HyperHDR v17(beta) preview

I have great expectations for the next version of HyperHDR as it brings us closer to my final goal. The number of new features/changes/improvements/bug-fixing: 6 times compared to previous v16, illustrates the amount of work involved in this release.

You can find test release with a full list of changes here (UPDATE 5/9/2021: beta 2 is available):
https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperHDR/releases/tag/v17.0.0.0beta2
A stable version will be available at a later date, after the testing phase.

The stable version is already available (15/9/2021):
https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperHDR/releases/tag/v17.0.0.0
Thanks all testers for help!

Key highlights

1. Bootstrap 5 (interface)
   
   Upgrade from ancient Bootstrap 3 to Bootstrap 5. It's the backbone of the application interface. What does it mean? Modern components, better controls, better usability in smartphone browsers, cleaner code that allows to remove most of old hack(on hack) ^ n-th power workarounds that allowed the old code to function. What were the consequences for HyperHDR? Almost the entire HTML interface had to be migrated to the new standards.
   
   
2. New layout & controls (interface)
   
   Upgrading Bootstrap was only a beginning. In next phase some of key UI components were also updated or replaced with better & modern alternatives. Since Bootstrap 5 was released recently some of them did not supported it. So had to create Bootstrap 5 themes myself, which was quite a challenge. And that's the result of HyperHDR new layout:
   
   
   

   
   
   As you can see in the screenshots:
   
   
   • The main menu has changed, now it has all the controls inside. You no longer need to search for specific controls on the left or top. Most of the icons and data structures remained the same, so migration should be easy. But underneath everything has changed.
     
     
     
     
     
     
   • Another small but very important feature is the instance label on the forms that managed them. A very common mistake was to override settings of the wrong instance with new ones, or it was not clear whether the settings are global or per instance.
     

     
     
   • Editor panels now have dynamic help panels: when you click the "help" button, the corresponding panel appears on the right. Provides a much cleaner look as you usually don't have to open them all at once.
     
     
     
     
     
   • The old version of the steppers (+/- buttons use to increase/decrease number values in the forms) were so small that they were almost useless. It's fixed now.
     
     
     
     
     
     
   • New vanilla JS color picker
     
     
     
     
     
   • New themes for light/dark mode, hope you'll like it
     
   • Where possible, smartphone usability was a priority. For example: you don't need to search or try to resize the live video preview window now (which was sometimes impossible) on your smartphone. Bootstrap 5 and our custom themes provides forms support to render them in the best possible way.
     
     
3. Software screen grabbers
   
   Those who have known the project longer may say that hell has frozen over ;) But not quite...
   For our video/movie playback experience using the hardware grabbers is still the best possible solution. If you go with software capturing then you may cause some glitches with the system, video acceleration or you can bounce off the DRM. But for everyday work with a PC, with a monitor with a LED strip installed that can be an alternative. Or for gaming (Windows). Also check out new LED grouping feature than can make that experience even more enjoyable.
   
   So there are 3 software screen grabbers for now:
   
   • Windows: DirectX11 (my favorite among these 3) with optional HDR tone mapping
     
     
     
     
     
     
   • Linux: X11 as independent component to avoid problems with headless systems
     
     
     
     
     
     
   • macOS: CoreGraphic make sure that you follow the installation manual on the screenshot
     
     
     
     
     
     
4. Automatic signal detection / power saving option
   
   Are you tired of being a sniper operating your "military" grade ambient system (some even offer a helpful crosshair on the interface) to target a certain area at the grabber's "no-signal" board? Then you may like new automatic signal detection: just give HyperHDR a chance to learn your grabber's 'no signal' board and it will take care of it. Works especially well with 'rainbow' no signal boards characteristic for popular MS2109 clones. There is also new CPU power saving option available for reducing frame processing when the 'no signal' is triggered.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Re-implemented import / export feature
   
   The backup feature, after all, works as it should from the start. You will no longer be surprised that after loading your old backup, you have just restored one of the many previously configured instances. Now all the instances will be restored. The obvious consequence is the new backup format incompatible with previous versions.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Support for my new HyperSPI project
   
   It offers you an alternative and very fast way to connect you Raspberry Pi to the ESP device. Why it might be necessary when you use your grabber and Adalight driver on the same USB2.0 bus, you can find out here : https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperSPI
   
   You don't need to have a 2Mb capable chip on your ESP board which is necessary for HyperSerialESP8266 or HyperSerialWLED: for SPI connection you can go easily over 25Mb.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. AARCH release for Raspberry Pi 3&4
   
   Great news! Performance of the new release HyperHDR for 64 bits OS (AARCH64)  increased up to 30% compared to the standard 32 bits Raspberry Pi 3 & 4 armv7l
   
   1280x720:
   32bit OS:  64bit OS:
   
   1920x1080:
   32bit OS:  64bit OS:
   
   
8. JSON API documentation in a form of live playground
   
   Now you can remotely control the behavior of HyperHDR without any programming knowledge. Just click on the desired functionality and the wizard will generate a link to the command for you. It couldn't be easier.
   
   There is also new command for video cropping available in the API.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. LED grouping aka PC mode aka gradient mode
   
   Sometimes dynamic high density LED strip is not a good solution especially when used for providing ambient solution for your PC monitor. New feature can help with eye fatigue when used with the monitor, each LED in the group has same average color. You can even improve the effect with the anti-flickering filter (Processing tab > Smoothing) with threshold set to 255.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Add timeout option for the anti-flickering filter
    
    In certain situations it's good to allow discreet color change after some timeout even it the step is below the minimum. Why? For example: because there is a difference between slightly 'reddish' RGB(2,1,1) and 'black' RGB(1,1,1) at the ending credits on the 'black' background.
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. CEC support
    
    HyperHDR v17 includes support for CEC commands for Raspberry Pi thanks to libCEC library. The main problem was the outdated libCEC versions available in the popular distroes (they were also almost unusable on new AARCH64 platform). So decided to provide for HyperHDR version based on the latest release. You can control which instance's video or system grabber will turn on/off together with your TV. You must provide path for CEC commands from the TV to the Raspberry (simple HDMI connection): unfortunately most of grabbers with a loop don't provide CEC pass-through. You can also turn on/off HDR mapping with your TV remote although it may depend on libCEC support for your TV.
    
    
     
     
    
    
    
    
    
12. New panel for video resolution & refresh mode selection
    
    Since choosing the correct video mode for your grabber with the drop-down controls alone is not a trivial task, we provide a new form that makes it much easier. For example: depending on the grabber certain refresh modes are available only for compressed format like MJPEG. When you try to enable it  for uncompressed YUV you may fallback to the different, not selected before combination.
    
    With new form you can select only valid combination and you can see them all on the list.