AMX on an iPad: iRidium vs.TPControl

Typical iPad control page showing Skype Webcam Pan/Tilt/Zoom motion and preset controls

(Updated Oct 13 2010) I noted awhile back that the iPad was likely to be a serious contender as a home control device (insert a big Dah! here), outlining several reasons I thought it might cause a little consternation at AMX, Crestron, and other developers of high-end home automation components and systems.

Starting at about $500 each the iPad costs much less than any comparable AMX or Crestron device so it has the potential to displace what I would guess to be a large part of their market. 

So I was a bit surprised when AMX not only publically embraced the iPad as an alternative control device, but partnered with an outside software developer to make iPad integration into the Netlinx environment truly seamless. Which, as I have learned from testing that product over the last few days, is exactly what it is.

Perfectly seamless. 

Personally I think the iPad will increase both awareness and access to home control technologies and drive a corresponding increase in opportunities for everyone. Rich guys will still buy AMX controllers and panels (and iPads) for their mansions, the rest of us will make do with often lesser but increasingly capable stuff.

Which brings me to the title of this blog. As part of my ‘will work for gadgets’ program I managed to barter a working iPad and use it as a home control device. Research into what I can do with it to interact with my Homeseer-AMX environment led me to three programs–HSTouch for Homeseer (which I have already been using for some time on an iPhone), and two new programs that can directly communicate with an AMX central controller. One of those is offered by AMX; the other is from an independent third party.

The AMX-authorized iPad product is called TPControl from Touch Panel Control Ltd.  They offer a free 21-day trial, after which the price is likely to be in the over-$500-per-copy range. That’s complete speculation because even pricing for AMX products seems to be completely inaccessible to us mere mortals. You have to go through an AMX dealer to purchase the software license token, and I have yet to find an AMX dealer excited about quoting or selling me one of anything–my only true complaint about AMX channel practices. On my budget I have about 5 days of enjoyment left before the TPControl screen goes dark forever.

There is an alternative: Russian company iRidium  has done something very similar at about $160 US. Their version has been released for awhile and I have been experimenting with their software.

So..how do these two products compare? 

Graphics Design

The AMX-sanctioned  iPHone/iPad program does not have or need its own graphics design environment. When you install the  trial package it modifies your existing TPDesign4 program from AMX, adding iPhone and iPad choices to the list of available target devices. You then simply load an existing TP-4 design and use the Save As Different Panel Type feature, selecting the  iPad as you would any other AMX panel. If you don’t have a previous design, run TPDesign4,  select the iPad as a new design, and start drawing.

Irridum lets you  import designs created in  TPDesign4 using their Iridium Wizard or, if you prefer, you can create a GUI from scratch using their included GUI development tool. I didn’t use their design tool but it looked to be capable and comprehensive enough.

Getting the graphics design  into the iPad

Both programs have a Server component that transfers graphics into the iPad. It is used to load your initial design and again to reload the iPad any time you change your design. Once your iPad is loaded and started, it communicates  directly to the Netlinx master via TCP/IP.  Both programs use iPad Setup to specify the IP address of the Master, select the desired Netlinx controller port (usually 1319) and specify the panel’s Netlinx address. Incidentally I loaded both Iridium and TPControl on one iPad at the same time , configured both programs with the same touchpanel device address, loaded both using  the same TP-4 project, and pointed both to the same Master. They co-exist perfectly; you can run either program and surface exactly the same controls, making an apples-to-apples comparison very easy.

The results

I experienced no design or run-time problems at all with the current versions of both programs. Iridium’s first version had a few issues with complex graphics as you can see from the first picture. Some elements were shifted southeast from underlying components. Notice the top row of icons reproduced fine, it was only the Chameleon graphic elements that were affected. Iridium has since corrected that issue; the version I downloaded and configured in October 2010 looks exactly as it does in the TP-4 design screen. Interestingly, both programs had very slight issues with complex graphics positioning as noted in the picture captions. Nothing too annoying or severe, and likely corrected by now.

