- All
- Communication Issues
- Content Creation Issues
- Installation Issues
- Sign Hardware Issues
- Sign Software Issues
The DCI spare parts kit includes a variety of items that can be kept on hand to be used as replacements if needed. Each kit includes 1 spare panel, 1 spare receiver card, and 1 spare power supply.
Panel: This item contains the LEDs for your display in a box format.
Receiver Card: This item looks like a red circuit board. It is what controls the setup for your sign.
Power Supply: This item looks like a silver metal box. It supplies power to a variety of items in your sign from panels to receiver cards.
To solve this issue, the DCI Desktop software needs to be run in administrator mode. Users can set their software to automatically run in Administrator mode by following these steps.
- Right-click the software icon.
- Left-click the properties option from the drop down menu.
- Left-click the Compatibility tab.
- Check the option that says “Run this program as administrator”.
- Left-click the OK button.
This problem occurs when the display matrix is incorrect. This needs to be corrected by a DCI Technician. Call 1-800-527-1229 to speak with a DCI Technician and make sure that your computer can connect to the internet.
This is usually one of two issues that can arise. Either the computer is not communicating with the display or a firewall is blocking the content. To check this follow these steps:
1. Â Go to the My Signage section of DCI Desktop and check to see if a green status light appears on the sign connection. If the connection is red, refer to the issue labeled “I am not able to send messages to my sign, but it is still playing messages.”
2. Check to make sure Windows Firewall is disabled. This can prevent images or videos from being uploaded due to compressions it does not recognize.
3. Disable any Anti-Virus or 3rd party Firewalls. Try to resend the message afterwards.
For 3rd party programs, we recommend Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. Adobe Photoshop allows the users to create messages without using Anti-alias, and has the most features for creating content for your sign. Adobe After Effects is one of the few programs available on the market that will allow you to render a video or animation in the exact matrix you create it in.
We recommend (.avi) or (.wmv) files. The AVI video format is preferred to be uncompressed. The WMV format is preferred to be compressed with Codec WM Video V9 or greater using a 2-Pass VBR method.
Also make sure that the output of any video you create is to the pixel matrix of your sign to avoid any blurring.
No. The sign itself will automatically convert all colors to their corresponding monochromatic shade.
Though, it is advised to view any messages on the sign first to make sure they coverted correctly.
The LED Display will automatically resize any image or video to the pixel matrix of your sign.
In order to prevent any uncontrolled blurring to your images or videos, it is recommended that all content be created to the exact pixel matrix of your sign.
An image or video that is larger in pixels than your sign will be reduced down and pixels will be lost. As such blurring will occur.
An image or video that is smaller in pixels than your sign will be enlarged and pixels will be added. This will also cause blurring of the content.
*Note: When creating images in the pixel matrix of your sign, make sure you turn off all Anti-aliasing effects from text and images. This will greatly increase the visibility and ascetic appeal of your display.
Every Workorder from Datatronic Control, Inc. contains the amount of WATTS the sign will use. Since our displays are based on 120 volt. Just divide the number of WATTS by VOLTS to get your AMPS.
No. Our signs are built to operate in extreme conditions without the aid of an Air Conditioning Unit.
The minimum amount of spacing needed for ventilation is 2″ from where the vents are installed.
Below is a typical list of all responsibilities that the electrician will need to handle.
1. All Electrical work must be done prior to any sign structure placement,installation, or visit for the Turn-On/Training service (if purchased) by DCI.
2. Install recommended grounding for the area – at least (1) 8’ Copper rod.
3. Install all data wiring in dedicated METAL weatherproof conduit.
4. Run the conduit and power line from power source to sign.
5. If applicable, run the datacable from the sign pc to the sign, in a dedicated weatherproof conduit.
6. Run the crossover power and data in separate weatherproof conduits from one face to the other.
7. If applicable, run the temperature probe cable from the sign/office computer to an appropriate outdoor area or from the DCI Control System to an appropriate outdoor area.
8. If applicable, run the network cables through the building.
9. Installation of any Wireless Radios.
No. All Electrical work must be performed by a Certified Electrician. It is the customer’s responsibility to contact a Certified Electrician for the install.
