Hi,

just thought I’d mention some of my experiences while moving from a BS3 to a BS4. The first question I hear you ask is why? Well, it is a good question as the benefits of the BS4 over the BS3 aren’t that obvious. Firstly. It was because I wanted to have access to downloadable PUCs rather than to have to get the machine over to a service centre each time, also I felt that the video processing must be better.

The rest of my system is using ML, so a BeoLink Converter NL/ML was necessary, plus a set of DIN to RJ45 converters (which I bought from Sounds Heavenly). The setup of the NL/ML converter was really easy - and everything worked as before. I also needed to get a Beoremote 1 as I couldn’t get a Beo4 to work with it (it has the option in the menu, but I think it is only for the Be4 NAV remote). I needed also to rewire the IR puck to use a RJ45 connector. 

i am using a LG 75” OLED display which I controlled the on/off using a raspberry pi connected to the serial port and told the BS3 that it was connecting to a Beovision 4 (it uses a Panasonic panel, so I could interpret the Panasonic serial commands in the pi). I switched the LG on and off using HDMI CEC commands using an adaptor from Phase Eight. It worked well, but there was no obvious way I could get the BS4 to believe that it was plugged into a Beovision 12 so I could continue to use the serial port. The only commands I know of how to get to the service menus are the usual 0,0,GO and Red,GO - but nothing in those menus allowed me to remove the automatic screen detection and force it to believe it was connected to a BV12.

To get past this, I used the Screen menu to download a Samsung TV PUC and connected that to the raspberry (as a wired connection with no modulation) and used LIRC libraries to detect an on/off request from the BS4. Unfortunately, unlike the Panasonic codes, the IR is sent 3 times and it is the same IR command for on and off, so I have to interrogate the screen via CEC to see whether it is on or off, then tell it to switch to the opposite. It’s made my simple program to control the screen a bit more complicated and really I’d prefer to go back to using the serial port if only I could convince the BS4 that a Beovision 12 was attached!

i did ask B&O for the way to use the serial port, but they wouldn’t tell me. if anyone knows I’d be really happy if you could tell me! they did send me a LG TV PUC though, which would not install. After a few backwards and forwards, they just told me to get dealer help as they had already told me how to do it, and it worked for them, but it certainly wasn't for me. I could download it into the BS4 via the USB port, but it wouldn’t show up in the list of downloaded PUCs. I’ll be asking my dealer about it tomorrow.

the weirdest thing though was I was happily using a 10m copper HDMI cable which was buried  in the wall for the BS3, but it was VERY temperamental with the BS4 - the screen cut out on a regular basis. It’s odd as I thought the bitrate for the BS3 was the same as the BS4. I tried with a 5M HDMI cable and that worked fine. 

I've just finished putting a 10m Optical Fibre HDMI cable into the wall (after testing it for a few days) and that seems to be working fine.

overall, it was a costly venture in both time and money, I *think* the picture is better, but the gain in swapping really I’m not sure is justified. I needed a Beoremote One, a BeoLink NL/ML converter, the DIN to powerlink converters, a whole lot of time re-wiring, a 1m Fibre-optic HDMI cable - and a lot of painting and plastering!