Just Add Power 2G plus

[Cyknight]

I've yet to see this issue on 2G units, all mine are full packages ordered from Blackwire with one exception (our first, which works like a charm but using Blackwire is just that much simpler to deal with - as it doesn't require me personally to do it all).

Can't help but wonder if it's the "networking" more than the JAP pieces.

Guess short answer is that I haven't seen a stability improvement - as I've seen none before.

PS What are your resolutions set at?

[Kevin L]

The 2G Plus product is great. It has been shipping since CEDIA and is very popular.. what did you want to know about it?

My installation is actually working mostly OK now. (see earlier rant above). I have a couple of questions:

1) I was wondering how much trouble it would be to swap out a couple of 2G+ units for my 2G units. I could use the pass through HDMI connection for at least one of my transmitters. I would also like to clean up my rack and install 1 rack-mounted set of 3 transmitters just for the sake of bringing more order to the rack. If the swap is a hassle' date=' I won't bother.

2) While most of my system is working OK now, I still have to reset one of my four transmitters weekly. It's not a major problem, but my wife always complains that "the cable is working" and sometimes TWC provides S/W updates powering off the boxes, sometimes the box has to be reset but often the JAP transmitter needs a reboot due to lost video. Often I lose video but audio remains. Does 2G+ increase reliability at all?[/quote']

1. You would need to update the firmware on all of your existing products to 3.2A. It takes 3-5 mins per device. EVERYTHING must be on 3.2A. The 2G+ comes on 3.2A

2. what firmware are you running on the JAP system? what switch are you using? What driver are you using? Are you doing POE or power supply receivers? What resolution are you running? You should have ZERO reliability issues with the JAP 2G product

[earo]

1. You would need to update the firmware on all of your existing products to 3.2A. It takes 3-5 mins per device. EVERYTHING must be on 3.2A. The 2G+ comes on 3.2A

2. what firmware are you running on the JAP system? what switch are you using? What driver are you using? Are you doing POE or power supply receivers? What resolution are you running? You should have ZERO reliability issues with the JAP 2G product

1. Can you update the firmware remotely? I tried to update the firmware once and it was a pain. I couldn't figure it out. My dealer eventually came to help me and it took about 8 hours to update all firmware. We had to bump each sequentially. And we had to disconnect each unit, run it into a separate switch just for the upgrade. I wish I could help out to do some more of this, but to start yanking cables and applying multiple firmware upgrades is a hassle I'd like to avoid. But my poor dealer, I really felt bad. So, what's the easiest way to do this?

2. I don't know how to check the firmware version, which kills me. I'm very savvy about this stuff, but since everything was setup w/ the Blackwire driver (which was totally seamless to me), I don't even know how to login to my switch to see what's going on. It's the Dell switch you recommended about 2 years ago. 48 Port, POE. All using POE supply. I also don't know how to check the resolution. I'm using your driver version 1.8.6.17.

[Cyknight]

Resolution would simply be based on whatever source, so you'd check you cable box etc. Either in menu or from your TV's feedback. The big thing is 1080i resolution, see if any have that.

[qVAMPIREp]

Just basically still on the fence on this versus a typical matrix switch--so I wanted to hear from other users. I wasn't going to do anything until 2G Plus came out and I was kind of surprised there wasn't any chatter here about it. I forgot about it since before CEDIA until today...

I have tons of issues with my install and my remodel still, so it will be a while before I decide for sure what to do.

Anything new in these devices on supporting 4K/Ultra HD? It isn't an absolute necessity but at the investment point it would be nice.

Thanks Kevin.

I've had an Atlona 8X8 Pro HDMI matrix for over 2 years. I've had ZERO problems and it has been flawless. I looked at JAP but didn't go that way because I don't want video and/or audio degradation of any kind due to their compression.

[earo]

All cable boxes are outputting 1080i through the JAP "matrix". TVs are picking that up and displaying it. I thought Kevin was talking about a JAP setting I wasn't able to readily identify. I'm also feeding an Apple TV2 into it at 720p.