The fix is simple enough though, just restart the sign at the location by turning the breaker off for about 15 seconds, then turning it back on. Once the sign starts playing messages again, you should be able to send new schedules.
If the problem persists, make sure that all firewalls are set to allow traffic from the DCIdestop program and that it is not being blocked by any anti-virus software.
On the back of your Wireless Radios there are a series of lights. The Power light should be green, the LAN light should be green (may flash some), the lights after that determine signal strength. At minimum you should have at least the first signal light on as red, the next is yellow, the two after that appear as green. The better your signal strength the more of these lights will light up.
1. Check the CAT-5 cable that goes from the LAN connection on the POE adapter to the sign computer. You can try swapping it out with another known working CAT-5 cable to test. If it connects fine, then it was a bad cable.
2. Login through PCanywhere or Teamviewer to check to make sure the player is running. If it is not running, restart the computer.
1. Start by going into command prompt on the DCI Office Computer. (You can do this by left-clicking the start button and searching for “cmd”.)
2. Once in the command prompt type: ping ###.###.#.###
(Where ###.###.#.### is the ip address of the device you want to which you want to connect.)
To obtain the IP Addresses of your devices, call in to the Technical Department and request the information. You will need to provide your Production Number in order to obtain the information.
Yes. Datatronic Control provides a network manual on the DCI Software CD.
This network manual shows how we setup our networks and how to setup a network according to our specifications. You can have your Network/IT specialist adapt our Network method to your own network. They should be able to see the similarities and know what to change to make it work.
Datatronic Control, Inc. cannot assist however in setting the sign to play on an already existing network. It can be done, but since there are potentially thousands of ways a network can be setup, it is nearly impossible to know the existing condition of yours. Contact your IT Professionalist or the person who setup your network to have them setup the DCI sign on your network.
1. Check to make sure you connected all the cables to the embedded box correctly.
2. Make sure that the IP Address listed on the embedded box is entered correctly in the Evision program.
3. If the sign still will not communicate, use the Ping Evision program to test all radios and computers.
All Wireless Radios that are supplied by Datatronic Control, Inc. have been configured and tested to communicate with each other before they ship.
If you changed any of the settings, then you will need to contact the Technical Department for an RMA# to send the Radios back to DCI for reconfiguration.
1. The first thing to try is restarting the sign itself. Turn off the breaker to the sign for approximately 15 seconds, then turn it back on. Wait till the sign start to play the messages again, then try to send the new messages to the sign.
2. Next item to test is the communication line. Use the Ping Program on your DCI supplied CD to test the connection between all radios and the sign. If you do not have this program or lost your CD, you can call Datatronic Control, Inc directly and we can email you over the program. The program will inform you if a certian component cannot establish a ping.
Once you have identified the component that cannot connect, call Datatronic Control, Inc. to speak with a technician. They will advise you any and all options available.
The DCIdesktop program does not allow for the start date to be set anytime before the current day.
If you are editing a schedule for another purpose, just make sure the start date is changed to the current day.
This error will appear when you are trying to create a schedule that in some way overlaps a previously created schedule.
To solve:
1. Check to make sure your Start Dates and End Dates are not the same as any previous schedule created. If you do have overlapping dates, go to the next step.
2. Now check to make sure the overlapping dates do not have any time overlaps.
Note: A Schedule set to play from 5:00am to 1:00pm should be set like this:
Start time: 05 00 Â Â Â Â End time: 12 59
You can access the images in the following folder location:
Local Disk(c:)>Users>
Notes:
[username] = The user account with DCIdesktop installed.The folder AppData may be hidden. You can turn on show hidden files and folders in your Folder Option settings.
This can be cause by a Video format / Text file encoding mix-up. You can try one of the two steps below to resolve the issue.
1. Re-render your video using a different codec or video format.
2. Create your text in Designer and not the Text Editor.
Typically this means that when the file was converted it had an error or installed a faulty codec. You can try to convert the file again or use another codec to convert the file to try to fix the problem.
This can be caused by checking the “reoccurring” check box in the schedule section and then leaving the option on “Daily”. The “reoccurring” check box only needs to be check if you plan on using the “Weekly” option. If you want the schedule to just play messages every day then leave the “reoccurring” check box unchecked.
