[ANSWERED] PJ Link and Panasonic projector

eamon

Hi all

I am currently trying to automate the turn on & off elements of my gallery set up

I have 1no. projectors that I wish to control via Isadora and utilise the timeclock actor to switch them on/off

I am struggling to get the PJlink actor to work. I keep getting the error of "initial response not PJlink" whenever I attempt any command.

I am looking to control 2no. projectors - Panasonic EW530 wxga via network.

I have checked the manual and it possess a section on PJlink with specific codes. I have tried these codes to no avail.

I have tried AV Mute OFF (30) and AV Mute ON (31) amongst others.

I can confirm:

a) Both projectors are on the same network.

b) I can ping their IP addresses -both of them

c) I can access the web control suite via browser on both projectors

4) The port is correctly set 1024

5) The network cables are tested and working.

6) subnet is set correctly.

7) The password is in the correct slot.... I was entering the user name for a while...

8) The 2no. cat 5 cables are patched via a simple switch to the main mac running Isadora 3.0.7.

9) IP Range: 192.168.1.*** and Subnet: 255.255.255.0

I would be grateful if any one could point me in the right direction as to where I may be going wrong...?

many thanks

eamon

Computer Spec:

Mac Tower Xenon Quad Core 2010

High Sierra (max os available)

32GB Ram

SSD

2no. networks, wifi for internet access and ethernet for static IP to connect to the projectors.

Unit has been recently revamped and re-formatted.

Woland

@eamon said:

4) The port is correctly set 1024

From our article "Using the Send PJLink Actor":

STEP 3: Get the IP Address, Port and Password for Your Projector

Then you need to find out your projector's IP Address, which you will need to discover by looking through the projector's menus. Please refer to your projector's manual to find out how to see it's IP Address.

IP Addresses always have an IP Port number too, but most often this will already be set to the default port for PJLink which is 4352. Not all projectors allow you to change this port.

**PRO TIP** Some Panasonic projectors list a port number that defaults to 1024 in the same section where you'll see the IP Address – but this is not the IP Port! It is used for sending "pseudo" serial commands over the network As far as we know, you can't change the PJLink port on Panasonic projectors!

mark

@eamon said:

4) The port is correctly set 1024

This is most likely the problem. As @Woland pointed out, our knowledge base article points out that the interface on the Panasonic really makes you think 1024 is the correct port number. But I'm almost 100% sure it is not. Use the default port: 4352. That's the agreed upon port number for PJ Link.

Best Wishes,
Mark

DillTheKraut

Just a little hint.

@woland said

– but this is not the IP Port!

This isn't perfectly correct. It still is an IP Port, but a different one for a different service.

(Edit: I see now that the tutorial doesn't say it would not be A port in general, but not be THE port wanted. But I'll keep the text for others to maybe understand the concept of ports)

As one device can have several services published at one ip address, ports are used to separate them. Every service used with the same IP, needs to use his own port. It isn't possible (without extra special services), to address two different services on the same IP with the same Port. Most used services like web, ssh remote, FTP, etc., have a default port defined by international standards. Technically, you could use them differently for what ever service and vice versa, but there are written conventions to have things working internationally. Anyway, there are special cases, where you even want or need to use a different port, as it would be standardized. But some need to be on the standardized port and are not changeable, like ArtNet (6454) as all hardware devices work this way and an ArtNet based network would have issues if you'd change this on one device.

On a Panasonic projector e.g. the default ports would be the web interface (HTTP Port 80), The secure TLC web interface (HTTPS 443), Artnet (6454), PJLink (4352) and maybe some more

For sake of completeness, there are 65535 possible ports for TCP and again the same for UDP. But the first 0 - 1023 Ports are reserved for privileged services as HTTP (80), SSH (23), etc. On your own computer/server you are free to use what ever you want. But be aware, that it could interfere with conventions and might not work in conjunction with public or default devices.

You can find a listing with the commonly used port/protocol combinations at this Wikipedia article.

