Calman DIY and Radiance Interactive Help

I just upgraded to Calman 4.4 and I went ahead and bought the Interactive add-on. I also purchased a Radiance XD from Spectracal and it included the USB to serial converter. I have used the converter before when I upgraded the firmware on the XD and it worked flawlessy. I cannot get Calman to connect to the XD as a source or display. Here is my method that is not working:
1. Laptop is on with Calman 4.4 loaded
2. Load the Radiance Interactive Workflow
3. Connect the USB converter
4. Connect straight-through RS-232 cable to XD and laptop
5. Power on XD
6. Go to Settings tab and select Source
7. Select Lumagen Radiance from drop down
8. Click connect
9. Status bar indicates that it is looking for the Radiance.
10. Error window pops up. It says "Error Number: 9 Source not found. Check your USB, RS-232 or Socket connection.
11. Go to Display control.
12. Select Lumagen again
13. Another error message of some sort. I forgot what it said.

I've tried with a null modem cable as well and the error message popped up immediately, so I'm assuming a straight serial cable is correct. Is this not working because I have DIY and not the Expert version? I am running Windows 7 64 bit. The USB-Serial convertor shows up in Device Manager as COM3. I have tried manually selecting COM3 in Calman and using the Auto setting. I have the License information entered in correctly also.
Somebody help me with this because it is frustrating the crap out of me and the Interactive license cost me 99 bucks and I want to use it!

Thanks,
Jeff

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Baud rate is 9600.
Parity = none
Flow control = none
Data bits = 8
Stop bits = 1
Does all that look like what you have? Also, do I have to have the Expert version or is the DIY going to work with this license?
Thanks, Jeff

The port settings are what I was concerned about but there are some settings that I'm not sure about. Those seem to be the default that I posted above. I've tried some different combinations and still no luck. Reinstalled drivers and no luck. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas they would be appreciated. Probably going to have to call on Monday but would like to fix it here. Thanks

No. Not sure what the problem could be. I couldn't get it to work in 4.3 either. I upgraded to 4.4 in hopes that would fix it.
Sotti, I tried to connect as a source first and it wouldnt connect. Is there something on XD that needs to be configured for the RS-232 port to work? I find it odd that you need a null modem cable for firmware updates but a straight cable for this application. It seems like there is something very simple that needs to be configured or checked off or unchecked that I'm not doing. This kind of stuff drives me crazy!!

Then that may be the problem. On the drop down menu in Display settings in Calman, it actually states "straight female to female "RS-232". I'll give it another shot and post the results.

Same error message. There are some RS-232 settings in XD but I'm assuming those aren't needed to get this to work. Thanks for the help guys. I guess I'll just make the phone call tomorrow so maybe someone can walk me through it.

It worked! Did a factory reset (again), and this time it connected right up. Mother of God, it f-in worked. It does say in the display control drop down to use a straight cable but the null modem that shipped with the unit is what worked. Thanks guys.
Jeff

Derek,
The one that shipped with the unit is female-female crossover. Because of that particular drop down menu in Calman that stated "straight female to female", I went and purchased a female-female straight cable and I couldn't get it to work. I don't know if I was doing something wrong, or if misunderstood what the software was telling me to do. Either way, I finally got it to work. I got a $6000.00 projector from AVS (Sony VPL-VW70) for $1300.00 and a $4500.00 video processor for a song from you guys. With an i1 Display 3 and Calman, the image is absolutely stunning. I calibrated the Sony first, and then the Radiance. Here are the results:

The first few screen shots are calibration results with the Radiance acting as only a pattern generator and with no processing

Sony VPL-VW70 Pre Cal



Sony Gamma



Sony Grayscale Cal



Sony CMS Cal



This is the cal with the Radiance using the interactive mode in Calman

Radiance Grayscale and Gamma



Radiance CMS



Radiance Post Cal



Without the Radiance in the chain, there was so much red in lower end of the grayscale I could easily see it. The 10% window was not even gray. It was a deep burgundy color. I was definitely concerned with that. As I was calibrating the Radiance, I could see the test pattern windows actually go from red to gray. It was really cool. And with the interactive add-on, it obviously happened really quickly. The Radiance is the audio equivalent of adding bass traps to a room. It makes a good system a great system. Derek and Sotti, you're company's product makes a great system a reference system. Well worth the money.

These reports were saved on my laptop. The cal was done the day before, so when I posted these screenshots the meter or the XD were not connectedto my computer. I just opened up the saved workflows in Calman.
I followed the instructions in the Workflow for the CMS calibration. It stated to drag the primaries on the CIE chart where I wanted them and then adjust the Luminance to the correct level. It specifically said DO NOT go back and adjust the location on the CIE chart. According to Calman, Gamut Luminance is the most critical adjustment for the primaries. It said adjust Luminance down to zero and then adjust the CIE chart, and do not readjust Luminance for the secondaries. When one gets adjusted, the other moves around. The DeltaH and DeltaL are about as good as it gets for the goals I was trying to achieve. Of course the goals I was trying to achieve are the goals Calman told me to achieve so I'm assuming I'm right. Of course, I'm fairly new at this video calibration thing, so I'm not speaking with 100% confidence.

Thanks for the tip. Didn't realize you could auto zoom the CIE chart. I'll give it a shot.


The instructions are incorrect then? Either that or they are there for beginners, I'm assuming? Either way, that's odd. On the Standard workflow, the CMS cal is before the grayscale cal. I was under the impression you couldn't get a proper CMS calibation without proper grayscale tracking. I always do the grayscale cal first anyways but I found that somewhat strange. I'm not trying to pick apart the software, because these are easy workarounds but I find some of the instructions a little quirky for a newer guy like myself. I guess its Spectracal's way of telling me to sign up for the training class in Houston. I least that's what I'll tell my wife. If my thinking is off on the order that the workflow has me going in, then please educate me. I ran through another complete session last night and got better results. I calibrated the CMS and then adjusted the color decoder on the dislpay. Then went and opened up another tab on the CMS screen and fine tuned it a little more. The results were better than the screenshots shown above. I'll fine tune the secondary luminances tonight.

Thanks,
Jeff

Sotti,
What do you mean by calibrate gains by 30%?
thanks,
Jeff

Ok I understand what you meant. I always thought that you adjusted the high end at 80%. Apparently I was mislead. Why do you prefer 100%? Is that because it affects every aspect of the grayscale from 0% to 100% more so than just adjusting the 80%? Educate me.