Quick word on the setup: 12 RGB-LED bars in pixel mode, 18 pixels each and a few traditional items such as moving heads, scanners, strobes. Roughly 1000 channels, divided into two universes with an equal distribution of LED bars (ca 300 channels per universe, ca 500 channels defined per universe).
It is my understanding that DMX has a variable frame length, so I assume that frames only contain channel data if the value of a given channel has changed, although there is a minimum frame length that can be achieved with padding if needed.
Q1: How does QLC+ build frames from collections, especially nested collection?
As an example, let´s assume there are 4 fixtures with 5 channels each and I build 20 scenes with just a single channel/value per fixture. The same channel for all 4 fixtures is combined in a collection, so I have 5 "channel type" collections with 4 scenes each. Then, a master collection is calling those 5 collections. Will QLC+ send 20 frames, each with a single value and padding or will QLC+ aggregate that in any way, like 5 frames with 4 values or even 1 frame with 20 values? Maybe not the most practical example, but it should illustrate my question.
Q2: Thinking of bandwidth, I expect a lot of traffic for the RGB matrixes, as something is always happening with the single pixels, for example when using plasma. That means ca 300 channels will be sent more or less constantly. What refresh rates can I expect from that, the artnet-dmx converter is set to 40 Hz.
Q3: If things work as I assume, what is a practical limit for constantly changing channels? Or how could I calculate the refresh rate I achieve with a given number of channels?
Sorry if all this is nonsense because my base assumption is wrong
I went and read the wiki article on DMX and that´s when the questions came up... Willing to learn!