Spectrum ES07D03 | Firmware Update Version 107

Development Project: Spectrum | Development
#1

107Firmware Update
107Firmware Update8626×1421 2.43 MB

Hello everyone!

I’m Kevin, the new Firmware engineering project manager who will be overseeing the development of Spectrum’s firmware in the future. Previously our firmware development was done through the combined efforts of Grant (@Lore_Wonder), Niraj (@nkyadav), and Kira (@Kira). Hopefully now that we have someone (me!) dedicated to the development of our firmware we will see some great progress.

My goal is to develop market-leading features whilst giving users an enjoyable bug-free experience when using our products. But in order to do so, our team must understand the needs of the community regarding our firmware development. Please help us accomplish that by participating in this survey!

My current plans for our firmware development:

  1. Enable Adaptive-Sync and Backlight Strobing together. (short term)
  2. Support for Mac users to upgrade their firmware. (mid-term)
  3. Improved user experience. (long term)

Now, on to the star of the show: I would like to announce the arrival of ES07D03’s latest firmware: version 107! This firmware was concocted from community feedback and I would like to thank the community for trying out our test builds.

To download the new firmware, please head to our download page. Then, go to Spectrum ES07D03 > Scaler Firmware. 107 will be amongst the available firmware for you to download.

Note: As with every firmware update, there is a possibility of bricking the device. Please proceed at your own risk and follow the instructions carefully.

Firmware ES07D03 v.107 changelog

New features:

  • Added support for PS5 Variable Refresh Rates.
  • Added support for display stream compression (DSC) over USB Type-C.
  • Added support for DDC commands from non-current source devices

Improvements:

  • Improved monitor power up time and wake up time.
  • Improved compatibility for lower refresh rates over DP on Nvidia 30 series cards.

Bug fixes:

  • Resolved issues of screen flickering and distortion for some users.
  • Resolved issue where video input settings were not reset when loading factory default.

Last but not least, following every firmware version release I will create a survey a week from now to understand our user experience, so be sure to drop by later and fill out that survey too!

Thank you for reading this topic and if you have any other suggestions about our firmware development please comment below and let us know!

Best regards,
Kevin

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21 Likes
Spectrum | Screen Blanking Issue
Project: Spectrum | ES07D03 V107-T117 Firmware Beta Testers needed
Spectrum takes very long to wake up and Win acts like it was disconnected
Visible Image Compression with a MacBook Pro 16 and TB4 Cable
PS5 VRR test firmware - non-PS5 feedback
#2

thank you very much for the update!

4 Likes
#3

Love the update @systemofadead ! Glad to have you part of the team! :fire:

2 Likes
#4

Excellent transparency!

2 Likes
#5

Nice with an official update :stuck_out_tongue:

Discord is still making my screen blank like mad.

Win11
RTX3060
HDMI 2.1

2 Likes
#6

Great update! Really glad the firmware v. 107 is out of beta and can be downloaded to the user. Good to have a dedicated firmware developer onboard! It’s surprising that all of the firmware updates were done through the combined efforts of just three people who were doing development in addition to their usual duties with marketing and community management. Thank you all for your hard work!

4 Likes
#7

@systemofadead do you know if updating the firmware via virtual machine (parallels using Windows) on an M1 mac is possible?

#8

Hi guys,

Does this happen only with discord? Do you happen to have Night Light active?

It is possible to do so, just make sure the USB connection is enabled on Parallels. Also please see the post made by @NZgeek here.

1 Like
#10

Is this update fix the vrr issue in ps5?

#11

Hi @mohmmad_alnasser,

Welcome to the community!

Yes, that is one of the highlights of this update.

1 Like
#12

On MacBook Pro 16 (2019, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M) still 60Hz with “USB-C bandwidth” configured to “High refresh rate” and 30Hz with “High USB data speed”.
MacOS Monterey 12.4 (21F79).
USB-C cable from Eve.

#13

@systemofadead: I’ve found an issue with DisplayPort over USB-C that you might want to get the firmware team to look at.

