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KB01016 - How to set up Display/Projector Control on an AT-HDVS System

SKUs: AT-HDVS-RX, AT-HDVS-150-RX

The AT-HDVS system allows you the ability to control an RS232(aka serial) enabled display/projector either by manually pressing the display on/off button or through the use of the automatic display control feature which is triggered off the connection or removal of a source on the AT-HDVS’s transmitter. Is it required that your display accept RS232/serial control for the RS232 display control function as the HDVSsystem’s RS232 display control function only supports RS232/serial.

Please confirm your display/projectors RS232 requirements for: Baud rate, data bits, parity, and stop bit and flow control.

Atlona recommends testing your displays RS232 commands and port by connecting a PC directly to the display and sending its RS232 commands using a serial program. A free program can be downloaded here. If you have trouble controlling your display/projector from a PC, please contact the display/projector manufacturer to check if there are any specific settings that need to be enabled/disabled for serial control to work.

Once you have confirmed the commands you have will control your display/projector from a PC, we are ready to program the AT-HDVS-RX with these commands. To program RS232 commands into an AT-HDVS-RX please follow these steps:

  1. Start by confirming you have compatible transmitters and receivers: You should be using one AT-HDVS-TX or one AT-HDVS-TX-WP transmitter coupled with an AT-HDVS-RX receiver.
  1. After confirming you have a compatible TX and RX, we can then download the the HDVS Control Software which is used for programming the settings and control commands on a HDVS-RX: http://atlona.com/downloads/drivers/AT-HDVS_v228_Software.zip - Please note, if using this on a Win10 machine, install the Gillum font file otherwise a Runtime 380 error will prevent you from running the software (until the font is installed). More info can be found in this article.
  1. You will then want to connect your AT-HDVS-RX to your computer using a USB to serial cable with the other end connected through a serial to 3 wire bare wire cable which will be connected to the rs232 port on the HDVS-RX. Please see here for instructions on how to make this cable.
  1. Before launching the software please confirm what COM port is being used by the AT-HDVS-RX:   (A)  Access the Device Manager on your computer (part of Control Panel)                                           (B) Under "Ports (COM&LPT): Find the receivers COM port which will typically be labeled as the manufacturer of your USB to Serial (RS232) cable:     Note: If unsure which COM port is connected, unplug the USB cable and plug it back in. It will disappear and reappear on the COM port list.  
  1. After confirming your com port, launch the HDVS software and select the appropriate com port before pressing “connect”.

Please note that the software may show a green “Connected” button but this does not mean an actual connection exists between the PC and the HDVS-RX. This instead means the computer is seeing the USB to serial cable but there might be no communication between the cable and the AT-HDVS-RX.

  1. We can confirm a proper connection has been made by clicking the “Read” buttons in the HDVS Receiver settings of the software. Clicking this button should allow all of the settings currently on the RX to be read back by the software which will, in turn, fill out each text box accordingly:

  1. Once we have confirmed the HDVS through the software, you will need to access the projector tab, enter the display/projectors baud rate parameters and enter the corresponding RS232 code for display ON and for display OFF. If your display requires a carriage return, you will need to press the 'CR" button. This will produce a black dot and the end of the command line.

  1. Then you will press the send button to save these commands into RX’s memory.
  1. You can confirm that commands were saved by erasing the text from the Display On and Display Off fields and then pressing “Read” which is next to “Send”. The commands should be read back by the software and you should be able to see the same commands as you originally saved.
  1. Please note the AT-HDVS system has the ability to control your display/video in a few ways. Please see below for a description of each one of the 4 “Display Mode’s” offered by the AT-HDVS-RX:

  1. Atlona recommends using DispSW AVon or DispSW AVSW as the best settings for controlling your display via RS232.

After the programming of RS232 commands has been completed on the HDVS-RX, you are ready to test the systems control over your display:

  1. Please connect the AT-HDVS-RX to your display’s RS232 port and confirm the HDVS-TX is connected to the HDVS-RX and both are powered up (power supplied to RX)
  2. Atlona recommends first connecting the TX and RX and seeing that video is able to pass. With video passing, so should RS232 data.
  3. Press the Display On/Off button on the TX which should in turn toggle your display On/Off.
  4. Please note that the HDVS system does not know what the current power state of your display is, therefore it simply flips between sending an ON command and an OFF command (every other time). Feel free to press the button a few times if you are unable to control your display/projector at the first button press.
  5. If you are unable to control the display, try flipping the TX and RX pins on the AT-HDVS-RX which simulates adding a null modem adapter between the HDVS-RX’s RS232 output and the RS232 input of the display/projector.

If using a projector, you may want to see this article for more info on how to optimize the HDVS system for your needs:

Article ID: KB01016  

 

 

 

 

 

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