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Firmware Update V1.2.2

A project log for Customizable 20W Amplifier

4 Input, 3 Way Tone Control and Customizable LCD Display

smartroadsmartroad 09/25/2019 at 08:260 Comments

Now that I have the RGB backpack for the RGB backlight LCD I have updated the firmware to take advantage of it.

This new firmware will auto detect if the RGB backpack is connected and if it is detected it will allow additional options in the new Setup menu. This menu (reached by holding the power button down for two seconds) opens to show the current firmware version installed. The multi-control is then used to navigate the other options. If the RGB backpack is detected it will allow you to change the colour of the backlight (16 options, all with amazing names...), the brightness and the saturation level. Technically this allows for about 400 different colours and shades, although in practise there are many that will look very similar! I am considering using a gamma correction for the brightness and saturation as it is linear now which doesn't always look best on our eyes.

The backlight can be set  to dim/turn off after a period of not being used, options from 1 minute to 30 minutes. If the RGB LCD is used then it will dim the display to 50% of the current brightness settings. Should the LCD be a standard single colour, the backlight will be turned off.

In the next update I am looking to add the ability to not need the Adafruit amplifier so you can use it or any other amplifier you want should you want more power. To maintain the full feature set I am currently designing a board that will sit between the controller and amp (where the Adafruit amp is connected) to provide the volume control before the amplifier. However the system will be able to run without it, by using the volume control of the TDA7439DS chip, but the VU Meter output would scale with volume rendering it useless. Hopefully I will be able to implement an automatic detection system, like I have for the RGB backlight, so that it doesn't matter which option you want, it should just work out the best way to operate.

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