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AVITECH INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

MCC-8000 Series Quick Start Guide with Galaxy

Dated: March, 2006

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MCC-8000 Series & Galaxy

• The Galaxy software was designed to be used with MCC-8000 Series modules. This software can be used with your own PC or Laptop and can control up to 15 modules. We recommend that you use this with up to four MCC-8000 series modules in a single group. Although you can have up to 15 modules in multiple groups, the scope of this document covers up to 4 modules in a single group. Please follow this guide to quickly setup your system.

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Overview

• Unpacking the modules• Setting up the modules• Starting Galaxy• Setting the output resolution• Turning on/off options• Window Layout• Saving your work• Simple control panel

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Unpacking the Modules

• Your modules should come in a large box with individual boxes inside

• On the top of each box should be DVI, DB9, and (power cables—US customers only)

• Do not throw these items away (If you lose these items, you will need to purchase new ones)

• You will need a male to female DB9 cable (provided upon request) or an RJ45 cable (not provided)– You can use either cable to communicate from your PC/Laptop

to the module, but do not use both at the same time– You will need both types of cables if a firmware upgrade is

required

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Warnings

• If you need to remove the front cover to clean the dust filter, make sure to power off the unit first.

• If you are using a Key Pad for control, make sure to power off the unit before connecting the female DB9 connector.

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Setting up the Modules

• Rack the modules as close together as possible

• Up to 15 modules can be cascaded in a single communication chain

• Follow the connection diagram to the right to connect your system

• Pay special attention to the order of the modules and their rotary ID

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Starting Galaxy

• Prior to starting Galaxy, you want to make sure your Laptop or PC, used to control the modules, is set to the following IP address 210.100.100.150 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0

• The Galaxy software needs to be unzipped into its own folder, there is no installation like regular Windows based software

• If you are using IP to control, make sure you can ping the module at 210.100.100.151

• Start Galaxy by double clicking Galaxy.exe and choose either Serial Port or User Key In IP and OK at the prompt

• Galaxy will detect all the modules that are connected and once you make sure they are all there, select OK to continue

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Setting the Output Resolution

• At the Galaxy control menu, you will see three menus, they are as follows:– Heads up menu– Galaxy control menu– Option menu

• To change the output resolution:– Select Settings—Set Output Mode– Select either 50 or 60Hz and then select the desired

resolution from the drop down list– Select OK to finalize changes or Cancel to discard

changes

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Galaxy Menus

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Menu Hierarchy

• System Parameter– Affects all modules

regardless of the group it belongs to

• Group Parameter– Affects all modules in

the selected group

• Module Parameter– Affects only the

selected module

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System Parameter

• BMP Label Font Type: Sets font properties for Asian fonts• Delete from Flash: Used to discard all group information and start

from scratch• Update to Flash: used to update all information to flash• All Meter: Turns on and off all audio meters• All Label: Turns on and off all labels

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Group Parameter• Meter: Allows users to change the

properties for the audio meters• Label: Allows users to change the

properties for the English labels• Border: Allows users to change the

properties for the 3D border• Alarm: Allows users to set the

properties for the alarm• Clock: Allows users to set the

properties for the clock• Under scan: Allows users to adjust

under scan settings• Com A: Allows users to set the Com

port properties• Auto Aspect Ratio: Allows users to

lock the aspect ratio of the video • Output Timing: Allows users to set

the output timing

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Module Parameter• Reset VCC: Allows users to reset

the selected module• IP Address: Allows users to

change the IP address of the module

• Y Delay: Allows users to set the Y Delay for Universal modules

• Auto Parameter: Allows users to lock the video aspect ratio

• Output Timing: Allows users to set the output timing

• Clock Window: Allows users to turn on and off the module clock

• VGA In: Allows users to use a VGA based overlay

• Tally: allows users to configure the tally properties for the onboard GPIO contact closures

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Turning ON/OFF Options

• There are several options that can be turned on and off with your MCC-8000 series modules, they are as follows:– Alarms– Labels– Audio Meters– Clocks– Tally

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Alarms

• There are currently two levels of alarms for the MCC-8000 series module, they are No Video and No Audio alarms that appear on the group display only.

