*** Version 1.25 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixed another bug in the 'SS' command. If you attempted to save more than one setting at a time(if more than 1 bit was set in the parameter to the 'SS' command), it was possible that not all the settings would be saved. *** Version 1.24 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixed a bug in the 'SS' command. Global audio settings (master volume, volume and mute fade times) were not being saved. *** Version 1.23 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixed a bug in the 'CCV' command. Null parameters sometimes changed, and the +/- prefixes did not work. *** Version 1.22 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixed a bug in the TCP/IP stack that would occasionally keep it from reconnecting if a connection was lost. *** Version 1.21a *** Changes: - When switching to a composite input the previous behavior was to ignore the audio switching, effectively treating it like a breakaway. This has been changed to treat the composite inputs like any other input, audio will switch along with video. Since the composite input has no audio, this causes the audio to mute when switching to a composite input. If you want the video to breakaway without affecting the audio, use the audio breakaway feature like you would on any other input. *** Version 1.21 *** New features: - When switching to the "classic mode", using the 'AUT' flag in the 'XS' command, you can now select whether analog audio or digital audio is routed to the CAT5 and COAX outputs. The default behavior was to send the digital audio sources down the CAT5 lines as well as to the COAX outputs. The 'DRZ' and the 'XDRZ' commands now control how the digital and analog audio is routed when in the classic mode. Previously these commands had no effect when in the classic mode. - Three new discrete IR codes have been added for each zone (a total of 24 new IR codes). Each zone now has a discrete IR code to power the zone off, power the zone on, or toggle power on the zone. *** Version 1.20 *** New features: - Added the MJP option to the 'XS' command. This allows control of what happens when a muted zone has its volume changed. See the new serial / IP manual for a full description. *** Version 1.19b *** Changes: - Change the default mute level of the 'VMZ' command to fully off. Before this the default mute level was -20dB, this allows you to press the mute button and have the audio fade to the background, but still hear it. Another press of the mute brought the audio back up to the original level. This is nice when someone walks into a room to ask a question, etc. Unfortunately some control systems drivers used the 'VMZ' command to shutdown an audio channel (they should use the 'MZ' which will always completely mute the audio). To cut down on service calls, the default value for the 'VMZ' command is now fully off, but can still be set to any desired level using the 'VMLZ' command. - Change the default behavior of the 'DRZ' command to match the new default behavior of the 'XDRZ' (see Version 1.19a changes). *** Version 1.19a *** Changes: - Subtle change to the default settings of the XDRZ command. This change only affects the Prowler matrix switches. When a Prowler detects both analog audio and digital surround sound audio (like Dolby5.1 or DTS Audio), it must choose which format to send to the SoloCAT receivers. The current default is to send the digital surround sound audio. Unfortunately the SoloCAT receivers cannot decode the surround sound audio so the mute their analog audio outputs. The problem (from a technical support point of view ;-) as that until the installer makes it to the 'XDRZ' part of the Serial Protocol manual, it appears that the SoloCATs are not functioning properly. Actually, from a user point of view this change makes sense as well. A typical install consists of many TV's and one living room with a receiver capable of decoding surround sound audio. It make more sense to default to sending left / right audio to the many TV's, than sending the surround sound audio to the single receiver. *** Version 1.19 *** Bug Fixes: - The muting the digital channel did not work when the switch was placed into the "Classic" (non-auto conversion) mode. Changes: - Added the "DUPZ" command. This command works like the "SZ" command, except the source is the source of another zone, which is copied into the given zones. For instance "^DUPZ @2,1" would take the sources of zone 1 and apply them to zone 2. *** Version 1.18a *** Changes: - A muted zone will now unmute if IR is used to sequence through sources. *** Version 1.18 *** Bug Fixes: - A muted zone is supposed to unmute when using the front panel to select a source. This sometimes didn't happen. New features: - After a full power loss, the zone's sources now default to '0' which indicates the zone is powered off (no video, no audio). The previous defaults set all zones to source '1'. If source '1' was a cable box, or some other always-on device, then after a power loss audio would be present on all zones. If your audio amplifier(s) turn on when audio is detected, then you would have had some unhappy clients after a 2:00am power loss. Setting all zones to '0', after a power loss, prevents this. - If defaulting to all '0's doesn't work for you, you can now change them using the front panel. After setting the zones to the preferred power loss mappings: Press and hold the ENT key, then press the VID/AUD button. All the front panel lights will blink quickly three times, and the current power state, and current zone mappings will be saved as the new power loss defaults. - Not a new feature, but it should be mentioned here: All changes to volume, bass, treble, EQ settings, input gains, and zone gains, made through the front panel, are saved as the new power loss defaults. This has always been the case, it was just the zone mappings that couldn't be changed using the front panel. *** Version 1.17c *** Bug Fix: - Video breakaway did not work using the front panel. Audio breakaway worked, but when only video was selected, audio would follow video. (This didn't affect the serial and TCP/IP routines.) *** Version 1.17b *** Bug Fixes: - Changing the mute level for a zone also affected the volume of the zone. If the zone is muted, changing the mute level WILL change the volume level, but not the volume setting (since the zone is muted it will be adjusted to the new mute level). In this case, the volume setting was changing, and it was changing even if the zone was not muted. - Changing the Min and Max levels indirectly changed the volume percentage setting (even though the listener's volume level does not change). Since the volume is a percentage of the min through max volume range, adjusting these setting changes the volume percent setting. This change was not being returned to the controller. - If changing the volume min and max levels leaves the current volume outside the new range, the volume will now be adjusted to be within the new min and max levels. Before this fix, the volume would not change until a new volume command was sent, at which point it was moved to within the min - max range if needed. New feature: - Serial buffer was increased to 2048 bytes (was 1024). There have been no reported issues with the smaller buffer, this is just a preemptive strike. *** Version 1.17a *** *** PLEASE READ *** The wrong file was posted as Version 1.17 for about 4 hours on March 25, 2010. If you downloaded this version, please upgrade! This was an internal test version, and will not behave properly. The biggest problem will be that the VPZ command will only work on Zone-1. Once again, if you have version 1.17, you need to upgrade to 1.17a! Our humble apologies if this mistake has affected you!!! *** PLEASE READ *** Bug Fixes: - When powering on, only one attempt was made at initializing the different subsystems by the CPU. We found that by playing with a loose A.C. cord (to simulate a really noisy power mains), you could get the switch to (very rarely) power up without audio, or produce an unwanted sound for an instant. The fix was to rewrite the power-on routines to do retries if some power line glitch kept anything from to initializing properly. On top of that, a new routine was added to keep all zones fully muted until everything is initialized and working properly; thereby eliminating the possibility of clicks, pops, and squeals during the power-on initialization. New Features: - Minimum and maximum volume settings (Commands: "VMIZ" and "VMAZ"), to limit the range of the volume control. - Volume as a percentage. (Command: "VPZ".) The old method of volume still works. (No update should ever break pre-existing drivers!) The new command allows the volume to be set as a number from 0 to 100. 0 is always full mute, 1 is always the minimum volume setting, and 100 is always the maximum volume setting. Anything between is a percentage of volume between the minimum and maximum settings. This makes writing drivers much easier since the 0-100 always works, regardless of the min and max settings. - Mute using the audio processor. (Command: "VMZ"). While this existed before, it was not well documented. The currently documented way of muting is using the "MZ" command, but this is really a power down zone command. It basically turns off audio for that zone. The new "VMZ" command uses the audio processor for many features beyond "Audio Off". - Mute attenuation control. (Command: "VMLZ".) You can set the level of attenuation for the mute command. Instead of a full audio off, you can attenuate by a set level (-20dB for instance, is a command mute level). This allows you to place the audio way in the background, and still know that it's on. You can also judge how loud it's going to be when you unmute, something you can't do with a full audio mute. - Mute fading. (Part of the "VMLZ" command specification.) You can have the mute fade up and down instead of the traditional "jump" to new level. The effect is like turning the volume down for mute and turning it back up again for unmute. It's much less jarring, and sounds very natural. You have full control over the speed of the fade. - Volume out of mute. This has always been a pet peeve of mine. You come into a room and try to raise the volume and either nothing happens, until you figure out you're muted, or it comes blasting out (when the mute is automatically disabled by the volume press) and you desperately try to bring the volume back down before waking everyone in the house. You can now volume out of mute. Walking into a room with a muted zone, you can either press the unmute button, or just start turning up (or down) the volume. The volume will simply raise (or lower) from its current level. The mute will be disabled, but it will not affect the volume. Much more intuitive; the user doesn't need to know that the audio was in a muted state. To keep the controller from becoming out of sync with the switch, the controller (through the serial or IP port) will be kept updated of the new mute state and the new volume levels. *** Version 1.17 *** PLEASE READ *** The wrong file was posted as Version 1.17 for about 4 hours on March 25, 2010. If you downloaded this version, please upgrade! This was an internal test version, and will not behave properly. The biggest problem will be that the VPZ command will only work on Zone-1. Once again, if you have version 1.17, you need to upgrade to 1.17a! Our humble apologies if this mistake has affected you!!! *** Version 1.16a, 1.16b, 1.16c, 1.16d, 1.16e *** These are various stable releases between 1.16 and 1.17a, as the power on initialization routines were improved, they were shipped. Anyone with Version 1.16 should upgrade to Version 1.17. *** Version 1.16 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixing the audio to allow '0' as a valid source input, broke the video selection of the composite inputs (selected by holding the '1', '2', and '3' source keys). Restored the ability to select the composite channels. This bug also affected the serial commands. *** Version 1.15 *** Bug Fixes: - Fixes issues associated with muting an input by setting its source to 0. The analog audio channels did not always respond properly. New features: - The front panel CLR button can now be used to set a zone's input to 0 (mute). *** Version 1.14 *** Bug Fixes: - Dolby5.1, DTS Audio and PCM audio were not always being auto detected properly when switching between inputs. Switching between Non-PCM and PCM signals sometimes left the PCM input mode in the wrong state, resulting in no audio. Switching to an analog source and back caused the audio to return. *** Version 1.13 *** New Features: - Added timed volume fading to the volume and mute commands. Volume adjustments can now be made on a timed basis. Mute commands can now be smooth transitions over time instead of an instance jump to a new level. With a single command you can have the volume in one zone fade out while the volume in another zone fades in. The slope of the fades can either be defined by time (For instance: Take 2 seconds to fade between levels), or by slope (eg: Fade between levels at a 20dB per second rate). Both time and slope are adjustable, and you can easily mix instant level jumps, timed fades, and slope fades. All fades are interruptible, and can overlap each other. One to all zones can be fading at the same time at different levels, directions, and types - some zones can be doing a timed fade, while others are doing a sloped fade, in any combination. *** Version 1.12a *** Bug Fixes: - The serial command "MZ" did not mute video. You can now use the "MZ" command to blank (disconnect) a video zone. Some displays will turn themselves off when no video signal is present, for those type of displays, this command can be used as a remote off. - The audio control commands "VZ", "BAZ", "TRZ", "EQ1", etc. only operated on the first zone when multiple zones were specified. Now a command like: ^VZ @1,@2,-20$ will turn down the volume on zone's 1 and 2 by 10dB (20 0.5db steps), not just zone 1. *** Version 1.12 *** New features: - Baud rate is now selectable between 9600 and 19200. New front panel settings allow the changing of the IP address, and serial baud rate. - Per zone gain added. Each zone can now have its gain settings adjusted, allowing the use of different amplifiers of different sensitivities at different zones, while maintaining the same volume settings. *** Version 1.11 *** Bug Fixes: - The "ENT" button could not be programmed as a preset for the Client Mode. There was also some seemingly erratic behavior where some buttons were not mapped to the proper preset codes. *** Version 1.10 *** New Features: - The Clarity 8x8 now supports 100 presets, the front panel switches represent 1-20. Each preset can affect any number of zones, while leaving the rest unaffected. Presets support full audio / video breakaway. - Added a "Client Mode". By setting the front panel to Client Mode, the 20 front panel switches become presets. Except for the power on/off function, no other functions are available while in Client mode. This allows for things like "To watch the DVD, press the '1' button, to watch TV, press the '2' button.". This is also useful in commercial settings where an employee can pick a configuration with the press of a single button. And it takes away his/her ability to really screw things up by pressing the wrong button(s). *** Version 1.9 *** Changes to serial commands: - Added granularity to the 'SS' (Save States) command. This allows backing up individual parameters to EEPROM. For instance all the audio settings, except the volume controls, can be backed up to EEPROM. Or just the zone mappings can be backed up. It used to be all or nothing, which was irritating when saving something like a change in the LED intensities. Before saving states, you'd have to go back and adjust all the zone volumes to what you'd want them to be after a power failure. Now you can make a change to the LED intensities and save only the new LED intensity settings to EEPROM. Added serial commands: - 'MLZ' Per zone mute level setting. The audio mute level is now adjustable. Instead of just completely muting the audio, the audio mute level can now be set to an arbitrary value, allowing for a reduction in level instead of a full mute. For instance setting the mute level to -20dB will cause the volume to be lowered by 20dB anytime the audio channel is muted. *** Version 1.8 *** Added serial commands: - 'CCV' Composite to component converter options for adjusting contrast, brightness, saturation and hue. Allows selecting between composite and S-video inputs. *** Version 1.7 *** New Features: - Allowed the Master Volume to exceed 0dB. Added serial commands: - 'MXZ' Stereo Mix. On a per zone basis, allows swapping of left and right channels, mono L+R, mono all left, mono all right, mono L-R, or mono R-L. - 'DRZ' Non-PCM digital routing. On a per zone basis, when Non-PCM digital audio (Dolby 5.1, DTS Audio, etc.) is detected on a digital input, you can: ..1) Route it directly to the digital output, bypassing the Clarity's audio processing. Useful for receivers that can handle Dolby / DTS. ..2) Ignore the Non-PCM data, and instead route the the converted analog audio to the digital output. Useful for kitchen TV's, etc. that cannot decode the Dolby / DTS stream. This also allows use of the Clarity's volume / tone control settings. *** Version 1.6 *** Stable intermediate (but production tested) release. Does not contain all of Version 1.7 features and anyone with this version should upgrade for all the new features. *** Version 1.5 *** Added serial commands: - 'MV' Master Volume Control. - 'BLZ' Per zone balance. *** Version 1.4 *** Internal release only *** Version 1.3 *** Bug fixes: - On initial power on, sometimes the analog audio inputs were not auto-detected, and the switch defaulted to digital inputs, even if there was no digital signal. Once any audio input was remapped, all inputs were auto-detected properly. - When switching to composite inputs, the serial command did not properly report the video breakaway to the composite inputs, but instead indicated that the audio was also switched to the composite inputs. Added to the front panel: - Balance control. - Contrast, Brightness, Hue and Color Saturation control for composite inputs. - Choose the default input for each composite converter: input1, input2, or s-video. *** Version 1.2 *** New Features: - Added to the front panel the ability to switch between composite converters. *** Version 1.1 *** Bug fix: - Fixes issues with the S/PDIF switching, especially when passing 5.1 Dolby and DTS audio. Anyone using the S/PDIF inputs or outputs should upgrade to this version. *** Version 1.0 *** Initial release.