I am pretty sure that is what they thought of JAP relative to their own video switcher! ;)

Your turn again :D.

PS AMX was throwing a lot of dirt toward Crestron's HDMI switcher at Infocomm....

I actually brought up Autopatch (which i was told there were drivers for) and mentioned that they are owned by AMX who actually make control systems... Also crestron has programs to work with other people.. While they arent going to help everyone there is wide documentation on how to create a driver for crestron and everyone else

regardless though. they should be supporting someone who wants to create a VIDEO SWITCH driver

hahaha good ol stampy

AMX has plenty to throw.. its all the debris left over from the multitude of returned DOA Phast gear.

OMG! Stamp! That's the fix for the BP disaster! Plug the leak! Phast! When they run out of Phast parts, BP can toss in Panja, and then Control4, and then AMX, and then Colorado VNet.....

Just put a wedding ring on the oil leak.

If that don't stop it from "putting out", I don't know what will.

They did write drivers for competing matrix switchers but no longer do. Driver modifications are fairly simple. If you weren't a dealer I wouldn't want to allow you to write a driver for a competing product either as your potentially cutting in to my profitability. Purely a business decision.

Partner up with a dealer if you need to get it done.

The drivers are written in XML and fairly simple to do. Savant won't verify the driver though and testing is solely on you and the dealer you work with so it wouldn't be available to the general dealer base.

As a dealer you can write your own drivers, you just have to test & verify them on your own.

I look at it like Apple, iPhone & 3rd party programmers/jail-breaking. Savant would be foolish to allow anyone & everyone to write software for the system, using up technical support/resources that would best be served focusing on their own gear considering that they are still young. Take a measured approach & open it up a little at a time without compromising their performance.

Actually almost all control companies have a 3rd party program. It's not a competing product if the dealer wants to distribute his video in a different way. While this is a poor example Crestron has their Dm system but still supports Autopatch switches which is owned by amx who is a huge competitor. This is a video switch not an ip based automation system. Its not competition

I am working with a few dealers but this does reflect poorly on savant. A company not willing to support or even remotely help someone trying to create a video switch driver is sad.. Maybe next time savant won't be what the dealer specs in the project....

Actually your analogy is wrong.

Yes look at apple. There offer hoe Many apps??? Many of them offer features apple already provides and apple still gives them the tools they need to create apps.

Savant is being foolish in keeping their doors closed and not integrating with anyone but their selves. This isn't hacking or jail breaking. This is a simple driver to allow dealers to use something.

I don't expect Savant to build the driver or assign someone to help but come on.. are you telling me they don't have a few page document that explains how to write a driver that they can give or sell to someone?

The Apple comparison isnt exactly fair IMO because the driver will be triggered by the savant system and it will control a 3rd party product.. just like an IR driver for a cable box. Its not like this driver will change the way the Savant system works in any way shape or form. I get that its a competing product but its silly/childish even to play games like this. "Lets force our dealers to use our HDMI solution even though a less expensive option exists"?

<3 Stampy

BTW a dealer sent me the PDF that i needed.. It goes over everything I need to know.. All Savant had to do was send me this.. Whats sad is almost everyone is willing to work with 3rd party vendors

I forgot to mention earlier while RTI is not savant in the sense of ultra high end hardware when I called RTI and explained what I do they gladly gave me the U/PW for their dealer site and gave me email contacts to send drivers to for review if i wanted.

Yes, look at Apple and the iPhone. How much flak have they caught because they didn't offer an SDK immediately for anyone to do whatever they wanted. Instead they chose to open it up bit by bit as they saw how the apps that were written worked, how they performed in the marketplace, how much support was required due to unexpected problems etc.


How is Savant being foolish? Savant has existing drivers written for all major switchers. If a dealer wants to modify an existing driver for a new modification or model it is simple to do. How much tech support do companies provide for products that aren't theirs when the integration doesn't quite go as expected? Personally, I think more companies should follow this approach. It's the ONLY way Savant can guarantee the system will work as advertised with the performance they expect.

As a new company or new product why spend your time & energy writing drivers etc for a product that will take away from your bottom line? Especially when the CORE of your product is it's built-in switching!

You may be able to put a Mercedes engine in a BMW but don't expect BMW to help you do it.

Apple has a policy of here is the info on how to make an app figure it out.. They dont hold developers hands. They have an SDK which you purchase like many automation system companies have and you are on your own. So again Savant did not do this.. they simply said NO.

So in your mind all companies should be closed off to outside 3rd parties and should hinder development unless its done by a dealer who should be busy installing systems not creating drivers for products...

How many people were screaming at Apple when they didn't provide an SDK for for the iphone immediately when the product launched? Apple knew they would provide one eventually just not right away. Savant is a much smaller company than Apple. I suspect it will become available once they're sufficiently comfortable with their dealer base won't have to field service calls that relate to another company's products.

Hinder development? Your ability to write a driver for a matrix switch (that will reduce their product sales) has NO bearing on Savant's ability to further develop their product but it does hinder your ability to sell a competing product. Obviously as long as it's good for your bottom line that's all that matters. I guess they feel the same.


Again, Savant is a new company and they have NO NEED to allow a third party to write a driver for a product that competes directly with theirs if they feel it will adversely affect their business (which is what I suspect will).

It doesn't only affect you it also affects dealers. I had an existing job with some Savant gear that needed a matrix. I had to modify an existing driver. If I were doing the job from scratch the system would have used Savant for switching. The job would have been less expensive and quicker to install as well.

If Savant is too expensive for the job then maybe I should look at something else. If I don't like the restrictions that Apple places on iPhone developers maybe I should only program for Android. I'm sure if I had a job where the infrastructure was only cat5/6 I'm sure Savant would assist and I could also charge accordingly.

Just because I want something (even if it's a good idea) doesn't mean Savant or anyone else is obligated to provide it for me.