Communication channel in QAWeb Enterprise

Article number: [3459] - Legacy code: [11472]

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Question: How does QAWeb Enterprise communicate with the Diagnostic Imaging Monitors? 

Answer: The communication channel is defined by QAWeb Enterprise Agent. It will always prefer USB communication over DDC, therefore USB is by default the primary communication channel between the DI monitors and the software.

Recommendation: Always connect a USB Cable (shipped in the package together with the Barco Diagnostic Imaging display) between each DI monitor and the workstation. 

Where is the current communication channel shown in QAWeb Enterprise Agent? 

  • Open the User Interface of QAWeb Enterprise Agent
  • Click on the Settings Icon and click then on Components as shown below
  • Display 2 is here not connected over USB (not recommended) and Display 3 is correctly connected over USB

Where is the current communication channel shown in QAWeb Enterprise Webportal?

  • From the Webportal, select your workstation (Assets --> Workstations)

 

What is the advantage of attaching a USB Cable compared to DDC? 

  • Faster execution of calibration and QA Tests 
  • USB communication has a higher bandwidth 
  • USB is more reliable 

If no USB cable is present, QAWeb Enterprise Agent will fall back to a secondary communication channel, DDC (Display Data Channel), accross the video port outputs of the display controller (DVI,DP etc...), more about DDC here.

However, if a USB cable gets connected again, the display communication will not automatically switch from DDC to USB, a restart of QAWeb Agent will be necessary (see KB11219)

Further related questions: 

Q: Is one USB cable for a dual-head system (pair of displays) sufficient? 

  • No, one USB cable for a dual-head system is not sufficient. To establish the communication, a USB cable is required between the workstation hosting the QAWeb Software and each diagnostic display.

Q: Can a USB cable be daisy-chained when there are no more USB slots available on the workstation? 

  • No, for the same reasons as mentioned above, USB cables can also not be daisy-chained to establish proper communication between QAWeb and the displays 

Q: Are any type of USB-A & USB-B cables supported (other than the USB cables provided by Barco)?

  • Yes, any type of USB-A & USB-B cables are supported but Barco highly recommends using the Barco USB cables which have been tested and validated.
Info: In our previous quality assurance software "Medical QAWeb", it was possible to manually change the communication channel settings between USB and DDC. In QAWeb Enterprise there is no configuration option to enforce DDC communication only anymore.
Note: Be informed that some Clinical Reviewing Monitors MDRC-1219, MDRC-2122, MDRC-2221, MDRC-2222, MDRC-2224, MDRC-2321, MDRC-2324 and Diagnostic Imaging Monitors MDNG-2120, MDNG-3220, all MDNC-2221 only support USB (no ddc support). For these displays, a USB cable is required to enable QAWeb Enterprise calibration and QA tests. 

 

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Last updated Oct 7, 2022