Magenta Research XrtX-A and Mac lappy's

[Bbartlett]

Has anyone else had issues using a mac laptop over a Magenta Cat-5 kit? I had a show at the end of last year where a client brought his mac in at the last moment and we had a magenta transmit receive set up straight to the projector. No one could get image onscreen. So 5 min till doors and not much time to mess around with anything, we grabbed a little easyfade switch and put that inline. Bobs your uncle, away it went. We have had this issue in the past aswell, not being able to get a mac onscreen through a magenta kit. So... this is just something that is on my list of things to investigate. I don't have a mac handy atm to do any testing with, so I thought I would ask if anyone has encountered this in the past or has any clues to what might be going on. One of my co-workers is a mac man, so I will get him to bring his in to see if we can replicate the problem, just checking if this is a know problem or not. Cheers

 

[museav]

Are you sure it is the Magenta gear? I have to wonder if it may not be a resolution or other compatibility issue with the projector. If the EasyFade is operating in Standard (versus Seamless) mode then it is going to be scaling the connected Mac to whatever resolution the EasyFade is configured to output.

A simple test would be to either a) set the Mac to a resolution you know the projector can display or b) connect the Mac direct to the projector. If it works with A or still doesn't work with B then it is probably a projector compatibility rather than Magenta Research issue.

 

[ruinexplorer]

I'm not a Mac man, but I think that the output is a mini-DVI. What you may have been encountering is an EDID issue. Sometimes when using a balun, it cannot pass the EDID information. Usually I have found that if you start the computer while it is connected to the projector directly, and then move it into position with the balun, then you can get your image. My guess is that the EasyFade provided the connection that the Mac needed.

 

[museav]

Look at Page 24 of http://www.magenta-research.com/downloads/XRTx_Manual.pdf as that addresses how the transmitter can approach EDID/DDC.

 

[ruinexplorer]

Excellent! The last Magenta Research box I was using didn't have that feature. Then again, that was a few years ago.

 

[jxgriffi]

EDID issues are the reason I always carry DVI-Detectives (Gefen Inc. - DVI Detective Plus). It makes dealing with things like this much easier.

Another option is the DVI-Parrot (more flexible than the Detective) - DVI Parrot

 

[Bbartlett]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the responses. I am confident res and refresh would have been set to projector native.

I'm not a Mac man, but I think that the output is a mini-DVI. What you may have been encountering is an EDID issue.

Is there a reason this would be specific to Mini-DVI or just DVI for that matter? Our Xrt-X and AK600DP are all VGA input/output so we would have been using a 'whatever-to-VGA' mac adapter (all macs seem to be different, mini DP, DP, DVI, Mini DVI). We don't seem to have the issue when using PC's, however all the PC's we use are direct VGA out, or HD15.

I can see from the replies that this needs more testing on my part. I guess I just wanted to make sure there was no "oh yeah that problem, everyone has that problem. You need to do X". I will get my co-worker to bring his mac in when we are a bit quieter and will test and let you know my results.

 

[jxgriffi]

The problem isn't specific to Mac, it is specific to DVI (devil's video interface). VGA outputs do not have the EDID requirement that DVI's have. So, if you have a PC laptop with a DVI out, you will, more than likely, have the same issue.

If an EDID isn't present (and usually going through something to get to the device will have this problem), you need to tell the output that "Hey, I exist and need to have signal." This is where the DVI Detective and Parrot DVI come into play. They store EDID information in the device themselves, in essence, tricking the output into thinking something is there.

 

[museav]

If an EDID isn't present (and usually going through something to get to the device will have this problem), you need to tell the output that "Hey, I exist and need to have signal." This is where the DVI Detective and Parrot DVI come into play. They store EDID information in the device themselves, in essence, tricking the output into thinking something is there.

If you read the manual page I referenced earlier you'll see that the Magenta transmitter defaults to a generic 'universal' EDID but can also use a connected display and pass through that EDID information or learn and emulate the EDID information from a display. So it seems to already incorporate what devices like the DVI Detective offer.

 

[jxgriffi]

I understand that...we use the Gefen DVI matrix and it too says it has the EDID information imbedded. However, with DVI, it can be very particular. With our matrix, sometimes we still need the DVI detectives on devices...media servers in general. EDID is very finicky and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't...and it's usually right before doors that is doesn't.

That why I mentioned it's always a good idea to have something like these in your bag o' tricks since it generally fixes the issue 9 times out of 10.