Does the 6C *generate* the DMX stream?
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:18 am
I am considering buying a 6C. I need to control a very small number of channels (4, and probably never more than 8), but I have an unusual requirement - I don't want any sort of processing load added to the controlling PC. So I'm trying to determine if the 6C generates the DMX output itself, or is just a pass through device that is counting on the PC to generate the data at the required rate (like a Vellemen unit).
I know that generating DMX on the PC's CPU doesn't take much time, but the PC is already doing important, hard real time work every 20ms, and I don't want to introduce any timing issues for the existing code (or have the existing code affect the DMX generation). So I'm really looking for a device that generates the DMX on its own, not tying up the host CPU.
My other question is whether there's any problem in updating the levels of 4 (or 8) channels as fast as every 20ms. (I'm not very familiar with DMX). Changes every 20ms is the worst case scenario in my code, and I can add logic to send changes less frequently if I have to.
Thanks in advance.
I know that generating DMX on the PC's CPU doesn't take much time, but the PC is already doing important, hard real time work every 20ms, and I don't want to introduce any timing issues for the existing code (or have the existing code affect the DMX generation). So I'm really looking for a device that generates the DMX on its own, not tying up the host CPU.
My other question is whether there's any problem in updating the levels of 4 (or 8) channels as fast as every 20ms. (I'm not very familiar with DMX). Changes every 20ms is the worst case scenario in my code, and I can add logic to send changes less frequently if I have to.
Thanks in advance.