[Kevin L]

1. Can you update the firmware remotely? I tried to update the firmware once and it was a pain. I couldn't figure it out. My dealer eventually came to help me and it took about 8 hours to update all firmware. We had to bump each sequentially. And we had to disconnect each unit, run it into a separate switch just for the upgrade. I wish I could help out to do some more of this, but to start yanking cables and applying multiple firmware upgrades is a hassle I'd like to avoid. But my poor dealer, I really felt bad. So, what's the easiest way to do this?

2. I don't know how to check the firmware version, which kills me. I'm very savvy about this stuff, but since everything was setup w/ the Blackwire driver (which was totally seamless to me), I don't even know how to login to my switch to see what's going on. It's the Dell switch you recommended about 2 years ago. 48 Port, POE. All using POE supply. I also don't know how to check the resolution. I'm using your driver version 1.8.6.17.

1. NO it needs to be done onsite. It should take 3-5 minutes per device to update. The safest way is to do 1 device at a time. Technically you could do the update your self

2. The issue is using a non POE receiver makes it harder to get the pop up. You would need to check the firmware manually by connecting a transmitter to your computer. The 3.2A firmware is highly recommended so in my mind you really should just update the entire system

How many total transmitters and receivers do you have? Do you have a windows pc or a VM on a mac?

[Kevin L]

All cable boxes are outputting 1080i through the JAP "matrix". TVs are picking that up and displaying it. I thought Kevin was talking about a JAP setting I wasn't able to readily identify. I'm also feeding an Apple TV2 into it at 720p.

change your cable boxes to 720P.. JAP does not directly display 1080i and it will scale it to 1080P which does not look good since it does not have an actual scaler

JAP prefers 720P or 1080P

[earo]

I'll try setting everything to 720p -- I don't think that the new Cisco STBs support 1080p.

I've got a PC at home. Why does that matter? For bonjour? I remember that being an important part of the last firmware upgrade that I attempted.

[Kevin L]

I'll try setting everything to 720p -- I don't think that the new Cisco STBs support 1080p.

I've got a PC at home. Why does that matter? For bonjour? I remember that being an important part of the last firmware upgrade that I attempted.

yes to use bonjour browser

[Nded]

bad experience with jap?

Not me personally. I would ask the early adopters how they feel. I would also ask the manufacturer if there product will support 2k and 4k tv's when they eventually come out' date=' or will that be another expensive replacement solution. Finally, what if they go out of business will you have to rip everything apart and start all over again if there product starts breaking down or is there solution non-proprietary?[/quote']

I found this post quite humorous. Just Add Power just had its 20th Anniversery this year, and the company is the strongest it has ever been. We have been in business much longer than most other companies in this industry (I belive this would include the much more proprietary C4 company).

Early 1G adopters feel quite happy to know that they can still buy new devices to expand on their original investment. How many other companies that offered an HDMI distribution solution in 2009 are still providing their customers the opportunity to infintely expand their system? None would be my guess. Early 2G adopers feel good to see so many new features added over time with FREE firmware updates. Features like multi-channel audio, 3D, 2-way RS232 over IP, On Screen Display API, and the Video Wall App are just a few of the things that were not in 2G on day one, but can now be added to their 2G system at no extra cost. The industry norm is to announce revolutionary new products and abandon the old. Just Add Power doesn't operate that way (we have several thousand traing systems installd around the globe by customers who appreciate still being able to expand their training sytstem that was installed 15 years ago).

If everyone were to follow your advise, the Apple company (and most other companies on the planet) would have gone out of business a long time ago.

[Nded]

The 2G Plus product is great. It has been shipping since CEDIA and is very popular.. what did you want to know about it?

My installation is actually working mostly OK now. (see earlier rant above). I have a couple of questions:

1) I was wondering how much trouble it would be to swap out a couple of 2G+ units for my 2G units. I could use the pass through HDMI connection for at least one of my transmitters. I would also like to clean up my rack and install 1 rack-mounted set of 3 transmitters just for the sake of bringing more order to the rack. If the swap is a hassle' date=' I won't bother.

