turls

FREE Control4 drivers for Blustream AV distribution products
Blustream is the custom installation's industry's fresh new option for advanced HDMI distribution.  Their products have been designed and engineered by a global team of AV specialists with over 30 years of experience.

Extensive research highlighted the market need for an AV distribution brand that could deliver both industry leading performance and most importantly reliability. This has resulted in Blustream developing a range of HDBaseT and HDMI solutions that deliver advanced AV integration within any installation environment.  As an official HDBaseT adopter and alliance member, Blustream is firmly positioned at the forefront of this advanced technology. Through integration of the HDBaseT chipset Blustream engineers have developed the world’s most innovative range of AV distribution products.   

Chowmain is proud to announce that over the past year we have been working with Blustream to bring you high quality FREE drivers that integrate their range of solutions to the Control4 home automation system.

Features

MFP112 / MFP72 Driver
Two way IP / RS232 control Matrix switching Volume control Audio Input port selection/analog LR section control Scaler Bypass control Scaler Output Aspect Ratio control Scaler Resolution control Scaler Zoom control Signal Overscan control Splitter / Matrix mode control VGA input auto adjust picture position Ability to copy EDID from output to innput / set default MX44VW Driver
Two way IP / RS232 control Matrix switching Video Wall / Matrix mode control Multiview control Multiview audio input selection CM100/IP100-RX/IP100-TX Driver
Two way IP / RS232 control Matrix switching Audio Source control Input EDID control Input Reboot control Output HDR control Output Reboot control Output Resolution control PLA88/MX88ED/MX44AB/MX42AB/HMXL44/HMXL44V2/HMXL88/HMXL88V2 Driver
Two way IP / RS232 control Matrix switching Volume control Audio Source for HDMI/HDBaseT Output control Audio Source for Analogue L/R and Coaxial Digital Output control Output delay control Priority Video Input Source control For more information about Blustream and to download the FREE drivers please visit the Blustream website.

We have released the LG WebOS Smart TV IP Driver for Control4 for LG 2016+ Web OS 3.0. Must have "Mobile TV On" Setting.
This is the most feature rich TV driver to ever be released for Control4!
https://annex4.link/drivers/lg-webos-smarttv
Those interested please have your dealer contact us to setup an account, this process does require a 15 minute phone call for initial account setup, which is a short walk through of our platform and how it works. 
The driver features the following and more
IP Control of Built-In TV Apps with Mini Drivers Toast messages to popup on screen, ie. Door Open, Door locked, Door bell pressed, or any other message required. Button bindings for quick binding to Lights or Lighting Scenes upon TV power on or off Mouse Mode Auto Input Select if input changed outside of Control4, ie. LG Remote used to change app. Volume Level Feedback Mini Drivers - Vudu, Hulu, Amazon Video, Netflix, YouTube, Crackle, Google Play, Plex, and more Many More Features  

Just to update my review from a few months ago:
Houselogix has updated the driver and Holovision  updated the firmware on their unit so now you can program against the press of the button on the door station.  I have this tied into Alan Chow's Pushover/notification suite, so when someone rings the door, I get a push notice with a photo of who is at the door.
Only drawback, when someone rings the door bell, the C4 touchscreens do not make a "door chime" sound, instead they make a phone ringing sound.  It is a bit confusing, as when someone rings the door, we instinctively look at our phones.  I am working on some programming that when the button is pressed, the touchscreens mute for 20 seconds, and announcements play in the house in various rooms (announcements being the sound of a doorbell).  It is not as "plug and play" using the touchscreens as I would like, but end of day I will figure a way to get announcements where I need them, and you can use the touchscreens to see and talk to who is there.
Lastly, Holovision is looking into some 3rd party SIP applications I found to make/receive SIP calls from off your network.  This would be helpful for when you are not home, but you can still talk to who is at the front door ala ring.com.  It may be a while until we figure something out and I can update this thread at that time.

