There are a lot of tabs on the source property sheet. What do they all mean?

Source
This tab displays:

• The Legend, that is the text that appears on soft keys assigned to this source.
• The MSR+ key
• The (template) type. This is an indication of the Meridian product type or the template that was originally used to create the source, and cannot be modified.
• Properties of the source. In fact the properties displayed here are mainly saved in the controller to which the source is connected, and are associated with the MSR+ key assigned to the source (for which reason you cannot set properties if the MSR+ key assignment is removed).

In the case of the G91, there are two versions of this tab; one for the internal DVD player and a second for the internal tuner.

Other Settings

This tab, present only for Meridian products, contains properties specific to the particular product type, such as G68 or G91.

Connections

Logical Connections

This tab is present only for controllers. It displays a grid of MSR+ key by input connections. Values on this tab cannot be modified.

Identification

This tab is present only for G68 controllers. It displays identification information that can be saved to, and retrieved from, the memory of the product.

Types

This tab is present only for G68 controllers. It displays information about the user types in the product (it will not be populated until a fetch or store has been performed, or the Refresh button is clicked). From this page you can delete, rename or reset the product to a given type. To do this, right-click on the type chosen and choose the operation you wish to perform from the context menu. You can also delete all user types by clicking the Delete All... button.

None of the above

Meridian product-specific tabs are present depending on the product whose properties are being displayed. For example, property sheets for G91 products include Audio and Video tabs.

What is represented on the Products page?

The Products page displays a representation of your system in physical terms. This means that the connections (apart from phantom connections) correspond to the wiring of your system (and can be used as a guide to setting it up). The major components are:

• The controller. This is central to your system. All speakers are connected to your controller.
• Sources. Although sources are not required, most systems will have them. You should connect sources to the controller, directly or indirectly (the Connection Wizard can offer help in doing this).
• Speakers. You must have at least front (left and right) loudspeakers. On the Products page, speakers are fixed within the speaker area, and occupy a location that represents the music channel they handle (their precise orientation is determined on the Speaker Distances page). By convention, stereo subwoofers appear in the same position as side speakers; and mono, centre or LFE subwoofers appear in the same position as a centre loudspeaker. Speakers are wired to the controller by the Configuration Program. Their connections may not be changed by the user.
• Amplifiers. Amplifiers are required to drive passive analogue speakers. They are wired automatically by the Configuration Program, but you change the wiring for special requirements if you so wish.

What are review pages?

There are two pages per product fitting into this category: the connections page and (for controllers) the speaker connections page. These pages display the connections for the product and speakers in tabular form: you can print them as a guide to wiring. The review pages are not displayed by default: to show them, select Review Pages from the View menu. This choice is persisted between invocations of the Configuration Program.

What are property lists?

Property lists are displayed in a number of contexts to provide the ability to change a number of settings. Examples include speaker properties and the properties of DSP presets displayed on the Preset properties page. Property lists have two columns: Property and Value. You can click on the column headers to sort by the contents of a column. Properties fall into three categories, as described below. To change a property you can:

• Click on a value; a control, such as a drop-list control or edit box, will appear. Use the control to change the property's value.
• Click on the icon to the left of the property name. This has the effect of changing the property's value in a way that depends on the type of the property (see below).
• Select the value using the mouse and then press the spacebar, ctrl+up or ctrl+down.

Boolean Properties

Boolean properties are indicated by a checkbox icon . They have one of two values (for example, "Off" and "On"). When you click on the icon or use the keyboard to change a Boolean property, its value is toggled from one value to the other.

Enumeration Properties

Enumeration properties are indicated by a drop-list icon . Their values are one of a named set (for example, "Low", "Medium" and "High"). When you press the spacebar, click on the icon or use ctrl+up arrow key to change an Enumeration property, its value moves to the next value in the set; when you press the ctrl+down arrow key, to the previous.

Numeric Properties

Numeric properties are indicated by a spin control icon . They have numeric values (for example, 1 to 10) and, optionally, a special out-of-range value such as "Max" or "Undefined". When a Numeric property icon is clicked its value is incremented or decremented, depending on whether you click in the top or the bottom half of the icon. When you press the spacebar or use ctrl+up arrow key to change a Numeric property, its value is incremented; when you press the ctrl+down arrow key, it is decremented. If present, the out-of-range value will be considered to lie at one of other end of the range; that is, after the largest numerical value or before the smallest.