2) While most of my system is working OK now, I still have to reset one of my four transmitters weekly. It's not a major problem, but my wife always complains that "the cable is working" and sometimes TWC provides S/W updates powering off the boxes, sometimes the box has to be reset but often the JAP transmitter needs a reboot due to lost video. Often I lose video but audio remains. Does 2G+ increase reliability at all?[/quote']

RE 1) 2G+ hardware is backwards compatible with 2G standard, so you could mix/match them to add specific 2G+ features to your system.

RE 2) The performance problems you are seeing are not normal for a 2G system. As has been suggested by others, a free firmware update would be your first step, you will also pickup support for all the new 2G features like mulit-channel audio and 3D video. However, if your problem is that the cable company is turning off the box with frequent S/W updates, then that is something we really can't fix from the JAP side of the system.

If the firmware update is done using our "best practice" advise, any system, regardless of size, can be updated to the latest firmware in under 1 hour. The key is to temporarily put all the TX in one VLAN and all the RX in another VLAN, then you can quickly update them in just a few minutes. I believe the most recent Blackwire drivers support this "best practice" technique. We are also working on some much better software tools and cross-platform drivers that will totally automate the firmware process. Keep your eyes posted on www.justadddrivers.com for when this software tool is available for download.

[Nded]

Just basically still on the fence on this versus a typical matrix switch--so I wanted to hear from other users. I wasn't going to do anything until 2G Plus came out and I was kind of surprised there wasn't any chatter here about it. I forgot about it since before CEDIA until today...

I have tons of issues with my install and my remodel still' date=' so it will be a while before I decide for sure what to do.

Anything new in these devices on supporting 4K/Ultra HD? It isn't an absolute necessity but at the investment point it would be nice.

Thanks Kevin.[/quote']

I've had an Atlona 8X8 Pro HDMI matrix for over 2 years. I've had ZERO problems and it has been flawless. I looked at JAP but didn't go that way because I don't want video and/or audio degradation of any kind due to their compression.

There is no compression in the 2G CODEC. We understand that the Just Add Power solution is not going to be right for everyone, I just don't want somebody to dismiss it for an invalid reason.

[qVAMPIREp]

Just basically still on the fence on this versus a typical matrix switch--so I wanted to hear from other users. I wasn't going to do anything until 2G Plus came out and I was kind of surprised there wasn't any chatter here about it. I forgot about it since before CEDIA until today...

I have tons of issues with my install and my remodel still' date=' so it will be a while before I decide for sure what to do.

Anything new in these devices on supporting 4K/Ultra HD? It isn't an absolute necessity but at the investment point it would be nice.

Thanks Kevin.[/quote']

I've had an Atlona 8X8 Pro HDMI matrix for over 2 years. I've had ZERO problems and it has been flawless. I looked at JAP but didn't go that way because I don't want video and/or audio degradation of any kind due to their compression.

There is no compression in the 2G CODEC. We understand that the Just Add Power solution is not going to be right for everyone, I just don't want somebody to dismiss it for an invalid reason.

That's sounds like a major improvement on the video side. However, does it pass 3-D and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD?

[Nded]

I've had an Atlona 8X8 Pro HDMI matrix for over 2 years. I've had ZERO problems and it has been flawless. I looked at JAP but didn't go that way because I don't want video and/or audio degradation of any kind due to their compression.

There is no compression in the 2G CODEC. We understand that the Just Add Power solution is not going to be right for everyone' date=' I just don't want somebody to dismiss it for an invalid reason.[/quote']

That's sounds like a major improvement on the video side. However, does it pass 3-D and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD?

Yes, all 2G's can now pass 3D. They must be upgraded to the A3.2a or higher to enable 3D support.

Supporting those high-end Blu-Ray only audio formats can be done a couple of ways in a 2G installation. We first have to know how many "lossless" zones are in the configuration and where the AVR's are to be located.