that loads an image, and then transmits the RGB 24 bit information directly to the DLPC3435 controller.

    Thanks a lot


    Antonio