Wierd Pixels on Projector

[SerraAva]

So I am doing a show right now, and in the morning the projector was completely fine. The room breaks for lunch and then breakouts. So we go get our lunch and come back into the room to this:

We know its the projector because the plasma and other projector working off of the same DA are both fine. We then tried sending black to it, as saw this:

Now I have been doing AV for a while and never saw something like this. The video guy is in his late 30s doing it his whole life and never saw something like this. Lucky for us, he hit the master reset on the projector and it went away and didn't come back. My question is what was it? It is a 6500 lumen DLP projector. I would like to know in case I ever see it again and the master reset doesn't work.

[Footer]

Looks like an alignment problem of something, but it could have also been a bug caught in one of the inputs. I have seen something similar on LCD panels, and restarting the monitor always fixes it. Fluke?

[cutlunch]

Could be intereference from somewhere. Check for power leads etc to have been moved over the video lead to the projector. This may have thrown it out of sync. Also the projector might be overheating, when were the filters last cleaned?

[icewolf08]

It was just sad that you didn't bring it back lunch!

[SerraAva]

Projector worked fine during rehearsal for 8+ hours. This happened after it was on for 4+ hours. Nothing moved from the night before either. We actually had security guards watching the room while we weren't in there, all night long. It wasn't heat, because we turned it off first, fired it up again and it still had the problem. So we turned it off again and pulled the lens looking for issues. Saw nothing wrong, popped the lens back in, fired it up, still had the problem. Thats when the lead video guy hit the master reset and it was fine, like it never happened, minus the fact he had to refocus the projector again.

Sorry footer and cutlunch, going to have to go with icewolf. I will bring it some lunch tomorrow, hope it excepts the offering, and pray that it likes what is for lunch.

[Charc]

You actually eat during lunch breaks?

The show I'm interning at went into tech today (now technically yesterday). Needless to say there wasn't much for me to do after the hour proceeding the call. The sound of "Channel 51 at 60" and the ever present scenic/lighting designer and director being angry/crabby/annoying put me right to sleep. I didn't feel too guilty about it.

However, I woke up for those equity mandated breaks in order to do work on some of the notes, and I worked through lunch. First day I clocked out at my official end time rather than when the work was done.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by charcoaldabs

You actually eat during lunch breaks?
The show I'm interning at went into tech today (now technically yesterday). Needless to say there wasn't much for me to do after the hour proceeding the call. The sound of "Channel 51 at 60" and the ever present scenic/lighting designer and director being angry/crabby/annoying put me right to sleep. I didn't feel too guilty about it.
However, I woke up for those equity mandated breaks in order to do work on some of the notes, and I worked through lunch. First day I clocked out at my official end time rather than when the work was done.

Yell "COFFEE!" in most houses and you will see people drop everything and leave the place faster then you have seen them move all day long. Its even better if you tell a down rigger that after you get this point set we'll all take coffee.... 20 seconds later he is done... always. Take your lunch/dinner, always, otherwise you will regret it. The show will be there when you come back, I swear.

Also, projectors like tuna, I don't know why. Try it.

[huxley]

Try to consult the expert and professional technician to have good performance of your projector. It would be better for you.

[SerraAva]

Welcome to Corporate AV charcoaldabs. I get dinner, lunch, breakfast, breaks, etc etc. Basically, when ever the client eats, you generally get to eat as well. Once in a while we don't eat because we have to rehearse, fix something, setup/tear down something, or any combination. It's not bad, until you have to learn about all matter of things you don't want to. I know more about selling pharmaceuticals then anything else now, as well as women's heath care, and how to change 'cultures' after yesterday.

The other big problem with it is most speakers put you to sleep, so bring so candy and a paper, because lighting, it is set and forget. It also gets very Repetitive. Theatre is more of an outlet for me then fun now. It is still fun however, otherwise I wouldn't do it. It also pays, very well.

Anyway, off the tangent. Don't think we have tuna for lunch today, so I will order room service for it. It is DLP as well, millions of mirrors may look great, but I look at like a million more things to go wrong.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by SerraAva

...Now I have been doing AV for a while and never saw something like this. The video guy is in his late 30s doing it his whole life and never saw something like this. Lucky for us, he hit the master reset on the projector and it went away and didn't come back. My question is what was it? ...

This may sound "out there" but is it particularly dry in the ballroom? Perhaps static electricity caused by all those middle-manager attendees shuffling off to lunch at the same time? I was once in a ballroom and every time I came back to the FOH riser and touched the lightboard, the static electricity would crash the console. I solved the problem by pouring a long thin puddle of water on the carpet in front of the step units.

My other thought would be EMI. Is the projector a 230V or 120V model, and is it plugged into the wall or a an A/V distro? Perhaps an ice machine or some other motor turned on during lunch? Is the projector taking an RGBHV signal or SDI line? Is a Humbucker installed inline?