• To turn on alarms:– Right click next to Group in the Options

menu and select Settings—Group Parameters—Alarm

– Make sure Module Alarm Switch and Processor Alarm Switch is checked

– To turn on No Video, select Video Alarm Switch

– To turn on No Audio, select Audio Alarm Switch

– Under Border option, you can choose to make the video border turn red or flash when an alarm is triggered

– You can also assign a GPO contact closure to each alarm so that the alarm creates a voltage on the contact when it is triggered

– You can also adjust the reaction time in seconds before the alarm appears

– Select OK to finalize changes or Cancel to discard changes

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Asian BMP Label• To activate Asian fonts for labels,

select Settings—System Parameter—BMP Label Font Type

• Select the Font, Font Style, and Size from the list and OK to finalize changes

– Make sure Asian characters appear under sample

• To enter a label for a window, right click on the window and select Label

• Make sure to check BMP label and under Line 1, enter in a label in the desired language using the Windows language bar

• Repeat for all windows in the group

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Labels• To Turn on Labels, select

Settings—Group Parameter—Label

• BMP Label is for Asian fonts• OSD Position allows you to

change the height of the label by clicking above or below the blue line (Default is 1)

• Label Outside of Window allows users to place the window outside of the video with pixel loss to the image

• Text Transparency Switch allows users to set the transparency level of the entire label including background

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Export/Import Labels• This feature allows users to

export labels to Microsoft Excel or notepad to be edited externally

• The easiest way to do this is to export the file to XLS or TXT to view the file structure

• Edit the text in the file starting with Group 1, Module 1

• When you are done entering labels, save the file and then import it using Galaxy

• The onscreen labels will automatically update

• With Excel, you can also edit clock labels

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Audio Meters• To turn on audio meters:

– Select Settings—Group Parameter—Meter

– Under Display Meter, select Meter SW and then All or check the boxes for the audio meters you want to enable

– For analog audio and AES/EBU select the last three boxes

– To turn off audio meters, manually uncheck all the boxes followed by the Meter SW

– You can also select the group of meters you want to monitor and also adjust the width and transparency values of the meters

– To adjust meters for individual windows, right click on the window and select Set Meter

– Select OK to finalize changes, cancel to discard changes, and update to update the display with changes

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Clocks

• Galaxy automatically turns on all clocks

• Each module is able to output one clock

• To turn on the clock, select Settings—Module Parameter—Clock Window

• To adjust the clock setting, right click on the clock and select Settings

• Select OK to finalize changes, Cancel to discard changes, or Update to send changes to the group display

• Border Switch: Turns the border on/off

• Clock Hide Switch: Hides the clock in full screen mode

• Set Time: Allows changes made to the clock time

• Current Time: Synchronizes the clock to the PC time

• Count: Changes the clock from count up or count down timer

• Label: Displays a label under the clock

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MCC-8000 Time Code

• Cascade the modules so the one with the time code option is the master

• Modules with the time code option have BNC ports #11 VITC Analog) and #12 (LTC)

• If there are multiple groups and each group requires time code, then the master in each group must have the time code option

• Each module can output only one clock, the more modules you have in a group, the more clocks you can display

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MCC-8000 Time Code Setup• To Activate Time Code

Feature– Select ID 1 from the option

menu– Select Settings—Module

Parameter and make sure Clock Window is checked

– Right click on ID 1 clock and select Setting

– Under Source, select LTC or VITC

– Select Update and then OK to finalize

You can sync the clocks from the slave modules by setting the source to Slave in their appropriate clock setting

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Safe Area• This new feature requires the latest

firmware and software• The safe area is a yellow box that

shows the 4:3 cutout of a 16:9 image• To enable safe area, right click on an

image and select Set Safe Area• Then select Show and then OK to

finalize changes• Finally set the window to 16:9 and the

yellow box will show the 4:3 image• This will only work if the window is set

to 16:9; at all other aspect ratios, the safe area will not be correct

• If your output is 16:9 (1920x1080) then you can just set the layout to 2x2 and the aspect ratio will be correct

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Tally

• There are nine GPIO contact closures on the back of each unit used for tally– Input 1+2 are for processor 1– Input 2 can be used as an

output for No Video alarms– Input 3+4 are for processor 2– Input 4 can be used as an

output for No Audio alarms– Input 5+6 are for processor 3– Input 7+8 are for processor 4– Input 9 is a common ground

• To adjust the tally properties, select Settings—Group Parameter—Tally– Choose the color for each tally

(Tally 1 and Tally 2 are triggered by GPIO, Tally 3 is trigged only with serial)

– GPI: Choose if you want the tally to change the label background color or border color

• Select OK to finalize changes or Cancel to discard changes

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Window Layout

• Positioning: Drag a window anywhere within the control window and it will move on the group display

• Resizing: Drag the border of a window to the desired size and it will resize on the group display

• Full screen: Right click on a window and select Full Screen

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Window Layout Continued

• Right click on a window and select Size and then the size you want to change it to

• To fix the aspect ratio, right click on the window and select Size—Lock Aspect Ratio, right click on the window again and select Size—Set Aspect Ratio (4:3) or (16:9), now when you change the width of the window, the height will automatically adjust to match the aspect ratio

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Window Layout Continued

• If you have four modules and want to quickly configure them in a 4x4 layout:– Select ID1 from the Option menu – Then select Special Screen Layout—Layout 2

