Mbta And Amtrak Pis System

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by AmtrakAcela75, Aug 6, 2021.

  1. AmtrakAcela75

    AmtrakAcela75 Member

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    I saw on today stream they were looking for videos of the pis system on the nec for the route. i live near the nec and have quite a few videos, i decided to upload some short clips to help. i currently only have videos of the mbta 2 main boards the old fashion red boards witch was installed in 2000 when the section from Boston to new haven was electrified. and the newer boards installed in the last year or so that have more information. i will try to see if i can get some picture's and footage this weekend and upload it below but hopefully these few clips will be helpful!
    New PIS MBTA: The new system are in full color and shows the full time, train number destination and how many mins for the thus train. on the first clip in Mansfield you can still see both the old psi mostly only in use to warm people of the high speed trains, since the Acela runs at 150mph (the new Acela will run 160mph). the other clip is from the Middleboro/Lakeville station where you can see the screen have already missed up. on the bottom purple line is usual the T logo and then scrolling text will say if a train is approaching and updates on the next train with the current time on the end. Video:
    Old Amtrak PIS: The older pis where installed when the route was electrified and are alot more basic. they are only in the color red and would general with scrolling text filling the whole screen saying the next train number and how many mins the next train would be, when a train would approach it would say "Train approaching" on the top and "please stand behind the yellow line" on the bottom scrolling. these signs usual have a speaker attached to them. these signs as far as i know are only used on the amtrak nec corridor, the rest of mbta lines use a orange psi with a very similar desgin but those are quickly being phased out and replaced with the newer pis thats listed above. Video:
    Amtrak PIS: i do not have a video of these since they are only located at route 128 and providence but these are very distinct compared to the other two and have amtrak on them i will try to include a photo here. they have track number on them in paint and have a board for train information Route 128 https://bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpub...aws.com/public/PKW57PXROUI6JOAPQUIGL67ONA.jpg Photo from: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...ng-upgrades/ivGgfmcMLLDAIzGTWcxNdP/story.html Providence https://subwaynut.com/mbta/commuter_rail/providence/providence22.jpg Photo from: https://subwaynut.com/mbta/commuter_rail/providence/p2.php
    i hope all of this is very helpful and hopefully we can see something like this added to make this route even more realistic.
     
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  2. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    These are cool AmtrakAcela75 and show off one of the challenges of making video of electronic signs, unless you run your frame rate at the same refresh rate they do they can't be properly seen.

    Paul
     
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  3. AmtrakAcela75

    AmtrakAcela75 Member

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    Yeah I tried to change the frame rate but they all ended up still doing that, most of the signs and lights seem to be very specific hz
     
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  4. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    Most of them have a very very low frame rate, generally only 4 to 5 fps. You might have success with an even multiplier but you might not too. The only camera I know of that you can change the frame rate to match other things is the Richo Theta V but its a full 360 camera so not all that useful for this particular purpose.
     
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  5. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    I’m fairly sure they asked for useful videos not just any old videos which show nothing of use, either because the info on the screen is unreadable or the screen is way off in the distance. If the information can’t be read, it ceases to be information.

    On the subject of how to film LED signs, the issue isn’t the ‘frame rate’ of the sign it’s the way LEDs work on AC current. Because they are diodes (the clue is in the name) they turn on and off at the frequency of the AC current or a multiple thereof. To capture them properly, you need a low frame rate and more importantly a slow shutter speed (not the same thing as frame rate). It’s not going to work well during strong daylight as that will usually result in a very fast shutter speed due to the fixed aperture in a phone camera. With a fast shutter speed you will almost certainly be filming the LEDs when they are off a lot of the time. With a rolling shutter this leads to the stripy effect as part of each frame is capturing the LEDs on and part is capturing them off.

    The best way to capture them effectively is to film them at night, and/or use a proper camera with fully adjustable settings. Filling the frame with the PIS board so the info can be read is also a pretty good way to capture what is on the screen so DTG can see it clearly in order to put it into the game.
     
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  6. DTG Matt

    DTG Matt Executive Producer Staff Member

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    I also need to see everything it can do - most videos are of trains arriving or going past so all you end up seeing is the "train approaching" slide and not what it says during the boring "no train" times that nobody records ;)

    Thanks!
     
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  7. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    All of those things are true, but they do have a refresh rate which is the speed that the display itself refreshes the LEDS, this is usually really slow because it doesn't need to be fast since they're more often than not communicated by very slow serial comm links - often still RS485.

    The newer versions tend to be OLED LCD TV screens rather than this sort of dot matrix display.
     
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  8. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Really excellent idea and they are the same type found on the Long Island Railroad. You have yellow brown color Hempstead branch Hempstead to Penn Station Atlantic Terminal blue and purple Penn Station to Hicksville although the trains will then continue to Huntington and Ronkonkoma Red Line Port Washington Branch. Speed limit converted to kilometers per hour are 260 kmh Avelia Liberty 240 kmh Acela Express.
     
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  9. AmtrakAcela75

    AmtrakAcela75 Member

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    I will try to get some videos of the new pis since the station is right down the street but sadly the older pis no longer display train information, just train approaching, I wonder how longer they'll be here. I know on the stream you spoke about the era being modem but not exactly today so you could just use the older pis, but the only footage would be older stuff. Thanks for replying to my post it means alot to hear from staff!
     
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  10. AmtrakAcela75

    AmtrakAcela75 Member

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    I went to new haven this summer and the signs there are the ones there using in game, I haven't been to south station in over a year since everything started but there been doing alot of construction for a new building above south station. Last time I went I know they got all new signs for each platform and they are screens like paul.pavlinovich said. Here a picture I took of my acela arriving in new haven and you can see the display is like the ones currently in game. But most of the mbta stations have newer led color displays they have installed in the last year or so.
     

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  11. AmtrakAcela75

    AmtrakAcela75 Member

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    Here some up close footage and some additional photos to help with modeling

    I would have recorded the other side but it was broken
     

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  12. DB628

    DB628 Well-Known Member

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    Want you fixed the PIS boards Matt with the Material?
    I found a Amtrak PIS photo on Instagram. B9DFABC7-8823-4737-B6D3-E4DF9D614162.png
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2021

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