LasrPlay Programming Parameters

  PARAMETERS TO CHANGE

  There are a number of parameters that can be programmed into a LasrPlay. Some of them are required for the LasrPlay to work, while others are options that are used for special purposes.

  First Frame - The first frame number of the section of the LaserDisc that is to be played by the LasrPlay. This number should be in the range of 1 through 53999 (or the second to the last frame number on the disc). This number must be lower than the "Last Frame" number. This parameter must be set for the LasrPlay to work.

  Last Frame - The last frame number of the section of the LaserDisc that is to be played by the LasrPlay. This number should be in the range of 2 through 54000 (or the last frame number on the disc). This number must be higher than the "First Frame" number. This parameter must also be set for the LasrPlay to work.

  BAUD Rate - The BAUD rate is the speed of the serial port on the LaserDisc player that the LasrPlay uses to communicate with the player. This needs to be set both in the LasrPlay and in the LaserDisc player. Both devices must be set to the same BAUD rate or nothing will work. The BAUD rate should be set to the fastest BAUD rate that the LaserDisc player has. This is 4800 BAUD for the Pioneer 2000 series players, and it is 9600 BAUD for the 4000 and 8000 series players. This does not affect the BAUD rate used by the LaserDisc player. That must be set manually on each player. The 2000 series players typically have a switch on the back of the player, while the 4000 and 8000 series have their BAUD rate set from menus (refer to your player's manual for instructions).

  Synchronize - In order for two or more channels of the LasrPlay to synchronize with each other, this option must be enabled in each of those channels.

  Init Strings - The four init strings hold all of the initialization commands for the LaserDisc player. These commands are sent from the LasrPlay to the LaserDisc player during start-up. These are pre-programmed with the most common initialization commands and for most people never have to be changed. There are a number of commands available here, and some Pioneer players have extra ones. The commands each consist of a number followed by letters. The various commands are strung together into strings of 3 or 4 commands. Be careful what you change these strings to because if you eliminate one of the default strings your player will revert back to it's own default settings, which may not be what you want.

        The default init strings in a LasrPlay are:

    init string 1  -  0KL0DS
    init string 2  -  1RA16RC

  The 2 init strings shown above contain 4 commands that set the LaserDisc player to enable the front panel (0KL), don't display frame or chapter numbers on top of the video (0DS and 1RA), and to have a black background during rewind (16RC).

        Some of the more common options are:

  0KL  = player's front panel enabled
  1KL  = player's front panel disabled (locked out)
  1RA  = display frame numbers
  2RA  = display chapter numbers
  0DS  = don't display text (see RA) (overrides RA)
  1DS  = display text (see RA)
  0RC  = blue background when squelched
  16RC  = black background when squelched
  3AD  = force analog stereo
  7AD  = force digital stereo
  xxxSP  = playback speed in fields per second (where xxx is a number between 1 and 255) (some players will play at all of these speeds, while cheaper players only play at a few speeds)

  Comment - This is an optional text string and can be anything you want. It is usually used to remind you of what this LasrPlay was programmed to do, such as the name of an installation or performance, or the channel number of a multi-channel display.