To solve: Delete the current schedule. Then create a new schedule as normal just without checking the “reoccurring” check box. Finally, upload the new schedule to the sign.
1. Design the image in DCI Designer or preferred graphics program.
2. (Skip this step if you created your image in DCI Designer.) Add your image or video to the Media list.
3. Create a playlist and add your image or video.
4. Schedule your playlist to play.
5. Upload your schedule to the sign.
This problem is usually the result of a faulty video codec.
To correct the problem temporarily, reset the power to the LED sign. Once the sign restarts, your videos should start playing.
To fix the problem from happening again. You will need to test each video using a different codec one at a time. This can be done by clearing all videos from you sign, keeping all text, time, and temperature. Then adding one video format to the playlist. Test that playlist over the next day or two to make sure it doesn’t stop playing. As soon as you come to a video format that stops playing, record which videos you added last. If they all have the same video codec, then you can identify that codec as the problem. You can try to re-install the codec, re-render the videos, or try another codec for compression.
We recommend using 24-bit Bitmap files (.bmp). The reason for this is that Bitmaps do not compress when saved. As such you will not lose any quality in your images. Loss of quality can cause your images to blur or dull down in color.
Jpegs (.jpg) can be used with the display as well, but they save at a 80% compression. So you will lose 20% of your image quality when saving a file. This will cause blurring and loss of color saturation.
If you did not change the username and password from the default values, call Datatronic Control, Incl and we can provide you with your information.
If you changed the username and password from the default, then you will need to re-installed the DCIdesktop program to correct the issue.
Call the DCI Technical Support Team and inquire about getting an RMA # to return your item.
Make sure to put your RMA # on your package in big letters and on at least 3 different sides. This is to make sure the RMA # is clearly seen and not rejected.
1. Reset the power to the sign. This can be done by turning off the breaker, waiting 15 seconds, and then turning on the breaker. If this corrects the problem, continue to monitor the sign for the next couple of days to make sure it is not a reoccuring issue.
2. If after the power reset the sign stays blank, use the Ping Program on your CD to try to communicate with the sign. If you do not have this program or lost your CD, you can call Datatronic Control, Inc directly and we can email you over the program. The program will inform you if a certian component cannot establish a ping. If the ping to the sign computer fails, you will need to physically check the sign computer. It is possible that the Reciever Card’s Power Supply on the Master face has failed.
1. Check to make sure that there is power to your sign. Check any breaker boxes that may have been tripped by external sources. If the sign does not play and the power is on, contact a techncian for further troubleshooting.
2. If there is power to your sign, then upload a new schedule to your sign. The sign will display as blank if no schedule is set to run. Often customers will schedule messages to play for long periods of time and leave the sign alone until the schedule runs out.
This is most likely an error with a Receiver Card. Larger displays tend to have multiple Receiver Cards located throughout the sign.
The first thing to do is restart the sign. Then, if the sign is not fixed, put a test pattern on the sign. Finally, take a picture of this test pattern and email it to the support staff at Datatronic Control, Inc.
The Technical Support email is: support@dcisign.com
This is most likely an error with the Receiver Card.
The first thing to do is restart the sign. Then, if the sign is not fixed, put a test pattern on the sign. Finally, take a picture of this test pattern and email it to the support staff at Datatronic Control, Inc.
The Technical Support email is: support@dcisign.com
1. A Ribbon Cable may be loose or bad.
Take the cable out of the module and reseat it to test for a loose connection.
To test for a bad Ribbon Cable, swap it out with another Ribbon Cable that is working on the sign. If the panel starts working, then the previous cable is bad. Contact DCI for a replacement.
2. The panel itself might be bad. If after swapping the Ribbon Cables the panel continues to display errors, then Contact DCI to inquire about a replacement panel.
*DCI will require that a picture be taken of the area with the problem. This is to better assist us in solving the issue at hand.
More than likely this can be attributed to a failed Power Supply. You can take a Voltage Meter out to the sign and test the Power Supply to make sure it is reading adaquate power.
*DCI will require that a picture be taken of the area with the problem. This is to better assist us in solving the issue at hand.