DiGidot C4 Contrôleur Led Live Pushing Control Boundaries User Guide

DiGidot C4 Contrôleur Led Live Pushing Control Boundaries

DiGidot Art-Net & sACN Compatibility Guide

Product Information

• Version: v1.1
• Date: 16-2-2022

Table of Contents

DiGidot – Art-Net & sACN Compatibility guide – v1.1 (16-2-2022)
Page 2 of 7

Introduction
This document provides a comparison between Art-Net and sACN protocols and clarifies the features supported by DiGidot controllers (C4 or a PxLNet Node).

Technical Comparison
This section provides an overview of the major differences between Art-Net and sACN:

Features| Maximum Universes| Starting Universe| Default Network Mode| Alternative Network Mode| Network Load
---|---|---|---|---|---
Art-Net| 32767| 0| Unicast| Broadcast| 10/10
sACN| 65535| 1| Multicast| Unicast| 9/10

Choosing Art-Net or sACN

Art-Net and sACN both aim to provide the ability to send DMX512 data via the Ethernet protocol. However, there are important differences to consider when choosing the protocol:

Reasons to Choose Art-Net

• Art-Net protocol has been on the market longer than sACN.
• Many lighting applications support Art-Net.
• Not all software may have support for sACN.
• Art-Net supports various Ethernet connection speeds ranging from 10 Mbit to 10 Gbit.
• Maximum Art-Net universes are 32767.

Reasons to Choose Streaming ACN (sACN)

• sACN can send twice as many unique universes compared to Art-Net (65535 vs 32767).
• sACN has a built-in layer support allowing multiple sources tosend to the same universe with defined priorities.
• sACN allows monitoring of a specific universe from any device in the network.
• Most sACN features are supported by DiGidot controllers.
• There are limitations with sACN implementation on DiGidot controllers, including a maximum of 5 different sources for a single device and a maximum of 24 universes in total.

Features and Limitations
The following table lists the supported features of sACN:

Priority (layers)| Synchronization with sync universes| Option Flag (Preview Data)| Option Flag (Stream Terminated)| Option Flag (Force Synchronization)| Supports Unicast
---|---|---|---|---|---
Supported?| Yes| Yes| No| Yes| Yes| No

DiGidot Art-Net & sACN compatibility guide v1.1

INTRODUCTION
This document is intended to highlight a few differences between Art Net and sACN as well as to clarify which features of these protocols are supported by the DiGidot controllers (C4 or a PxLNet Node).

TECHNICAL COMPARISON

CHOOSING ART NET OR SACN
Art Net and sACN both have the same goal: provide the possibility to send DMX512 data via the ethernet protocol. But there are some important differences which may affect your decision on which protocol is best for your purpose.

REASONS TO CHOOSE ART NET

1. Exists longer and more commonly used
   The Art-Net protocol exists longer (created in 1998) than the sAC protocol (created in 2009). Many lighting applications support Art-Net because it has been on the market for quite a while now. And between 1998 and 2009, it was the only option to send DMX512 data over ethernet. So not all software have support for sAC (yet).

2. Network packet overhead
   When sending DMX512 data over ethernet, the data isn’t actually 512 bytes in size. Some form of overhead is introduced due to adding headers which contain extra information like the protocol signature, universe number, source names and many more. Art-Net packets are usually 570 bytes in size while sAC packets are around 670 bytes which is roughly 10% more. This is due to the extra information in the sAC packet like the priority, various option flags and the source name. This won’t impact the performance a lot but it can be important if you want the maximum number of channels over a single ethernet cable:

• = Maximum number Art-Net universe is 32767 due to its standard.

REASONS TO CHOOSE STREAMING ACN

1. More universes
   SACN is capable of sending twice as much unique universes than Art-Net (65535 vs 32767).

2. Seamless configuration With Art-Net, it’s required that, the devices you’re sending Art-net to, have unique IP- addresses. It’s also important that you’re sending the right universe to the right device.
   The discover process of Art-Net makes this process easier but if you change the configuration, you will have to rediscover every time. With SACN, this work
   IS done for you. If you add an universe from your DiGidot Controller, for example universe 1, it will subscribe to that universe and let everybody know on the network. If there’re sources on the network that have universe 1, the DiGidot controller will automatically start receiving data from that source. If the source with universe 1 is added on a future moment, it will inform all devices on the network that universe 1 now is available and it will process the data. With sAC, you don’t have to deal with searching for devices, configuring IP-addresses and sending specific universes to specific devices. As long as you have configured your universes in the
   Input/output configuration of your controller, and on the lightning software or console, and they’re all on the same network, everything goes automatically.

3. Layers
   The sACN protocol has a built-in layer support. If you want to send from multiple sources to the same universe, you can define which source has priority and must be on top. You can have up to 200 layers.

4. Monitoring
   With Art-Net, if you want to monitor the traffic, you only have 2 ways to accomplish that:

   • Monitor from the Art-Net Source (e.g. a lightning console)
   • Monitor from the Art-Net Destination (e.g. a DiGidot controller)

With sAC, you can monitor a specific universe from any device in the network. You don’t have to do this necessary on the sending or receiving device.

FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS

Most of the sACN features are supported. In the table below, you can check which features are supported.

Supported ?

Priority (layers)| Yes
Synchronisation with sync universes| Yes
Option Flag (Preview Data)| No
Option Flag (Stream Terminated)| Yes
Option Flag (Force Synchronization)| Yes
Supports Unicast| No

Limitations
There are some limitations with the implementation of sAC on the DiGidot controllers:

• Maximum of 5 different sources for a single device
• Maximum of 24 universes in total

SUPPORT
For further support go www.digidot.eu please contact us on support@digidot.eu.

COPYRIGHT
© 2022 DiGidot Technologies BV. All rights reserved. It’s not allowed to copy or reproduce,translate or publish the information within this document without prior written approval from DiGidot Technologies BV.

DISCLAIMER
No legal rights can be derived from this document. Errors and omissions excepted.
The information in this document is subject to change at any time without prior notice. Visit our website www.digidot.eu for the most recent version of this document. The information in this document was put together with great care and is intended to serve as a helpful guideline.

DiGidot Technologies B.. explicitly rejects any form of liability claims in advance, whether it concerns direct or indirect disadvantages, damage, injuries, loss of income or other financial, materialistic or personal consequences that are directly or indirectly caused by use of this product or it’s owner or user. Any form of unintended or misuse of this information and/or DiGidot products indemnifies DiGidot Technologies V from liability and warranty obligations.

FEEDBACK
Tell us all about your experience with DiGidot!
The continuous development of the DiGidot control platform is only possible thanks to feedback from our users. If you have any suggestions, please contact us by email: info@digidot.eu.

IMPRINT
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1059 CD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Chamber of commerce registration: 67637825
VAT identification no.: L857103581B01
Managing director: Stefan Verhoef

Phone: +31 (0)20 820 1849
info@digidot.eu
www.digidot.eu

References

• Pixel control specialist and Universal platform to control SPI controlled LED - DiGidot Technologies BV
• Pixel control specialist and Universal platform to control SPI controlled LED - DiGidot Technologies BV

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