DOM DCPs are not centered on my screen

[JonasBFF]

Hi!
I have a strange problem where the DCPs I make in DOM are not played centered on my output screen, but when I play them in the DOM-player they look good. Aha, there is a problem with my screen you might think, and perhaps that is the case. But the strange thing, to me anyway, is that the DCPs I have tried from other distributers all look fine. So there must be something that I or the DOM does different that makes the output look strange for me. I would very much appreciate if anybody have a solution! I am a beginner at making DCPs and hav searched the forum but didn't find anything that solved my problem.

My test setup
DSV J2->SDI->HDVI-20d->DVI-HDMI-> Samsung computer screen with 4k resolution.

I haven't got the possibility to test in a theater right now.

[carl]

What ratio/resolution are the DCPs you made in DoM?

[Carsten]

That's a very unusual setup to check your DCPs with. Which is probably the cause for your issues.

[IoannisSyrogiannis]

[...] But the strange thing, to me anyway, is that the DCPs I have tried from other distributers all look fine. So there must be something that I or the DOM does different that makes the output look strange for me.[...]

What you describe can be checked by checking as few steps of the procedure as possible.

1)The DCPs from other distributors, you mention, do you check them on the same setup? (Framerate the same, monitor on same preset as well.)
If yes, then the issue is probably not the timing on the HD-SDI to DVI-D.
2) Do you have any test patterns from them? Do they check centered? (Not cropped, or cropped equally?)
If yes, then it's probably not the Doremi player.
3) If you check the DCPs from the other distributors on DCP-o-matic Player, do they look O.K.? What if you check the DCPs you make on the DCP-o-matic Player?
If they are the same, then you need to let us know, how do you figure out the DCPs you make are not centered. It would worth your while to make a test pattern yourself, that would mark the center and the distance from the edge of picture.
If the foreign DCPs and yours do not look the same on DCP-o-matic Player, then the DCPs you make have something extraordinary.

Instead of letting us guess what you do, it would save much time and effort if you filled us in. We don't know you, your setup, the settings you use or if what you consider centered on other DCPs is actually that. You need to let us know and you need to use test patterns for such tests. That's their whole point.

[JonasBFF]

Thank you for taking time to answer me. I am of course fully aware that the setup is somewhat unorthodox and far from ideal, but that's what I've got to play with for the moment so it is what it is. And like I said, all DCPs I have tried have played without any hiccups, besides the ones I made myself.

1) Yes I check them on the same set up, everything is the same.
2) I have external testpatterns that look good on my test setup.
3) All DCPs I play on DOM looks good, including the ones that doesn't look good on my test setup. I tried to convert a pattern using DOM but it also turned out wrong on my test setup, but look good in DOM. On my 24" screen, i would say that the offset is about 2 cm, so it's really easy to see.

[Carsten]

Without having access the setup, it is impossible to find out the reason for these offsets. It may be the monitor, it maybe the converter, it probably is a combination of both.


Do you use any special container formats that need to be enabled in advanced settings in DCP-o-matic? When you look at two DCPs from different sources, both being e.g. flat/1998/1080/24p, the DSV will output exactly the same signal towards the signal chain.

I think you should trust DCP-o-matic player more than your setup.

[JonasBFF]

It is perhaps a combination of the above as you say. But I feel that the error should occur for all the DCP's in that case and it doesn't. Therefore there must be some parameter somewhere that is different. And I can't find what that parameter is. Probably because of my lack of knowledge which is why I turned to this forum.

[carl]

What ratio/resolution are the DCPs you made in DoM?

[IoannisSyrogiannis]

It is perhaps a combination of the above as you say. But I feel that the error should occur for all the DCP's in that case and it doesn't. Therefore there must be some parameter somewhere that is different. And I can't find what that parameter is. Probably because of my lack of knowledge which is why I turned to this forum.

You write that "...All DCPs I play on DOM look good..." but from what you write I can't tell if "DOM" is "DCP-o-matic Player", or the editing program. I was not using any acronyms for the purpose of clarity. I admit that it's somewhat boring for me as well, to do so.

It's nice that you turned to this forum. People that participate here in general have a rather helpful nature and want to figure things out. People that are behind the development of the program as well. Yet, the program in question is built for digital cinema setups, and most feedback received derives from their likes. You have a rather unique one. It might be -inevitably- what it is, but that characterization, apart from autological in a vague way, it's also a self-referential definition. Therefore, for the participants of a forum to help (the ones of this one included), it's more sensible to provide as much information as possible, with as little unambiguity as possible, for both the setup and the packages you use and create. That, would somewhat support an educated guess (or more) and would motivate people to engage.

I, for one, if you are indeed using DCP-o-matic Player for checking and things work out, will suggest you find a cinema setting and test on that. Until then, if I was you, I wouldn't consider that unique setup you made as representative. I would be glad, if you figure things out, if you shared your findings.

[JonasBFF]

What ratio/resolution are the DCPs you made in DoM?

I make 2k Flat with 25fps, resolution is 1998x1080.

Ioannis, I had of course hoped for a simple answer. You forgot to switch the x to y! Or something like that. But I am starting to realize that is more complicated since the experts here seems to be as clueless as I am regarding this specific problem.

The thing is that I work for a small short film festival and one of our venues is not a movie theater. I got my hands on the DSV J2 and had hoped that I would be able to play DCP in that venue as well and everything seemed to be going fine until I tried it with the ones I made my self. Which of course give me a big problem. Maybe I have to skip the old DSV and buy a NeoDCP licens and run it from a PC instead.

The ones I make look good both in the editor and in the player by the way.