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Control and Display

As we designed the G Series, we spent a great deal of effort looking at how to operate and control the various units that make up the range. “Easy to use” is easy to say, but less easy to manifest in practice. So we made the G Series components as intuitive as possible: equally simple to operate from the remote control as from the front panel. Each component is as accessible when hidden in a rack as when it’s in front of you.

This is how we did it.

First came a brand-new remote control, the back-lit, programmable Meridian System Remote Plus. The MSR+ is an elegant, yet rugged, auto-back-lit remote control with interchangeable source keys (alternative and blank keycaps are provided) and the ability to control all Meridian products – along with virtually any other device you might wish to interface with your G Series system.

The MSR+ includes an extensive inbuilt database of third-party audio and video components and products, from satellite receivers to CD changers, from LaserDisc players to MiniDisc recorders. And if, somehow, some part of your system has been omitted from the library, the MSR+ will also learn the commands from your existing remotes – including complex dual codes. You can even add commands to an existing database set.

Next, for the G Series front panels, we chose the latest Vacuum Fluorescent Display with a clear dotmatrix format that could, as a result, display simple graphics as well as characters. We specified front panel switches with a positive, yet sensitive feel, and actuated them with elegant keys that respond to a touch – but let you know that you’ve pressed them.

But the major development in the G Series interface is the implementation of ‘soft keys’. Only two of the seven front panel keys have permanent names – ‘Home’, which always takes you back to the top level of the interface; and ‘More’ which accesses additional features and functions. All the other keys are ‘soft’: the display labels them according to the context in which they appear. This means that a key is always clearly labelled with its current function. You don’t have to remember all the possible operations a button can offer – because it tells you. ‘Wizards’ can lead you through different levels of configuration and even the most obscure settings can be made accessible from the front panel.

In the case of DVD players, these front-panel displays are augmented by means of comprehensive onscreen displays.

At Meridian we design our own navigation software, giving us total control over the behaviour of the onscreen display and the integration of the player and disc navigation functions, for an unprecedented level of precision control.

In the case of controllers, we added a volume knob. But despite its ‘analogue’ feel, this knob is in fact a fully digital, state of the art controller. A precision rotary shaft encoder accurately translates the rotational position of the knob into a specific digital signal that controls the volume via a smooth, carefully designed digital attenuation system that is far more accurate than any conventional volume control could ever be.

Buttons are provided on the left of the unit to open and close the disc drawer where appropriate, to power the unit up or down (a subtle blue glow indicates that the unit is in standby, while when operating, the front-panel keys are similarly gently back-illuminated to make them easy to find in lowlight conditions) while another button allows you to change the display mode – including turning it off altogether.

Next: Continue reading: Smart Design

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