Dataton WATCHOUT User's Guide

A SERIAL . A
PROTOCOL
You can control WATCHOUT from an external device or control system, such
as Dataton TRAX®, using commands sent through a serial port on the production
computer. To simplify integration with an external control system, the
control protocol is based on the popular Pioneer laserdisc protocol, assuming
a CAV, PAL disk (ie, 25 frames per second).
◆ NOTE: The protocol always uses a 25 fps frame rate, regardless of the
video material you may have used in the presentation as well as the “Base
Frame Rate” setting in the Preferences dialog box. This results in a control
accuracy of 0.04 seconds.
Command Format
The protocol runs at 9600 bits per second, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity.
Commands are sent as ASCII character strings, terminated by a carriage
return character (0x0D).
Example; start to play the timeline in WATCHOUT:
PL
A string can contain multiple commands. Commands are designated by a two
character command code, as listed in the table on page 145. Many commands
accept a numeric parameter which then precedes the command code in the
string. Such a numeric parameter is represented by “nnn” in the table. If the
numeric parameter is optional, it is shown in square brackets; eg, [nnn]. Only
significant digits need to be entered; leading zeros can be omitted.
Appendix A: Serial Protocol 143