P3 Processing vs. DMX Control

Martin Professional makes some great creative video products that can add excitement and imagery to any production or architectural installations.  All the products including VDO Sceptron, Exterior Pixline, and VC grids, strips, and dots can be controlled by either DMX or via the Martin P3 system controller.

With DMX you simply address each product via RDM and then use a lighting controller or media server to map the control of the pixels.  However there are many downsides to using DMX to control pixels and display video.  These include latency, poor smoothing, steppiness, artifacts, and synchronization problems.  Although many productions can be successful when controlled by DMX, most users prefer the P3 control system for the best video playback on any of Martin's video products.

The P3 system controller allows not just easy setup and configuration of a video system, but it also processes video input exceptionally well.  With a range of products available including the P3-100, P3-200, P3-300, and P3-PC the system is totally scale-able depending on the number of pixels you wish to control.  Plus for no cost, you can use P3-PC to prepare your video mappings and use test program for setups. (See this previous post about P3-PC)


The P3 system controllers also have the ability to receive 2-way communication from each connected device.  This allows for easy identification and setup as well as thermal reporting and throttling.  The P3 system is much more than a video processor as it provides many control possibilities.  Color temperature adjustments, on-the-fly mapping changes, as well as gamma adjustments are just some of the robust features.   In addition, users can now install P3 onto Hippotizer V4 media servers from GreenHippo.  This functionality allows direct P3 control and processing to be output from the media server itself.

To fully understand the difference between using DMX and a P3 system controller check out this video that details the differences: