Hey everyone!
Here’s a quick update on the status of Project: Spectrum!
Before we dive in
If you’re new to our crowd-developed monitor Project: Spectrum or if you just need a quick recap of what we’ve been up to so far, have a look at this summary of everything to do with the project so far. If you want to keep up to date with future steps, be sure to subscribe to our crowd-development newsletter!
A wide Spectrum of designs
Two weeks ago, we published five design concepts from Propeller, each suggesting a unique look for our monitor. The BLADE and BLOXY designs were the clear crowd favorites, but we received a lot of valuable feedback on all five of the designs. The designers have been hard at work to move forward based on your responses to come up with the ultimate design for Spectrum!
Then a few more questions
An unexpected solution
We had some follow-up questions, mostly about port placement and controls. We were a bit surprised by how many of you are looking for the single cable solution! A solution was offered from the community that quickly got seconded, and thirded, and seems to be an ideal compromise on what to do with those USB Type-C ports: Add the one with USB-PD to the ‘permanent’ ports, and the other one to the ‘temporary’ ports. That also makes it clearer which port has which capabilities!
More about the ‘temporary’ ports
The polls show clear preferences for corners over edges, left over right, and hidden ports over ports on the very edge of the display.
Though the 3.5mm minijack port wasn’t mentioned in the survey, it will of course be included, with the ‘temporary’ ports…
Buttons!
It seems a small control stick that can be nudged around is the preferred way of getting around the OSD. And we want a button to easily switch between any of our five possible input signals, too! We’ll look into making that extra button programmable from the OSD, so that you can assign another feature to it if you so wish. But input select seems the obvious default function for it…
The controversial status light
The community seems less agreed about status lights. Are they useful tools that need as many features as possible, or a scourge that needs to be eliminated?
The preferred defaults (for those who prefer a light at all) seems to be white, slowly pulsing in standby, and as dim as possible. Of course we will look into what our manufacturing partner can do to bring as many features to the table as possible: user-adjustable RGB would allow everyone to get their favorite color and brightness, after all!
The final Spectrum
We’ve been going over two new design concepts that Propeller based on the community feedback. Though we were able to pick which of the two is most in line with what we’re after, that concept still needs some work before it’s ready for prime time. This includes some tweaks and redesigns, and a lot of discussion about which materials to use for the various components. We know that things have been quiet around Spectrum, but choosing the design of the monitor is a big step and we want to make sure we do it right. As soon as we have something to show you guys will be the first to know, so stay tuned!
From there on, our design- and manufacturing partners will go back and forth to fit all the right mechanical and electrical parts into this final concept. This may lead to the concept being tweaked where necessary, and in but a few weeks we should have the final design…
We’re looking forward to it, and hope that you are as well!
