Blackbird 4K Pro 4x4 HDMI^® True Matrix

Introduction

This Blackbird™ device can be controlled by a computer using an RS-232 serial connection and by issuing commands using RS-232 control software.

Connection

This device includes a DB-9 male to female RS-232 serial cable, which is used to connect your PC to the matrix. If your PC lacks a DB-9 serial port, you will need to use a USB to Serial adapter cable (available separately P/N 3726).

RS-232 GUI Control

This device includes software, which allows you to directly control it using either an Ethernet or RS-232 connection. Simply copy MatrixController.exe to your PC and double-click the file to launch it. Note that the EDID^® Selector on the side panel must be set to 1111 to allow for PC control.

General Screen

Image of the Blackbird 4K Pro 4x4 HDMI True Matrix device. The front panel features an ON/OFF power switch, an indicator light, and labeled output ports (OUTPUT A, OUTPUT B, OUTPUT C, OUTPUT D), each with multiple input selection indicators.

Screenshot of the '4x4 HDMI Matrix Controller' software's General screen. Key elements include: 'Control mode select' with radio buttons for 'COM control mode' and 'TCP control mode' (labeled 1), a 'Port' dropdown menu (labeled 2), a 'Connect' button (labeled 3), fields for 'Matrix IP' and 'Device Information' (labeled 9), a 'Status' button (labeled 10), a 'Clear' button (labeled 11), and checkboxes for 'Enable IR control' (labeled 6) and 'Enable beep' (labeled 7).

Perform the following steps to connect your PC to the matrix:

1. Click the radio button to the left of COM control mode (1).
2. Use the pull-down list box to select the COM Port used (2).
3. Click the Connect button (3) to make the connection.
4. Click the Status button (10) to display Device Information (9).

EDID Screen

Screenshot of the '4x4 HDMI Matrix Controller' software's EDID screen. It allows manual mode EDID selection, copying EDID from outputs to inputs, and opening EDID files. Options include 'Set EDID mode' (labeled 1), 'Copy EDID from Out1 to In1' (labeled 5), and 'Open EDID' (labeled 8).

The EDID screen allows you to either directly set a specific EDID^® set from the built-in EDID table, copy the EDID from one of the outputs, or load EDID from a file on your PC.

Matrix Screen

Screenshot of the '4x4 HDMI Matrix Controller' software's Matrix screen. This screen displays four outputs, each showing input selections. Users can click number buttons (labeled 2) to select an input directly or use left/right arrow buttons (labeled 3) to cycle through available inputs for each output.

• Click one of the number buttons (2) directly to select that input.
• Use the [Previous Input] and [Next Input] buttons (3) to cycle backwards or forwards to the next available input in either direction.

FW Upgrade Screen

Screenshot of the '4x4 HDMI Matrix Controller' software's FW Upgrade screen. It features fields to 'Open FW file' (labeled 1), display file path (labeled 2), show upgrade progress (labeled 3), an 'Upgrade' button (labeled 4), a 'Messages' area (labeled 5), and a 'Clear' button (labeled 6).

In the event that updated firmware is available, you can apply the new firmware from the FW Upgrade screen. Perform the following steps to upgrade your firmware:

1. Open your web browser and type www.monoprice.com into the address bar.
2. Enter 15378 in the search bar on the Monoprice™ website to get to the product page.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Support Files section. Download the updated firmware zip file.
4. Extract the firmware file from the zip file.
5. Click the folder icon (1) to open the file browser. Locate and select the firmware file. The file path is displayed in the area to the left of the folder icon (2).
6. Click the Upgrade button (4). The upgrade progress is displayed in the area to the left of the button (3).

RS-232 Command Control

Rather than GUI control, you can also issue direct commands using a third-party RS-232 control software package, such as CommWatch.exe, whose interface is depicted below.

Screenshot of a third-party RS-232 control software, likely CommWatch.exe. The interface includes a 'Parameter Configuration area' with fields for Port, Baud Rate, Parity, Byte, and Stop bits. It also shows a 'Monitoring area' indicating command success, a 'Command Sending area', and buttons for 'Reset', 'Clear', 'Save To File', 'Hex View', 'Stop View', 'Auto Clear View', 'New Line', 'Hex Send Mode', 'Auto Send', 'Interval', 'Counter Reset', 'Send', and 'Load File'.

Set the communications parameters to the following:

• Baud Rate: 19200
• Data Bits: 8
• Stop Bits: 1
• Parity Bits: None

RS-232 Commands

The following commands are in hex, not ascii, so you should select the Hex Send Mode option in your command software before issuing commands. Note that each command is 13 bytes long.

Checksum

Many of the following commands require that a checksum be included as part of the command. This ensures that the command is input correctly. The checksums must be calculated in hex mode. We suggest you use a calculator with a hex mode option. Calculate the checksum using the following formula:

Checksum = 0x100 – (0xa5+0x5b+0x02+0x03+input port+0x00+output port+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00)

Port Switching

The following command allows you to switch the input for a given output.

0xa5+0x5b+0x02+0x03+input port(1~4)+0x00+output port(1~4)+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+checksum

For example, to set Output 2 to Input 1, issue the following command:

A5 5B 02 03 02 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 F8

Port Query

Issue the following command to display which input is selected for a given output.

Send Package: A5 5B 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FC

Receive Package: A5 5B 02 01 01 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 FB

The red 01 in the Send Package is the output port number. Replace it with a 02, 03, or 04 if you want to query a different output port.

The blue 01 in the Receive Package is the input port number. It will be 02, 03, or 04 if a different input port is connected.

EDID Set

The following command allows you to specify which EDID^® to use from the internal EDID table for one or all inputs.

0xa5+0x5b+0x03+0x02+Edid index(1~15)+0x00+input port(0~4)+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+checksum

Note that using 00 for the input port indicates all inputs.

EDID Copy

The following command allows you to copy the EDID^® settings from a device connected to one of the outputs to one or all inputs.

0xa5+0x5b+0x03+0x04+output port (1~4)+0x00+input port(0~4)+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+checksum

Note that using 00 for the input port indicates all inputs.

Output Hot Plug Detect Status

Issue the following command to display the Hot Plug Detect (HPD) status of one of the outputs.

Send Package: A5 5B 01 05 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F9

Receive Package: A5 5B 01 05 01 00 FF 00 00 00 00 00 FA

The red 01 in the Send Package is the output port number. Replace it with a 02, 03, or 04 if you want to query a different output port.

The blue FF in the Receive Package indicates that HPD is Low. It will change to 00 if the HPD status is High.

Input Port Status

Issue the following command to display whether an input is connected.

Send Package: A5 5B 01 04 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FA

Receive Package: A5 5B 01 04 01 00 FF 00 00 00 00 00 FB

The red 01 in the Send Package is the input port number. Replace it with a 02, 03, or 04 if you want to query a different output port.

The blue FF in the Receive Package indicates that there is no cable connection. It will change to 00 if there is a cable connection.

Beep On/Off

The following command allows you to turn on or off the beep that sounds when a front panel button is pressed.

0xa5+0x5b+0x06+0x01+Beep onoff(0x0f:ON; 0xf0:OFF)+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+0x00+checksum

Beep Status

Issue the following command to display the status of the beep that sounds when a front panel button is pressed.

Send Package: A5 5B 01 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F4

Receive Package: A5 5B 01 0B 00 00 FF 00 00 00 00 00 F5

The blue FF indicates that the beep is off. It will change to 00 if the beep is on.

IR Codes

The following codes conform to NEC^® System Code 0x00. These codes are used to simulate commands from the IR remote control.