PiTPG - Raspberry Pi test pattern generator for ColourSpace

Wolf91074
If you have a USB-A port that isn't being used on your laptop, you can use a USB-A to USB-C cable to connect to a Pi based TPG. I use a 10 foot Anker cable for that purpose and it provides both power and data to the Pi device. That leaves your USB-C port available for keeping your laptop charged.
Having said that, after reviewing the PiTPG page on the site, it looks like connecting via ethernet requires that the device be on the same network as the ColourSpace PC, i.e., having an IP address assigned to the TPG by the router.
When I attempted a direct connection to my laptop via USB-A to Ethernet adapter with PiTPG, the Startup Screen doesn't even register that an ethernet cable is connected.

The power supply for my Raspberry Pi (which was in the Raspberry Pi 4 kit I bought for PGenerator) provides 5.1V and 3.0A, whereas standard USB-A/B gives you 5.1V and 0.9A. Therefore I did not try the connection PC/USB-A to Raspi/USB-C up to now. I tested it just a few minutes ago and it did not work.
@titleexaminer92: are you using a special high-power USB-A to USB-C cable?

The PiTPG page says:
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What You Need

• A Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 5
• A microSD card - 8 GB or larger for Ted's Edition (4 GB or larger for the Basic edition) (Any good-quality card will do. As PiTPG reads from the card but never writes to it while running, card speed makes little difference)
• A micro-HDMI to HDMI cable, to connect the Pi to the display
• A USB-C cable, to connect the Pi to the ColourSpace PC
• (This both powers the Pi and connects it to ColourSpace - a Pi 4 or Pi 5 runs from the PC's USB port alone. If the Pi restarts by itself, or shows a low-power warning, try a different USB port, as older ports and unpowered USB hubs can supply less power. Alternatively, use the Pi's power supply and an Ethernet cable)

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So, as I understand it, an Ethernet cable that connects the PC directly to the Raspberry Pi should work. But maybe I've missed something.

Wolf91074
I connect via a USB-A to USB-C cable from a powered USB 3.0 hub. Works perfectly.

I'm using an Anker branded USB-A to USB-C "fast charging" cable.
Specs are: Supports fast charging up to 15W (3A/5V) and data transfer speeds up to 480Mbps.

Hi,

I got an issue with HDCP, if that is deactivated at the connected display, in my case an AnalogWay Aquilon Cmini, the PiTPG will not display any video signal or make a link and in my case, connection via lan, I got an error message that there is no display connected after connecting via Colourspace, btw, the process for network discovery works lovely. After activation of HDCP handshake everything works fine.

A direct 'no router' Ethernet connection will not work as is.

On Ethernet, PiTPG waits for a router to give it an address.
On a direct cable to a PC there is no router, so the Pi never gets one.
Windows gives itself a stand-in address, but the two are never on the same network, so ColourSpace can't reach the Pi.
The USB link works because PiTPG hands out the PC's address itself (Pi 10.10.12.1, PC 10.10.12.10).
On Ethernet it deliberately doesn't, because it would clash with the router when plugged into a normal network.

Workaround:
Windows Internet Connection Sharing.
In the PC's network adapters, open the Wi-Fi adapter's Properties, then Sharing, and tick "Allow other network users to connect", choosing the Ethernet adapter.
Windows then acts as the router on that cable.
The Pi gets an address (usually 192.168.137.x), and PiTPG's start-up screen shows it.
Type that address into ColourSpace's Network Address.
Or, use a USB-C hub with power pass-through.
The laptop's charger goes into the hub and the Pi plugs into the hub.
The laptop charges and the USB link works as normal.

We'll look at making a change to the direct Ethernet connection so a workaround is not needed.

Steve

Change made for PiTPG v2.0.5
(Remove the workaround, if you have done that already.)

Steve

You can safely leave HDCP turned on in the Aquilon.
That's the right fix for your setup.

It happens as an HDMI input tells the source 'a display is here' with a hot-plug signal on one pin of the cable.
PiTPG relies only on that signal.
When 'no display connected' appears, the Aquilon is holding that signal off.
The Aquilon apparently does this when its input's HDCP is disabled.
That's unusual, but switchers and processors sometimes handle the signal incorrectly/differently.

With HDCP on, the Aquilon only says it 'could' accept encrypted video.
PiTPG never starts HDCP or encrypts anything, so the patches arrive exactly as they would without it..

Steve

A quick update, as Ted has just verified PiTPG's HDMI output is bit-perfect, on both Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5.
Every patch value arrives at the display exactly as ColourSpace sends it, in every output format: RGB, YCbCr 4:4:4 and YCbCr 4:2:2, BT.709 and BT.2020, 8-bit and 10-bit.

Steve

We're waiting for the Ted's version...

Talking of Ted's Edition of PiTPG, we have been doing a lot of work on that.
And we have just issued Ted a v.2.3.8 version.
Since the v2.0.0 release the new additions are:

- A/V Sync Test: "PiTPG AV Sync 0 ms", plus versions with the sound 20-100 ms early or late. A white flash and a 1 kHz beep over HDMI, for setting a TV's or AV receiver's lip-sync delay.
- Video clip playback: your own clips play on a loop with sound. The output switches to the clip's frame rate, and HDR10/HLG clips switch the display into HDR. For viewing, not measuring.
- Files: MP4, MKV, MOV, M4V, TS / M2TS / MTS or WebM.
- Video: HEVC (H.265) plays best, up to 4K 60 Hz, including 10-bit HDR10 and HLG, on both the Pi 4 and Pi 5. H.264 plays up to 1080p 60 Hz on a Pi 4. The Pi 5 has no H.264 hardware decoder, so keep H.264 clips to HD there.
- Sound: PCM, AAC, AC-3 and other common formats, sent to the display as PCM over HDMI.
- Resolution: the output stays at the resolution set in ColourSpace, and the clip is scaled to fit.
- Demo clips: Lip Sync, Motion, HDR10 1000 nits, HDR10 4000 nits and Sound Check.
- Example footage: short Netflix Open Content excerpts of Sol Levante and Sparks, each in HDR10 and SDR. Credits are in PiTPG-video-credits.txt on the card. Netflix's "SDR" Sparks file turned out to be the HDR master mislabelled, so the Sparks SDR version is now made from the HDR master with a Light Illusion conversion LUT.
- PiTPG-media drive: on its first start the Pi turns the rest of the SD card into a second drive the PC can see, for your own clips and images. Start a newly written card in the Pi once before copying files to it.
- HDR Steps patterns (HDR10 only):
- "PiTPG HDR Steps": two thin strips of exact PQ steps up to the MaxDML set in ColourSpace, showing where the display clips.
- "PiTPG HDR Steps Metadata Cycle": the Pi changes the mastering peak and MaxCLL every 6 s (600-10,000 nits), showing whether the display's tone mapping follows the metadata.
- New set previews: "(00) Preview" for each Ted's Image set, full screen at 1080p and 2160p.

Steve

Steve
This is great! We're waiting for the upload.

We've had a bit of fun today, and have added a LUT capability to PiTPG for all imagery PiTPG generates itself & test images.
So you can validate a LUT via profiling for example, or see it applies t the test images.

The LUT will not be applied to video clips in Ted's Edition PiTPG though, as the Pi is presently just not capable of it.
We did try, effectively making the Pi a small home cinema player, but it could not do 4K above 30Hz, and HDR failed even at 30Hz.
It was fun trying, but the Pi is just not powerful enough.

Doing some Beta Testing as the moment, but we should release the new update shortly.
(Hopefully, Ted will release Ted's Edition at the same time, if not before...)

Steve