(Default Others)– Finally select a row for the first four windows

• Repeat this for each additional module (up to four modules can be configured like this)

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Windows Layout Continued

• To adjust the position and size of each window by pixel:– Select the ID of the module– Select Position Fine Adjustment or Size Fine

Adjustment from the Option menu– Select Real Size and then the window you want to

adjust– Use the arrow keys to adjust the size and position by

pixel– When you are finished, select OK to finalize changes

or Cancel to discard changes

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Windows Layout Continued

• When scaling the video window for MCC-8004a and MCC-8004d series, you should make sure not to stretch the image too big because the image inside the window can only stretch from 64x48~816x465 for NTSC and 64x48~816x560 for PAL. After it passes the limit, the window will continue to stretch to 960x600 but the video inside will not resulting in a black border around the video. This is a scaling limitation.

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Windows Layout Continued

• If you want to maintain the aspect ratio of the image inside the window, you can set the aspect ratio by selecting Settings—Group Parameter—Auto Aspect Source Ratio—On. This will maintain a the aspect ratio of the video even if the window is stretched. If the image is 4:3 and the window is stretched to 16:9, the result will be two black bars going down the left and right side of the window. If the image is 16:9 and the window has been scaled to 4:3, then there will be a letterbox effect.

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Saving Presets

• To save a preset:– Select Save File from the Option menu– Make sure the Flash button on the top right

hand corner of the menu is checked– Enter a unique name for the preset (if you

plan to use a key pad, use the numbers 1-9 for your preset names)

– Select OK to finalize or Cancel to discard changes

– Repeat for every preset you want to save

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Saving to Latest

• The latest file is the layout that gets loaded every time the module is powered on

• To save the layout to latest, create the layout and then close Galaxy

• When prompted to save, select Yes

• This will save the current layout to Latest

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Backup and Restore Presets• Use this feature to backup your

presets to restore them in case of emergencies or configure multiple groups with the same configuration

• Select Help—Backup All Information

• This will create the following c:\Avitech_VCC\Backup

• To restore the layout to the module, select Help—Restore Module Information

• Afterwards, you will need to close Galaxy and power cycle the module

• Make sure to select Yes when prompted before exiting Galaxy

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Simple Control Panel

• To setup the module for key pad control:– Select Set Com A from the Option menu in Galaxy– Set the Baud Rate to 9600– Set the Mode to Load File– Select OK to continue– You will be prompted to exit, save, and power cycle

the modules– Shutdown Galaxy and select Yes when prompted to

save– Power cycle the module

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Simple Control Panel

Note: You need to purchase the MCC-SCP option to use the following feature

Warning: When connecting the key pad to the module, be sure not to short out pin #5

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Simple Control Panel Continued

• Connect the Key Pad• Hit enter to initiate communicate (you should see the

window borders flash immediately after you do this)• Use the + and – key to scroll through the presets and

load them• To load a specific preset, select the module ID number

followed by the preset number (1-9)• To save current layout to latest, select “*”,“/”,”Enter” in

order. It takes 5 seconds to save the file. DO NOT POWER OFF DURING THIS TIME, OR SAVE OPERATION WILL BE FAIL !!!

• To exit key pad mode, select Esc

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SCP Additional Commands• File Load Mode• Preset file must save by PC as proper

filename, for example : key 19 represents Display 1, Preset 9, the filename must be “9.GP1”, available hot key and file name range from 00=“0.GP0” to 99=“9.GP9”

• For Example: – 11 -> Display 1, Preset 1– 19 -> Display 1, Preset 9– 99 -> Display 9, Preset 9– “-” -> Previous Preset (the preset that

was loaded before)– “+” -> Next Preset (in sequence)

• “+”,”-” key load preset by circular sequence order within a group,

• example: 11->12->17->18--->11->12……

• To switch to Display mode, press “/”,“/”,”Enter” keys in proper order.

• Display Mode• Examples:• ”Enter” --> Display all images.• “3”, ”Enter” --> Image#3 full screen•   ”5+9+7+2”,”Enter” --> quad display

image #5,#9,#7,#2•   ”3+6*3+12*5” ,”Enter” --

> display image #3,#6~#8,#12~#16 by 3*3 style

• “-6*3” ,”Enter” --> remove image #6~#8 from display list.

• “+6*3” ,”Enter” --> add image #6~#8 to display list

• To switch to File Load mode, press “/”,“/”,”Enter” keys in proper order.

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Review

• Unpacking the modules• Setting up the modules• Starting Galaxy• Setting the output resolution• Turning on/off options• Window Layout• Saving your work• Simple control panel

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Technical Support

• If you have any questions regarding the information provided in this guide, please call our technical support line at 425-885-3863 or our toll free line at 1-877-AVI-TECH.

• To contact the author of this document, please send an email to Thomas@avitechvideo.com.