Setup the DCH

The DCH, The Digital Cinema Hub, is a powerful computer with Cinemataztiz’s custom built software that make interactive experiences in the cinema possible. The DCH is placed next to the film projector, is connected to the Cinemataztic cloud and works smoothly with the cinema’s existing setup

If you have just received your box this is where you want to be. Here you will get help on how to setup the DCH so your guests can enjoy Cinegame.

There are 2 ways to set up the automation.
The DCH can either receive signal from the TMS via network or as an analog signal. If you want to use an analog signal, the signal must go through a 24V Digital Input Unit connected to the DCH.

Installation

Before you install your DCH make sure you have all the elements and requirements listed bellow in order to setup correctly.

List of elements and requirements:

For network automation:

• Cinemataztic DCH
• Power cable
• HDMI cable
• Network cable

For analog automation:

• 24V Digital Input Unit
• USB cable

If audio is not to go via HDMI:

• External Audio Interface

Output

Video (1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz)

The CineGame player outputs a video signal with the dimensions (px) 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz. There are two video output options:

• HDMI
• DisplayPort

Audio

There are three audio output options:

• HDMI
• DisplayPort
• Toslink / S / PDIF over external optical sound card (USB)

Network

There are a few requirements for the machines network connection:

• Connected to internet over ethernet (RJ45)
• The firewall should allow the machines to connect to our servers via port 9933 (TCP/UDP), 80, 3024, and 443.
• More information about setting up network can be found here.

Automation

Cues/Macros

The Cinemataztic machines can be configured to start games from two types of cues: ethernet or 24V.

ETHERNET

Cues over ethernet requires the least amount of setup and no additional hardware. In this setup, the machines listen for short messages over TCP, specifying which playlist/game to start. If this option is used, the machine should be on the same network/subnet as the screen server sending the network cues.

Specific examples for Doremi can be found here and for GDC here.

24V I/O

This requires 2 additional pieces of hardware per Cinemataztic player:

• LucidControl DI4 is is used to listen for 24V cues to trigger a playlist/game.
• In some cases, the cinemas playlist software requires a 24V pulse back in order to resume the playlist after the CineGame has finished. LucidControl DO4 is used to send back this cue to the cinemas 24V automation equipment.

Hardware setup

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to connect the DCH to your screen server due to missing plugins try using an adapter.

Software installation

Boot the player from the inserted USB Stick.

On a Shark

1. Download and Flash the **20.04.-live-server-amd64.iso onto a USB stick (We recommend using balenaEtcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/)
2. Insert the USB to the machine you wish to install
3. Power on the machine and immediately tap F8 or the Delete key repeatedly until a BIOS screen appears.
4. If entering the BIOS menu Press F8 to open boot select menu.
5. Select UEFI USB.
6. The install might appear stuck, but please have patience. When the install is finished the PC will power off. If an error occurs, please check the network cable and try again.
7. Remove the USB stick and power on the PC.

On a Dell
By default the machine will boot from the internal harddisk. In order to have the machine boot from the USB stick, follow the below steps:

1. Connect a keyboard to the machine and locate the F12 key
2. Power on the machine
3. Press and release F12 repeatedly until the machine shows a boot select menu
4. Select “Boot from UEFI USB” and press Enter

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to boot from the USB stick:

• If you booted with HWE kernel (recommended) try without HWE and vice versa

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Configuation

Authorize

Make sure the player is powered on and connected to the internet.

The player should display the following information on the screen.

Troubleshooting

If your DCH does not show ‘Authorize player’ after booting:

• Is the machine connected to the network with internet access?
• Does the network require manual network settings? Static IP, Name Servers etc?

Please go to your admin panel at cloud.cinemataztic.com and login.

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to login:

• Try the reset password option
• Contact Cinemataztic for assistance

Select “players” in the left menu.

Look up the player by the ID shown in step 2 and click “Authorize”.

Wait for the machine to pick up the authorization. This may take a while.

Connect to screen

Make sure the player is powered on.

The player will now prompt you assign it to a screen.

Troubleshooting

If your DCH does not show “Connect player to screen” after Authorizing player:

• It can take a while for the machine to detect its authorization: allow at least 10 minutes

Please go to your admin panel at cloud.cinemataztic.com and choose “Cinemas” in the left menu.

Choose your cinema from the left column and choose the screen you wish to connect to from the rightmost column.

You now have two options:

• Create new screen
• Connect to an existing screen

Setup screen (only if you choose “New Screen”)

• Choose a name (e.g. 01 for auditorium 01)
• Write a short helpful description for the screen (optional)
• Select a hostname for the machine.
• The system will auto-generate a name in the format CIT-CIN-SCREEN (city-cinema-screen).
• This will appear first in the dropdown list.

Locate the “Player”-card and click “assign player” - choose the player by the player ID displayed on the cinema screen.

Wait for the machine to pick up the new configuration

• It may take several minutes for the machine to pick up the new configuration (5-10 minutes).
• When the “Connect player to screen message disappears, the machine is ready for use.

The player is now connected to the screen. Congratulations!