How can I customize the appearance of the Configuration Program?

In the products window, both the resource bar and the speaker area dividers may be dragged to a position of your choosing. You can change the colours used to display various objects (such as sources and speakers) in the products window. To do this, click the options icon in the toolbar (or from the View menu, select Options). Select the Colours tab of the options property sheet; on this page you can select a category of object and click the adjacent colour button to change its display colour. You can sort property lists by clicking on the column headers. All customization settings are persisted between invocations of the Configuration Program on a per-user basis.

Why are connections not always visible on the products page?

Connections are divided into four types; source, speaker, comms and phantom. Connections of each connection type may be indiviually shown or hidden using the corresponding toolbar buttons, from the View -> Connections sub-menu menu, by right-clicking within the product window and selecting View Connections. These positions are persisted between invocations of the Configuration Program on a per-user basis. The Configuration Program automatically shows connections when a connection is made (for example, when the connection wizard is used, or when a speaker is inserted).

All customization settings are persisted between invocations of the Configuration Program on a per-user basis.

What context-sensitive help is available?

Tooltips are generally displayed when the mouse cursor is left over a dialog control such as a button or checkbox. Tooltips can be displayed explicitly by clicking the question mark icon in the toolbar and then clicking on the item of interest. If context-sensitive help is available, it will be displayed. This latter method has the advantage of leaving the tooltip displayed until a mouse button is next clicked, which may be useful if the text cannot be read in the default time for which a tooltip is usually left visible.

I said I didn't want a dialog displayed again, but now I've changed my mind. What should I do?

Click the options icon in the toolbar (or from the View menu, select Options). Select the General page and click Reset Dialogs. This will reset all "Do not ask me again" choices.

When can I print from the Configuration Program?

Printing is currently only available for property lists displayed as pages within the main Configuration Program window (not within dialogs). Examples of such pages are the Speaker properties, Preset mapping and the review pages. When these pages are selected, you can click the printer icon on the toolbar. Alternatively, from the File menu select Print, Print Preview or Print Setup. Although printing from the products page is not currently available, you can always take a bitmap copy of the page by pressing the Print Scrn and then pasting a bitmap copy of the products page into a bitmap editor such as Microsoft Paint, from where it can be printed.

What is auto-arrange?

This is the mechanism by which the Configuration Program automatically arranges products on the Products page so as to ensure good visibility (in particular that they do not overlap). You can auto-arrange products by selecting Auto Arrange from the View menu. This will, in general, place sources to the left, the controller in the centre, and amplifiers on the right (this arrangement usually requires the least number of connection lines to pass behind products). By default, auto-arranging takes place whenever you change the visible connections (for example, when you show or hide speaker connections). You can, however, control the behaviour. To do this, click the options icon in the toolbar (or from the View menu, select Options). Select the General page and uncheck Automatically reposition windows....

What do I need to know about communicating with a Meridian Product?

The Configuration Program communicates with Meridian Products by means of a serial (RS232) connection. The first step is to connect the serial cable (as with the product) between the product and your computer. If you do not have a spare serial connection on your computer, you can use one of the many serial-to-USB converters available, although testing has shown that communications reliability is not always as high as when using a direct connection.

Whenever communication is required, the Configuration Program displays a dialog (either as a page within the wizard sequence, or as a secondary window). A progress bar is visible while the operation is in progress. It is possible to interrupt the operation at any time by pressing Stop. However you should be aware that this a dangerous if information is being stored; the product may be left in an inconsistent or inoperative state as a result.

Do you have any cheerful facts about the resource bar?

You can right-click and select Details to show or hide subsidiary columns giving more details about the products that can be inserted. The column headers are sortable - click to sort by name or other attributes (if details are displayed). The icons indicate whether the product is a generic or a Meridian product. Speaker icons also indicate whether the speaker is a subwoofer (square), loudspeaker (rectangular, the orientation showing whether the product is a horizontal speaker). You can resize the resource bar by dragging its divider.

How are the Configuration Program's wizard pages ordered when more than one Meridian product is present?

The location of Start, Product and Finish pages is fixed. The remaining pages are sorted, so that similar pages are grouped together. For example, if you have a G68 controller and G08 CD player, the two pages on which you program the soft keys for the products will appear next to each other.