Anyway, the port to use for the client, is always defined by the service (therefor the server). If the service port on a closed source device is not changeable, you have to use the given one. If one port is already set for a service, it is very likely that another service on this device does have a different port. Like the 1024 TCP Command port at the Panasonic can't be given to the PJLink port, which means with high chances, it must be a different port.

Cheers, Dill

mark

@dillthekraut said:

This isn't perfectly correct. It still is an IP Port, but a different one for a different service.

Thank you for making this clarification; you are 100% correct on all of these useful points. I can update the Knowledge Base article to reflect this. But the main point is, as pointed out in the article, the user interface is confusing to the user, because it looks like this might be the PJ Link Port. Let's see if setting to 4352 solves @eamon's problem.

Best Wishes,
Mark

Kathmandale

@dillthekraut

That's a great explanation thank you. Ports have always been one of life's little mysteries to me, something I use all the time and happily type in the numbers that match at each end but with no real understanding of what's going on.

eamon

Hi all

Many thanks for the pointers and information.

I have got the pjlink working and the issue was correctly guessed at to the port number of 1024. In the web interface of the projector, I had changed this number to be 4352 thinking I was doing the right thing.

I have set up both projectors to auto start and auto stop via the pjlink. Always knew you could do it but I have never done it before. Fantastic and apart from the port issue works a treat.

Many thanks to all. One thing I have always liked about this forum (more of a lurker) is that there is an abundance of knowledge and helpfulness. Isadora is definitely community centred.

I have followed the GURU sessions - always after the broadcast due to small kids being present. The information and the clarity of the teaching is fantastic.

I have learnt so much and yet know so little about what the program can do!

Thanks all

eamon

DillTheKraut

@mark

As @Maki just answered to this old thread with the same issue on optoma projectors, I googled for the port number. It seams 4352 is commonly given to Projector Link (PJLink) protocol, which results in being the port number to be used in probably all projectors supporting this protocol independently from manufacture.

There is a Wikipedia article listing the commonly used port/protocol combinations. The PJLink protocol is not listed here. Non the less, it is given by the official PJlink specifications on page 8/29.

mark

@woland said:

our article "Using the Send PJLink Actor"

@DillTheKraut @Woland @eamon

I have updated the PJ Link knowledge base article with this new addition. Do you think that will help other users avoid confusion regarding the port number?

Best Wishes,
Mark

Important Note: The IP Port for PJ Link is Almost Always 4352!

According to the PJ Link Specification, the default IP Port used for PJ Link is 4352. The menus/user interfaces on some projectors (notably Panasonic) might lead you to believe that you can change the PJ Link port number. But our experience and user feedback indicate this is almost never the case. Always try 4352 first!

Woland

@mark said:

Do you think that will help other users avoid confusion regarding the port number?

I think your update looks great

eamon

HI

I realised I did not reply to Mark's edit. My brevity is down to being in charge of my galleries covid response. There is a small amount of work in it....

I concur with Woland that the update makes the information clearer and I now have full control over 3 of my panasonic projectors. The Pjlink works brilliantly.

I am looking at triggering the start up's/turn off's via isadora and I am wondering if there is a more elegant solution.

I have the units linked to the Time of Day actor for ON/OFF but I am wondering if there is a calendar style actor available. It is not a big deal to create a Time of Day actor for each action but I am figuring somebody has probably asked this question before!

Many thanks

eamon

I

Michel

@eamon

I made this patch a few years ago to auto start and stop a Barco Beamer. You have to actively say on what day it should not start up, default is every day. You also have to swap the user actor that controls the Barco with the PJ Link actor.

AutoOnOff.izz

Best Michel

eamon

@michel

Many thanks.

I must say, I do find it fascinating where you delve into user actors created by people who know what they are doing. Brilliantly simple yet I would not have come with that.

This is fantastic. I did not believe there would be that level of detail but mainly thought there was actor named oddly (to me) that would achieve this.

Thanks again.

Very much appreciated.

eamon