There’s a command available on Macs (or at least Intel-based Macs) that allows you to see the DisplayPort configuration (DPCD) registers transmitted during a DisplayPort handshake. It’s relatively easy to run:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleGraphicsControl.kext/Contents/MacOS/AGDCDiagnose -a

When running this against my Spectrum, there are a couple of values that stand out.

  Reg: 000001: 14 : MAX_LINK_RATE: HBR2

According to a doc I found on Intel’s site (PDF, page 11), MAX_LINK_RATE is read-only and indicates the maximum link rate of the main link lanes. It’s measured in multiples of 0.27Gbps.

The value here is 14 (hex) / 20 decimal. 20 x 0.27 = 5.4Gbps, which is HBR2 (DP1.2) speeds.

I would expect this value to be 1e hex / 30 decimal. 30 x 0.27 = 8.1Gbps, which is HBR3 (DP1.4) speeds.

  Reg: 000100: 1e : LINK_BW_SET: HBR3

According to that same PDF, LINK_BW_SET is read/write and contains the actual link speed. Again, it’s measured in multiples of 0.27Gbps.

The value here is 1e hex / 30 decimal. As noted above, this is HBR3 speeds.

I suspect that the Spectrum is initially setting LINK_BW_SET to HBR3, and this is seen as acceptable by the DP1.4-capable graphics card and left as-is. However, because MAX_LINK_RATE is only set at HBR2, graphics drivers are limiting the potential resolution / refresh rate / bit depth / subsampling combinations to stay under HBR2 bandwidth.

We’ve certainly had reports that chroma subsampling is being used at higher refresh rates on Macs (link, link, link, link) and people facing other restrictions on various hardware (link, the post above this one). There is a very good chance that fixing MAX_LINK_RATE will solve a lot of these issues.

12 Likes
Spectrum | Firmware 105 Early Access
#14

Only with Discord yes. No I haven’t turned on Night Light :slight_smile:

#15

This may also have something to do with my “30 Hz via DP 1.2 and 60 Hz via DP 1.4” issue when using physical DisplayPort (not DP-via-USB-C).

2 Likes
#16

Excited to see how much better the monitor can get. I’m a Mac user (M1) and a PS5 user almost exclusively. I’m really hoping the input switch times can be reduced significantly, it currently takes around 12-15 seconds to switch between sources. But even more importantly I’m hoping a Mac update method comes out, I’ve completely ditched windows and even using parallels can be a chore.

#17

But is there the option to turn off DSC? I keep hearing soon but it never gets added in and I’m sick of waiting

#18

@systemofadead @Lore_Wonder @nkyadav @Kira

Hi firmware team,

The screen blanking issue on Macs not just happens on video playbacks but I have found a video that will 100% reproduce the same issue on Macs as everyone here being faced.

Start watching at 06:15 (must set to 1080p video source, and full screen safari but not the video)
The screen may flicker only when you play the first time, then you should try to play the video second time, until it blank out and no respond.

The situations and setups in details below:
Device: any Apple Silicon Macs
Connection: usb-c to usb-c
Resolution: 4K
Refresh rate: 144hz (no issue below 60hz)
HDR: off ( no issue when HDR on)
UI scaling looks like: any resolution except 4K

I know the team has been putting many effort to build a bug free firmware, I will appreciated if the team take this seriously just like the ps5 vrr problem

Regards,

Wenay84086

1 Like
#19

Hi @salzar,

The feature has been put on the roadmap for firmware development for a while now, but it still needs more research time.

#20

I wonder if this is related to the issue I reported earlier in the thread. At around the 6:15 mark you go from medium-lit racing footage to a mostly white podium shot to a mostly black title card.

If the display driver is busy trying to cram all of this into a DP1.2 signal with DSC, it could be triggering an edge case DSC bug in the Spectrum firmware that’s causing the screen to not respond. It could also be triggering an edge case bug in the graphics driver that’s causing it to break until the screen disconnects and reconnects.

It’d be interesting to get a test build with the MAX_LINK_RATE bug fixed, to see if it helps to solve some of these unusual issues.

#21

A couple of questions:

  1. Does this firmware increase crosshair granularity/maneuverability
  2. My crosshair settings keep getting reset when I use one of the preset options. Does this version resolve this issue?