Ahh HDCP how you take years off my life...

Ah DVI, How much fun it is!!! So I am in Philly, having fun with unions, and doing a great show for what has become a great client We were brought in to do this tour, and everything is a true 1920 X 1080, our specialty! We have great hi-def projectors, switchers, some new fiber boxes for getting the signal around, all seems to be perfect...

So, here's the deal, this client brought us brand new Mac 2009's in Dallas and well, they now have the joy of HDCP. The Barco DCS switcher, which I LOVE!!!!, is HDCP compliant and well lets face it, no real good 10,000 lumen HD Projector has HDCP in it, Barco has it for the HD 18 and HD 35, but it is in a card, not built in. But like I said, nothing in the 10,000 lumen range, which is where most shows are. So, when I go to preview the Mac's, it blacks out everything on the screen, because it is not supposed to put video through, so it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

Well, me being me, and having my relentless team with me, we strive to find a way to fix it!! And we did!!!! Here's the deal, find some old Gefen DVI da's (And I do mean the older ones) and well, you can trick them. You must know that I am a big fan of Gefen, I have put their equipment in the Staples Center for the Lakers, I have used their equipment on countless trade shows and corporate meetings, I own lots of their DVI to fiber and Cat 6, so I am a true believer. But, here's the problem, you have to find their older stuff sometimes to make everything work! And so by using an older DVI DA, we were able to make the Mac think it was seeing a monitor which is HDCP Compliant, and then put the signal into our switcher!! Everything works great and it looks fantastic!! The picture below is a back stage look of control with our 16 foot by 9 foot screen, and some great lighting we did!! I will add more photos soon about this event.

So, on a final note, welcome to my blog, the Don't Wonder Productions Blog. I will strive to keep updating and keep telling the stories of the smaller AV companies, but the ones who do great, hi-end affordable events! We specialize in making sure our clients events run smoothly, look fantastic, and come in on budget. You will see new photos and posts soon, as long as I am able! Thanks for saying HI!!