For 2 years I've had issues with the drawbacks with the original C4 door station.  The latest version only addresses 1-2 of my issues, not all, and I do not like the form factor, or color, for the new door station.
My searches led me to Holovision.  They came to an agreement with C4 in 2014 to start producing a SIP Door Station compatible with C4.  The item and drivers were ready by fall 2015 and I've been testing them for the last few months and I am glad to say everything is fine and working as it should.
http://eholovision.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=249&Itemid=290 - that is the model I selected, size wise it is the closest to the original C4 door station
https://www.houselogix.com/shop/holovision-vio-control4-driver - driver for the SIP door station
https://www.houselogix.com/shop/ktc-hdi47-control4-driver-license - driver for the IP camera that is on board
Compared to the original door station by Control4, here are improvements I see:
The IP camera is on 24x7 and available to view in the navigators, etc (this is fixed with the new door station) Camera placement - this is not addressed with the new C4 door station.  With these Holovision units, you can move the camera left or right AND swivel the camera too.  It is a great way to get what you need in sight of the camera.  The original and new C4 door stations are lacking in this feature. Keeps the same shape as the original door station.   The new C4 door station is too modern/futuristic looking for my house.  
The size of the faceplate is only 1-2'' bigger.  However, there is more "stuff" that has to go into the back box.  I worked with Holovision to try and retro fit a 400 series door station with the C4 back box but it is not possible.  2 options, use the Holovision back box (Which I did) or you can use the C4 back box with a specially designed Holovision bracket, but then you need to put the VIO/SIP unit inside your house and run extra wires and do a reconnections between the VIO unit and the door station and camera itself.  For me, it was easier to just cut out a larger hole in my siding and add a new back box.  If the VIO/SIP unit is in the back box, only 1 PoE is needed.  A 2nd small ethernet is needed to hook up the camera to the VIO but to give you an idea I am using a 6'' patch cable between the two.
Attached are some photos of the uninstalled unit to give you an idea of what it looks like out of a wall, the back box, the VIO unit, how you can angle the camera, etc
1st and 2nd photos show the rear of the unit and you can see how the camera is all the way off to the right and swiveled back to the left to get a full view of that area.  3rd and 4th photos are a straight shot and side shot of the unit with the back box attached.  the last photo is the VIO/SIP unit.  For example purposes, the blue cable is the PoE cable whereas the purple one is the one that attaches the camera to the VIO unit.  that purple cable is long, so when I did the install, I used a 6'' patch cable.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.  This was purchased via a Beta test direct from a dealer.  Holovision does not sell direct to public.  So I am not sure of MSRP, etc so please do not ask.
 
 
 

Hi guys,
 
Control4 just released a new driver they developed today.  Pretty cool.  Works great.
 
 
 
 
 
DLNA Music – An alternative digital music experience 
 
Control4 is pleased to announce the availability of the DLNA Music driver. This is an alternative to the standard My Music digital music driver for use where the customer’s local music collection is stored on a NAS drive. Most NAS drives ship with a DLNA music server which is compatible with this driver. 
 
The advantages of the DLNA Music driver in these situations are: 
No Music Scanning Required – The driver uses the information already scanned by the DLNA server. 
New Music Appears Quickly – The DLNA server can constantly monitor for new music. 
Searching - Music collections can be searched by Artist, Album, Genre etc. 
‘His and Hers’ music collections – it is possible to set up different libraries for different members of the family. Justin Beiber shall never intermingle with your Prog Rock collection again. 
Tailor the navigation – many DLNA servers allow you to tailor how the information is presented to the user. Some are particularly good for Classical or Jazz collections. 
 
It is important to remember that this driver does not scan the music collection or lookup metadata. If customers that have already copied their CDs or purchased music from online stores this is not necessary. It also means that the driver does not edit or change the customer’s metadata. If a customer uses iTunes or other programs that lookup metadata as they copy CDs this driver can be used successfully. 
 
Supported NAS drives and Servers 
The driver has been tested using the following popular NAS drive and DLNA server solutions. 
 
QNAP 
Use either Twonky which is shipped with the NAS, or install Asset (Free or Paid versions). The QNAP native DLNA server is not supported. 
 
Netgear Ready NAS 
Use the built in ReadyDLNA server. You can also purchase Twonky for some models. 
 
WD Live 
Use the built in Twonky DLNA server. 
 
Synology 
The built in DLNA server will work but does not support searching. 
For other NAS drive manufacturers look to see if they include or support either Asset or Twonky. 
 
iTunes 
The driver is ideal for customers that have their local music collection on iTunes. By moving the iTunes library to a NAS drive it is possible for the customer to enjoy their iTunes music collection via their Control4 system without needing to keep a computer permanently running. 
 
