Author Topic: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?  (Read 13030 times)

lmce3000

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"Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« on: April 04, 2009, 01:59:53 pm »
I've been trying to find a projector equipped with RS232 for my main media room
to no avail. Most of the projectors I've found so far are equipped with a service port.
It seems that the industry is moving away from RS232 and opting to implement
RJ45. Shouldn't we move in that direction as well?

Your Thoughts.


John.
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Marie.O

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2009, 02:01:51 pm »
Most of the so called service ports can be used to control the devices.

And we already are able to control stuff using TCP/IP

lmce3000

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2009, 02:14:20 pm »
Most of the so called service ports can be used to control the devices.

And we already are able to control stuff using TCP/IP

posde,

Again, most service ports can be used for that purpose but not all.
My point is, should we drop RS232 altogether and move towards RJ45 ?

John.
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totallymaxed

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2009, 03:06:08 pm »
Most of the so called service ports can be used to control the devices.

And we already are able to control stuff using TCP/IP

posde,

Again, most service ports can be used for that purpose but not all.
My point is, should we drop RS232 altogether and move towards RJ45 ?

John.

Hmmm... for the forseable future there will many devices that will continue to support rs232 and of course many 'legacy' devices too. If there is a specific protocol/physical interface that you feel is needed then suggest it...or even better just go and implement it yourself.

We need to add support for new protocols/interfaces...not remove widely used ones!

All the best

Andrew
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alx9r

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #4 on: April 04, 2009, 05:12:37 pm »
We need to add support for new protocols/interfaces...not remove widely used ones!

My thoughts exactly.

phenigma

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2009, 07:15:02 pm »
I've been trying to find a projector equipped with RS232 for my main media room
to no avail. Most of the projectors I've found so far are equipped with a service port.
It seems that the industry is moving away from RS232 and opting to implement
RJ45. Shouldn't we move in that direction as well?

Your Thoughts.


John.

For clarification RS232 is a communication protocol.  RJ45 is a cable connector (used for ethernet cat5 cabling for example) and has nothing itself to do with the communications protocols.  I have a UPS which has an RJ45 port with an adaptor to 9pin d-sub to connect to my pcs serial port which uses the RS232 protocol.  RS232 and RJ45 cannot be compared.

tschak909

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2009, 07:46:23 pm »
....

*bites-his-tongue-really-hard*

We have support for just about every single _standard interconnect_ that has some sort of published standard. Just because your projector is using a proprietary connector without published protocol specifications is not our problem. Get something with a published control protocol.

-Thom

totallymaxed

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #7 on: April 04, 2009, 08:03:01 pm »
I've been trying to find a projector equipped with RS232 for my main media room
to no avail. Most of the projectors I've found so far are equipped with a service port.
It seems that the industry is moving away from RS232 and opting to implement
RJ45. Shouldn't we move in that direction as well?

Your Thoughts.


John.

For clarification RS232 is a communication protocol.  RJ45 is a cable connector (used for ethernet cat5 cabling for example) and has nothing itself to do with the communications protocols.  I have a UPS which has an RJ45 port with an adaptor to 9pin d-sub to connect to my pcs serial port which uses the RS232 protocol.  RS232 and RJ45 cannot be compared.

Sorry...thats not the point...

Andrew
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lmce3000

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2009, 08:16:02 pm »
....

*bites-his-tongue-really-hard*

We have support for just about every single _standard interconnect_ that has some sort of published standard. Just because your projector is using a proprietary connector without published protocol specifications is not our problem. Get something with a published control protocol.

-Thom


Thom,

I am aware of that. However, wouldn't it be great if there were a unified protocol under which most or all devices would be covered.
I know, Wishful thinking.

John.
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jimbodude

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2009, 08:18:52 pm »
If you can't find a projector with RS232... you're not looking too hard...  Most projectors I've seen installed in presentation rooms are controlled over RS232.  Also, the projector running above my head right now is RS232.

No, RS232 support should not be "dropped" - that would be very dumb... why would we take a step backwards? we're trying to support MORE hardware not less...  Lots of people are using RS232 successfully - including me.  Lots of devices manufactured today can be controlled by RS232... just because the projector you want isn't, doesn't mean that the receivers, televisions, cable boxes, and other special devices that other people have don't use it... you need to look at the bigger picture before you suggest dropping a feature that isn't useful to you.

Also, TCP/IP over Ethernet (the stuff that probably comes out of this RJ45 jack you're talking about) is supported... so is USB...
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Control_A/V_equipment_with_RS232/USB/Ethernet

lmce3000

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2009, 08:31:11 pm »
If you can't find a projector with RS232... you're not looking too hard...  Most projectors I've seen installed in presentation rooms are controlled over RS232.  Also, the projector running above my head right now is RS232.

No, RS232 support should not be "dropped" - that would be very dumb... why would we take a step backwards? we're trying to support MORE hardware not less...  Lots of people are using RS232 successfully - including me.  Lots of devices manufactured today can be controlled by RS232... just because the projector you want isn't, doesn't mean that the receivers, televisions, cable boxes, and other special devices that other people have don't use it... you need to look at the bigger picture before you suggest dropping a feature that isn't useful to you.

Also, TCP/IP over Ethernet (the stuff that probably comes out of this RJ45 jack you're talking about) is supported... so is USB...
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Control_A/V_equipment_with_RS232/USB/Ethernet

I am looking at the bigger picture. Look around, most New Mobos come without these ports, YES, I know with things like the GC100 we can still interface
with our RS232 equipped devices. Also I am not suggesting that we DROP RS232. That would be DUMD indeed. I'm just saying that RS232 is being Phased out.
Should we follow that trend as well ?

John.


P.S. Which Projector are you running ?

« Last Edit: April 04, 2009, 08:37:43 pm by lmce3000 »
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lmce3000

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2009, 08:38:35 pm »
I've been trying to find a projector equipped with RS232 for my main media room
to no avail. Most of the projectors I've found so far are equipped with a service port.
It seems that the industry is moving away from RS232 and opting to implement
RJ45. Shouldn't we move in that direction as well?

Your Thoughts.


John.

For clarification RS232 is a communication protocol.  RJ45 is a cable connector (used for ethernet cat5 cabling for example) and has nothing itself to do with the communications protocols.  I have a UPS which has an RJ45 port with an adaptor to 9pin d-sub to connect to my pcs serial port which uses the RS232 protocol.  RS232 and RJ45 cannot be compared.


These terms are interchangeable these days..... RJ45/Ethernet.............  RS232/Com Port............

That was the point.

John.
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*Teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

tschak909

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2009, 08:39:48 pm »
Not really, no.

You have to read your manual to be sure.

-Thom

phenigma

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2009, 10:24:35 pm »

These terms are interchangeable these days..... RJ45/Ethernet.............  RS232/Com Port............

That was the point.

John.

I understand your point but I work, and have worked, with commercial and industrial automation devices which use RJ45 ports and have absolutely nothing to do with Ethernet.

Jason

hari

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Re: "Should RS232 Be Dropped In Favor Of Other Protocols"?
« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2009, 12:23:01 am »
rs232 is _the_ standard protocol for HA control. We'll not drop it for decades.

There are plenty of projectors available with rs232.

br, Hari
rock your home - http://www.agocontrol.com home automation