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Video Sensor Issues?


egcarter

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Has anyone had any issues using the Video Sensor loop in the MC to control SA cable boxes? I have an 8300HD and a 3250HD plugged into video sensor inputs to control the power situation since there are no discrete power commands. I know about the Power On on entering a channel number, but if you have this sort of capability, why not?

It doesn't work for me on either of them.

I also have a JVC 30000 D-VHS player plugged into a third Video sensor input. That works perfectly. And yes, there is a video signal coming out of each of the cable boxes' composite outputs when the power is on and none when off.

Perplexed,

Eric

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Ironically I've tried the same setup and couldn't get it to work on the Digital Boxes. Basically I left the power on them all the time, and had to add a shortcut to the 10.5 to turn the boxes on if they need to with the IR Command.

It's not perfect but it works for now until the Outlets are out.

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It's a flaw with the system. Some devices do not send a video signal until they are warmed up a bit. The MC only waits so long to receive the slight voltage from the device video out. I had this problem with a DVD Player, and it's just something they'll have to fix within the composer. The video sensing works for devices which have instant video output, but not with ones that are delayed.

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Actually, I believe the SA cable boxes are different than most. The video sensors on Control4's controllers sense NTSC video, NOT vertical and/or horizontal sync, like most other video sensing equipment. And unfortunately for all of us installers, SA cable boxes "bleed" NTSC video signals. Sucks but it's true.

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Yeah - I was told simular. I tried using it in the beginning and was told most devices actually still send a signal over these ports and thus makes the signal userless to detect (it's always there). I was dissapointed as I figured ALL of the TV's we've got would go through a video sensor loop (you know how many people just love to walk up to a TV and turn it off). Oh well.

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Well, there is one thing that you can do to fix this - you can use a third-party video sensor (i.e. Niles - I think the SAS-1 does the trick). You can have the Niles equipment sense the video separately and send 12V to one of the contact sensors on a controller or Relay/Contact extender). That way, you get a more reliable video sensor (which senses the sync, not NTSC). And you can use the Green (Y) from component video to sense that video as well with the Niles equipment.

Confirmed all of this THEORETICALLY on the phone with both Niles and C4, though neither of those companies could test the other's equipment,

But the idea is sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A Renegade Solution? Even if the composite video is always sending 'signal' to the sense input, try splitting the Green Component Video line (with a Y cable) and run one end directly to the composite video sense input, the other continues with the RGB run... or, you could split the S-Video out and try feeding the composite video sense with that too. These are just ideas, as I haven't had a problem with video sense and haven't tried these solutions either.

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