Appendix A: DMX, Ethernet and Art-Net
DMX
DMX data is transmitted in a serial form. This means that there is one cable carrying the data,
which is sent bit by bit (a bit is a 1 or 0), one after another. The entire transmission of DMX
data for a DMX universe is known as a DMX Packet.
The DMX Packet consists of a start code and 512 channel levels.
The start code for DMX is generally 0. The channel section contains the level for that channel.
Ethernet
Ethernet is the technology used to connect computers on a network. Most computers use a
protocol called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol Over Internet Protocol) to communicate
over an Ethernet network.
Ethernet transmits the IP address (address of a computer on the network) of the sending
computer, followed by the IP address of the receiving computer, followed by the data. The IP
addresses allow the data to be routed to the correct computer.
On a typical office network, computers will have an IP address of 192.168.1.x, where x is
between 0 and 254 (255 is a reserved address). These IP addresses are generally assigned
dynamically by the Router on the network using a protocol called DHCP.
The computers use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. This specifies which range of IP addresses
are on the local network. In the example above 255.255.255.0 specifies a range of from
192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255 which is a total of 256 addresses.
Art-Net
What Is Art-Net?
Art-Net is a royalty-free communication protocol, developed by Artistic License used to
transmit DMX information over a network.
An Art-Net network typically uses the 2.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x IP Address scheme using a subnet of
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QuickQ v6
2021-03-12
