Troubleshooting Sensor based WarpSync installations

Many components need to work together for a CompactClick installation to work. The sensor system needs to be properly installed and connected, nBox and projectors must be set up, and nControl needs to communicate to all devices for the system to work.


If a sensor based setup does not work, it may be due to one of several causes.


Note: Please add more symptoms (and if possible, solutions) to this page.


Normal operation

When calibrating the system, the following sequence of events should occur:

  1. All images go to black.
  2. One projector shows a fast flashing sequence of test patterns (normally in green color), lasting for about 1.5 seconds.
  3. A number of green LEDs light up in the screen, indicating valid measurements done by the corresponding sensor.
  4. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated for all projectors (if Measure allwas selected)
  5. After the test pattern has been shown in all projectors, normal images are turned on again
  6. nControl receives the measurements (shown in the dialog)
  7. ntControl recalculates the image geometry
  8. The updated image geometry is applied to the channels.

Common symptoms

1. Image does not change, and/or no flashing test pattern from nBox. Check nBoxsetup and that WarpSynchas been licensed. Possible causes are:

  1. Address not set correctly for nBoxchannels
  2. CompactClick not licensed for ntControl and/or nBox
  3. Signal not connected through nBox

2. Flashing test pattern is displayed, but no, or very few LEDs on the screen light up

  1. Communication issues. See Troubleshooting CompactClick communication.
  2. Ambient lighting in the room. Try switching off all external light to see if this makes a difference
  3. Sensors and sensor assemblies pick up electrical noise. See Eliminating electrical noise in CompactClick

3. Flashing test pattern, green LEDs are lit, but no measurements are received by CompactDesigner

  1. Communication problem. Since LEDs are lit, commands are received by the screen elements, but possibly no answers to nControl. See Troubleshooting CompactClick communication.
  2. Internal problem in CompactControl. In rare situations, internal communication in nControl has failed, and requires a restart of nControl.
  3. Non-standard framerate. Currently, only 60Hz resolution is supported.
  4. Unsupported projector. Not all projectors display "true" frame-synchronous images (all input frames displayed exactly once by the projector)
  5. Non-standard projector settings. Some projector settings may distort the testpatterns, check that the following are set in the projector:
    1. Scaling mode set to 1:1
    2. H/V Keystone or other image geometry settings must be set to nominal values
    3. If the projector has a "frame synchronous" or "minimum latency" mode, this should be selected
  6. Projector settings on nControl. Check that the native resolution is selected, and that the projector orientation (rotate/mirror etc.) set in nControl corresponds to the orientation set on the projector (automatic for 3DP brand projectors with DDC or LAN control).
  7. Unsupported resolution in nBox. Some (non-standard) resolutions have not been fully tested.
  8. nControl setup issues. Check installation.

4. Measurements are received by CompactDesigner, but no calibration is calculated (error message in Auto Calibrate window)

  1. Incorrect connection between Compactclick elements/ SPBs
  2. Wrong setting of "Connection point" in nControl. When using CompactClick 325 segments, the connection point must be set correctly. Note that for custom screen layouts (imported sensor position file), the connection point has no effect, and is defined by the sensor layout in the file.
  3. Incorrect Sensor Position Definitionfile.
  4. Incorrect use of lock flags(in the Auto Calibration dialog)
  5. Non-standard projector settings, see above.
  6. Input resolution different from output resolution. So there should be a 1-to-1 relation between input signal and image shown on the screen when performing WarpSync. This means 1:1 scaling on output and 1:! scaling on projector
  7. input resolution different from projector resolution. During WarpSync you can set the output scaling to 1:1 and the projector to 'fill all aspect'. Even though the WarpSync test pattern is less sharp it often works. This will give projector positions. After that you can set the outupt scaling to 'fill all' and the projector to 1:1. This prevents resampling of the image in both nBox as wall as projector, and results in better image quality. Requirement for this is , that there are enough sensors present in the image area in 1:1 mode.

5. Measurements are received by CompactDesigner, calibration is calculated, but the calibration is incorrect (mismatch between channels or other error)

  1. Incorrect Sensor Position Definition file.
  2. Projector settings (keystone, scaling etc). Sometimes it may help to reset the projector to default settings ("Reset to defaults" or "Image reset").
  3. Incorrect connection between Compactclick elements/SPBs
  4. CompactClick screen buildup and alignment/radius, CompactClick Buildup
  5. Wrong setting of "Connection point" in nControl. When using CompactClick 325 segments, the connection point must be set correctly. Note that for custom screen layouts (imported sensor position file), the connection point has no effect, and is defined by the sensor layout in the file.