Hi from The Hunter Valley

[Old Salt]

Check to see if your controller will handle it. My Kulp K4-PB drops to 20fps when I go over 800 pixels/string.

 

[franky_888]

You guys might have to correct me but I was planning on using 4 channels to run the tree ( 3200 pixels for tree and approx 50-100 for topper) can anyone see a problem with running 800 for 3 channels and ~900 for the 4th

Falcon controllers can run up to 1024 pixels for 20fps or 680(?) for 40fps sequences, again this is up to. When you add in differential receivers (such as on the F48) it gets trickier, because you have to divide that 1024/680 up between all of the differentials in a set ratio (ie Dif1: 340, Dif2: 170 Dif3: 170 (680 Total))

Additionally, your actual tree (minus the topper) will need to be evenly divisible by the number of ports, 3200/3 = 1066.67 which won't work, if you make it an even number of ports (2/4/8/10 etc) this works, but 3200/2=1200 (too many), 3200/4=800 (too many if 40fps) 3200/6=533.33 (odd number) etc.

Your topper will need it's own port. This is just due to the way xlights handles the mapping out of your future tree to ports. I guess you could specify the channel information manually on your controller and connect it to the end of the tree, but (again personally) I'd rather just use another port so that xlights can handle the controller config for me.

I hope I haven't confused you

 

[Kurt87]

Falcon controllers can run up to 1024 pixels for 20fps or 680(?) for 40fps sequences, again this is up to. When you add in differential receivers (such as on the F48) it gets trickier, because you have to divide that 1024/680 up between all of the differentials in a set ratio (ie Dif1: 340, Dif2: 170 Dif3: 170 (680 Total))

Additionally, your actual tree (minus the topper) will need to be evenly divisible by the number of ports, 3200/3 = 1066.67 which won't work, if you make it an even number of ports (2/4/8/10 etc) this works, but 3200/2=1200 (too many), 3200/4=800 (too many if 40fps) 3200/6=533.33 (odd number) etc.

Your topper will need it's own port. This is just due to the way xlights handles the mapping out of your future tree to ports. I guess you could specify the channel information manually on your controller and connect it to the end of the tree, but (again personally) I'd rather just use another port so that xlights can handle the controller config for me.

I hope I haven't confused you

Legend ! No this is the kind of info I need so thanks. Looks like I’ll need a dedicated controller for the tree alone or use 2 or more differential receivers that aren't daisy chained from the f48 to give me enough ports to break down the tree into more manageable sections. Makes sense just trying to weigh up the boundaries of the equipment vs practicality without having to fork out a butt-load my first season. I don’t think I would be running a 40fps show first up either. Cheers

 

[TerryK]

Your choice of frame rate will be loosely dependent upon how 'flashy' you plan your display. The 20 fps will seem a bit jerky for a sequences with quick and/or short effects when compared to a 40 fps rate. The number of pixels relative to refresh rate has to do with the 800 KHz Data Line pulse train being sent to the pixels. As I recall, 680 pixels is somewhat the practical threshold between the 20 or 40 refresh rate. Keith did a recent video that covered the details well.

 

[Kurt87]

Your choice of frame rate will be loosely dependent upon how 'flashy' you plan your display. The 20 fps will seem a bit jerky for a sequences with quick and/or short effects when compared to a 40 fps rate. The number of pixels relative to refresh rate has to do with the 800 KHz Data Line pulse train being sent to the pixels. As I recall, 680 pixels is somewhat the practical threshold between the 20 or 40 refresh rate. Keith did a recent video that covered the details well.

Thanks Terry will definitely keep that in mind and I’ll try and find keiths vid