Slots, universes, outputs and DMX

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Slots, universes, outputs and DMX

The DMX Core 100 supports multiple outputs and universes. There are primarily two ways that light content is generated in the DMX Core 100, from cue playback and from the fixture configuration. Both of these generates output into internal universes, called slots and are numbered just like sACN/ArtNet universes, 1-63,999. Then on the output configuration you can map any of these slots into one or multiple outputs, where the output is sACN, ArtNet, KiNet or if you have the 2-port DMX-512 board then it can be sent as DMX-512 directly from the DMX Core 100.

Output configuration for sACN

In the above picture you can see a sACN output configured for 4 universes, and it will map the internal slot 1-4 onto sACN output universe ids 50-53. Can you easily add multiple output configurations so that you can send data from the internal slot 1 to sACN universe 50, ArtNet universe 10, KiNet v2 and also out on the DMX-512 port. Any combination is possible with mirror features (same output on multiple outputs) just by using the same input slot ids.

Destination

The default for the output configuration is to broadcast (ArtNet and KiNet) or multicast (sACN), however you can specify a destination per port, which will then send data to that destination using unicast (only to that IP). It can still send multiple universes per port configuration, but you need one port per destination (output device).

Protocol Types

Several different protocols are supported, with sACN and ArtNet being the most popular. Here's a brief explanation of the support protocols:

  • Art-Net - the original protocol for sending DMX-512 over Ethernet, it's known for its simplicity and widespread adoption. Supports broadcast and unicast sending.
  • sACN/E1.31 (Streaming Architecture for Control Networks) - a more modern protocol that has support for priority and efficient transmit using multicast. Also supports unicast.
  • KiNet - developed by Color Kinetics (Philips Lighting), very similar to ArtNet as it supports both broadcast and unicast. Depending on which power supply is used the option to send as v1 (DMXOUT) or v2 (PORTOUT) is available. Primarily used to drive Color Kinetics light fixtures and high-end architectural LED installations.
  • DMX Serial - protocol that sends DMX data over a serial or USB connection. Most commonly used for the optional piggy-back board from DMX Core that gives you two isolated, independent DMX-512 ports. It is also possible to plug in a DMXking or Enttec Pro compatible device in the USB port and use up to four universes that way.

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