hybrid mode why use other modes

[rm357]

Hybrid mode introduces discontinuities in my mega tree and other elements that I don't want. Setup in LSP with strait pixel mode is super simple. 46 x 16 contiguous address field...

[tbone321]

This year I have been converting some of my incandescent lights to RGB and plan to use hybrid mode.  This will allow my old sequences to work without much modification until I have time to upgrade the sequence to RGB.

If you intend to mak those changes this year then hybrid mode would be a good choicebut if you are not planning to do that until next year, then you would be better setting them to string mode.  Remember tha in hybrid mode, you have to define 3 channels for every pixel in the string + 3 for the string itself for every smart string yu will be adding.  That will mean a lot of unused channels and unless these new strings are already at the end of the sequence channel count, it also means a lot of work moving other items to new channel numbers.  In string mode, you only need to define 3 channels per string which is a lot less work any way you look at it.

[RJ]

The other thing which I believe in, but nobody seems to talk about (so maybe its not true?) is that there appears to be some lag associated with controlling the entire string at the pixel level vs. with just 3 channels ... so to me, its less data and thus potentially less laggy. 

Sure this is true.

With normal mode I have to wait on all the channels to arrive before sending out the data to the nodes. When you use string mode I only wait on 3 channels and then go to work.

RJ

[rm357]

Lag would be less than 1/30th of a second (time required to transmit a full pix universe)

If in hybrid mode, the next controller has to wait for all that data to pass before picking up its start address.

Also the delay would always be the same amount of time, so it could be adjusted out if it was that critical to you.

If using a full pix universe, it does take 1/30 sec to transmit, which means address 4096 is always about a 1/30th of a second behind address 1....

[sielbear]

This was touched on earlier, but it bears repeating. If you are going to setup a mega tree or mega matrix that uses more than 1 smart string in LSP, you need to use pixel mode only. Hybrid will introduce problems.  In LSP, you define your elements as the start channel and end channel. This space must be one long contiguous set of channels without breaks. Hybrid mode will insert a virtual channel in the mega tree / mega matrix definition. This will effectively make your tree operate in single string mode due to data being received on the hybrid channels. Additionally, you will have additional / virtual channels as part of your matrix / tree elements.

[dpitts]

This was touched on earlier, but it bears repeating. If you are going to setup a mega tree or mega matrix that uses more than 1 smart string in LSP, you need to use pixel mode only. Hybrid will introduce problems.  In LSP, you define your elements as the start channel and end channel. This space must be one long contiguous set of channels without breaks. Hybrid mode will insert a virtual channel in the mega tree / mega matrix definition. This will effectively make your tree operate in single string mode due to data being received on the hybrid channels. Additionally, you will have additional / virtual channels as part of your matrix / tree elements.

I respectfully disagree. I used hybrid mode last year with 16 strings of 100 count without any problems. In fact I just tested this years tree with hybrid mode. You just need to create a hybrid only controller for the hybrid channels. LSP will not care if the hybrid channels are not continuous within the hybrid controller.  And two pixel data controllers for the pixel channels. One for the first hub and one for the second hub since all channels do not fit on one hub. I name them the same but with a suffix '1' and '2' ('Megatree1', 'Megatree2'). Creating two pixel data controllers allows me to take advantage of the renumbering feature of LSP since I need to skip some channels between the 13th and 14th strings. I usually at first include the hybrid channels when I create pixel controller but then go back and delete them so they will only be in the hybrid channel controller. Then when I go to create the tree in the visualizer I can select all the pixel data channels as they will be one after the other.

[Steve Gase]

If you go above 4096 channels, or 1365 pixels, then contiguous is not even possible as you need to jump across pixelnet universes.

[rm357]

Make that going above 8191. If you start the first pixel at address 2, #1365 will end on 4096 and #1366 can start at 4097, or address 1 in universe 2. Pixel #2730 will end at address 8191 and addresses 1 and 8192 will be unused.

[JerryPlak]

this is great read... can someone an Sticky Topic this posting  so we can get back to this post