Classical and Jazz Collections 
If you have customers with classical and jazz music collections then they often want to be able to search or browse their collection by Composer, Orchestra, Conductor or Soloist. The Asset DLNA music server available for the QNAP NAS offers these abilities. It relies on the customer’s music collection being accurately tagged. dbpoweramp also provide CD Ripper which is particularly good at accurately copying and indexing classical music collections. 
 
Available Now 
The driver is available now in Composer via the online database. You can find it under Media Service, Manufacturer Control4. 

The big issue that they potentially heavily bog down controllers. Timers are much safer options than WHILE statements. Plus Timers can be 'manually' stopped if required with a custom button, schedule et al.
 
Examples of issues:
 
WHILE light is ON
...and then that light senses an overload and goes into protection. You'll have NO way of remotely cutting the loop.
 
WHILE TV current input is...
someone manually changes the input...
 
Careful use can be fine, but there are perfectly good alternatives available for almost ANY situation - using timers, start/stop commands vs pulse and so-on.
 
Even something like
WHILE security is in alarm state
toggle light
delay 1 second
Why bother? Just do
WHEN security goes to alarm state
Start 1 second timer
 
When 1 second timer expires
 
When security alarm state cleared
Stop timer
 
Yes that's more lines, HOWEVER that WHILE statement is VERY likely to have created a back-log in the system and will likely continue to toggle the light for several seconds, in somne cases several minutes or even longer.
 
Even on your motion, the WHILE statement is sending constant light on traffic across the ZigBee mesh - both from the motion potentiatlly, but for sure the light.
Using timers there only sends occasional traffic - basically only once when you turn the light on, and once when you turn it off.
 
 
I won't say it's WRONG to use WHILE statements, but it should be used with caution if at all. The alternatives, while a few extra lines of code, are often simply better.

Ought to see a LOT more of this, shouldn't have to dig here or wait for a C4 blog to reference it:
 
http://nycesensors.com/support/control4-lighting-examples/

A few words about Neil.......
I have had conversations with him and questions for him over the last few months ,my first dilema was that i needed a switch added into my system to control xmas lights as part of a surprise for my kids at xmas time,Neil was on the phone and had it setup in mere minutes!
 
Between then and now i continue to call on him for questions and concerns i have,he answers in a timely manner and is willing to pick up the phone and talk and help sort any issues out ,i have been buying used bits and pieces for my system over the last bit and installing and waiting to add in at one time.
 
Neil and i spent a couple hours on the phone yesterday and he addd all my new devices,installed drivers for everything i needed!
 
Neil takes the time to explain to diy/newbies like myself and did everything exactly as i had hoped,his fees for doing all this were more than fair ,less than half of what he original installer wanted just to come fix what they hadn't done correct!
 
I don't have a bunch of post here on the forums but the few i have talked to know my situation,after the original dealer and install i was at the point of ripping out the entire system and using it for target practice,with the help of this forum and a couple guys in particular(Neil and Cyknight),i am confident the system will meet my expectations and more .
 
I look forward to dealing with Neil on the remainder of the house along with any of my needs!
 
Thanks again Neil your TOP NOTCH!!

Here is an update version of the Blue Iris driver I wrote a couple years ago. I modified it to allow you to enter the camera name in the driver itself rather than having a separate driver for every camera.
 
This is just a basic viewing only driver. If you are looking for advanced features, check out the other Blue Iris thread.
 
-David
camera_dw_ip_http_BlueIris.zip

I wrote a Blue Iris driver awhile back. Here is some information on it
 
The driver assumes that the default camera "short name" in Blue Iris is "Cam1" through "Cam9." If you need more than 9, you can just modify the driver. The driver will also allow you to display a grid with full streaming video.  To get this to work, you must use the group function in Blue Iris. To get the groups to work, I just added cameras to groups and names them "Group1" and "Group2." The driver is looking for those group names. You can modify the driver if you desire different group names.
 
The driver has been updated with the latest driver improvements and only will work with 2.5.3 and beyond. It does support H264 for mobile devices. You may need to adjust your Blue Iris quality settings to get the best streaming results. The speed of your PC will also impact the performance within Control4.
 
-David
 
Blue_Iris.zip