P5 Panels Flickering

[tcruise3]

I'm looking for some advice on an issue I'm having setting up P5 panels. I have a decent amount of experience using RGB WS2811/WS2812 etc lights. Currently at more than 25,000 LEDs in my show. I've started working with P5 panels to replace some of my props. I recently built a test setup of 2 x 2 P5 panels 128x64 pixels total. I went through the setup with LEDVision v8.8 and I can see the image correctly. If I move my mouse around, I see it correctly move through the panels. I did use the vendor provided rcvbp file. I think it's configured correctly.

The problem is, the panels are constantly flickering. I've attached a video (YouTube) for reference and a photo of the wiring. Below is a list of things I've tried for troubleshooting.

The Colorlight card is a 5A-75E (vendor). The panels are, for all intents and purposes, generic P5 panels (vendor).

• Verified wiring is correct. Tried different grounds, different ports on the Colorlight card, different ways to wire power to the panels and the Colorlight card.
• Tried the configuration and setup from two different PCs. Different ethernet cables, different network configuration.
• Tried different ports on the Colorlight card. Ports 1 & 2. Ports 3 & 4.
• Tried wiring a single panel to one port on the Colorlight card.

If I close the LEDVision program, the flickering stops. So, I suspect it relates to the way the data is being sent rather than something related to the electrical connections.

P5 Panel Flickering Video

View: https://youtu.be/sVX1HOZ33LU


Thanks,
Terry

 

[Indigogyre]

Hi Terry,

My first thought was that maybe the config file was not exactly correct. I used the following video from "Panels R US" to configure my colorlight card and to work through configuring it without a config file. Not sure but maybe it will help?

Panels R Us

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4lHbwUszAs

 

[BAZMick]

I've heard you need a gigabit switch and Ethernet for colour light cards?

 

[Skymaster]

Whatever you physically connect the Colorlight to needs to be gigabit, whether that be a switch if you're using one, or a gig Ethernet adaptor if direct.
This is because the Colorlight does not have a multi speed interface.
If it's getting this far, there isn't an issue with the network speeds because it wouldn't work at all otherwise

In regards to the flickering, is there both ledvision and a FPP instance both connecting to the card? i.e. two sources potentially interfering?

 

[tcruise3]

@Indigogyre Thank you for the tip and video. I have played with many different preset configs in LEDVision and did a bunch of trial and error with the refresh speed. I'll go through the video you linked and see if there is something I missed.

All my ethernet connections, PCs and switches are gigabit, so I'm hoping that isn't it.

@Skymaster I had a similar thought with two sources, as I've seen this before with standards LEDs, but I did at one point isolate the ethernet by connecting directly from the PC to the card without any switches in between. Same with the second PC I tried. At this point, I'm only using LEDVision and have not tried any other software, such as FPP yet.

Thank you all for the input. I appreciate the help!

Terry

 

[Indigogyre]

So, to go off something @Skymaster said about sources. I've some times in the past had odd issues trying to run video directly. What I did was make a small sequence in xLights and then send that to the FPP controlling the panels and played that to test. I've also tested sending directly to the Matrix panel from xLights also. This would give you a better indication of where the issue is and if it is only there while configuring the panel it might not matter for the show.

 

[tcruise3]

@Indigogyre Thank you for the troubleshooting tips. I set up XScheduler with the the Colorlight plugin (that's my intended way of running these). I created a simple test sequence for the matrix but the result is the same. Whatever is displayed on the panels looks correct, however, it continues to flicker.
It would seem that based on my previous testing and the input that I've received on here, it would narrow down the problem to the following...

• Incorrect configuration on the Colorlight card/panels; as you suggested before, potentially an incorrect config file from the vendor
• Hardware problem with the Colorlight card itself or perhaps less likely the panels themselves

I still need to revisit the video you posted earlier to go through the config process without using the config file. Once I go through that, I'll let you know where I'm at. In the meantime, I'm ordering another Colorlight card (I'll need at least two anyway) and see if that one shows any differences, to rule it out as a physical hardware problem.

Thank you all, again, for the input and suggestions.
Terry

 

[tcruise3]

Thank you all for your input on my issue.

I have emailed the vendor for help and am waiting for a reply. However, while I am waiting, I tried a couple more thingsl. I purchased two more Colorlight 5A-75E cards to verify I didn't have a defective card. They both performed exactly the same, flicker and all. Then, I purchased a 5A-75B card, which seems to be the most common among enthusiasts. Viola! The 5A-75B works perfectly and absolutely no flicker.

It could be my panels specifically that don't work with a 5A-75E (hopefully the vendor will confirm they don't work or give me a solution to fix the flicker) but I don't understand enough about the Colorlight cards or panels to understand why the B works and the E doesn't.
Hopefully my experience will keep someone else from tearing their hair out using the E card.

Terry

 

[tcruise3]

And one more thing, if anyone wants to see the video promoting my show last year, you can find the link below.
I was once a radio DJ and like to pretend I have my own radio station as part of the light show. I even had radio jingles produced to spice up the show.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKEw8-EYCEo

 

[Indigogyre]

Glad you found a way to make it work for now. I enjoyed your promo video also!

 

[silver_ice]

I know the thread is a bit aged but I had this with a B card the other day - there is a known issue with the v13 firmware that comes on the v8.x version of the cards which causes the flicker when there is network IO. panelsrus shows the fix -
View: https://youtu.be/LcTKwyMmJec