Early iRidium graphics issue. Note the offset image layer. Corrected in current version

Graphics quality from both programs is excellent..no reason not to be, screen resolutions and LCD display quality have taken leaps ahead in recent years and both iPad and all recent AMX touchpanel designs have very high-quality displays. There is no significant difference in graphics quality between TPControl and Iridium.

There are some other similarities and differences. Here’s my thoughts:

1) TPControl app loads faster. Much faster. Using the 21-page design I created for my family room AMX MVP-8400 panel, TPControl took about 2 to maybe 3 seconds, tops. Iridium takes about 14 seconds. I suspect the AMX app is doing some caching to keep graphics elements active somewhere…perhaps iRidium can offer some improvement here over time. [Oct 2010 update: faster, but still several seconds]

Once loaded, both are equally responsive. The Netlinx controller always responded immediately to any touchpad event, just as it does to any wired or Ethernet native AMX panel.

2) I could find no option settings that would cause either app to stay loaded in the iPad while allowing the screen backlight to dim or turn off. So there isn’t the instantaneous touch-and-go experience of a standard AMX panel. That can be a bit annoying if you use the iPad exclusively as your only control device. I would like to use it when watching TV to instantly ride herd on audio level, skip commercials, pause when the phone rings, look at the Caller ID message to decide if I need to answer the phone, etc. Users don’t expect to wait even a second for these instant-response situations. [Update: Perhaps Apple's upcoming O/S update will allow these programs to stay resident and restore quickly]. On the other hand, I can’t conveniently look up information about the show or actors when using my MVP-8400. For now at least, you can leave the app Active with the backlight on to maintain instant access.

DVR control page, TPControl

3) There are, of course, no external buttons on the iPad that correspond to those on most AMX panels. That will affect your design; in my test case I loaded a  control set that uses the MVP-8400′s external buttons to power on and off the A/V equipment and adjust volume. I had no provision for that in the screen designs. If your current design uses these external buttons you will need to add corresponding on-screen controls into your TPDesign4 designs.

4) Setup effort is about equal. Iridium’s Wizard was a bit difficult to understand and their documentation…well…hasn’t quite caught up to the software quality yet. [Update: better now, but still not as clear as they could be] Took me awhile to figure out the best settings to preserve the TPDesign image quality, aspect ratio, etc. Server operation was better although I hit a small snag understanding why my design changes and revisions weren’t being uploaded. Once I figured out my error all went well and the Iridium server displayed progress information during the iPad transfer that was very clear. No snags of any kind in the software itself just cockpit trouble on my part.

Same page in iRidium. Note slight mis-positioning of some (but not all!) red button inserts

5) Both are locked to a single i-Device. That means you have to pay twice to put something on your iPad and also something on you iPhone. No problem for the typical rich-guy AMX person; a bit disappointing for scroungers and tinkerers like me. Would be nice to have a Family Pack  bundle that allows one iPad and two smaller iPhone installs.

3) Iridium has its own graphics design suite, which makes it a good choice for anyone who scrounged a used Netlinx controller and was lucky enough to get a copy of Netlinx Studio (the main AMX control software design environment) when they gave away AMX Control CDs at trade shows. If you don’t have and can’t get TPDesign4, Iridium is for you.

Final thoughts

One of my esteemed colleagues over on the Australian Z-wave board recently described me as one of the fortunate few having access to AMX gear. There are more AMX (and Crestron, Control4, and others)  tinkerer-class users out there than one might think, but a great many of them are installers in the business with access to the required AMX development software. Like me they can’t afford a single AMX product at retail, but they can get used equipment at great prices and they have the tools and knowledge to program it all. All the non-touchpanel gear remains as useful and versatile as it was when new so age doesn’t detract from the experience. But these folks have the same problem I have getting good panels with crisp, clear graphics: new-ish AMX panels are too expensive even when used…so we settle for older touchpanels from the secondary market. Great that they are, the older AMX panels don’t have great display quality.

The fairly recent AMX MVP-7500 panels, for example, have noticable object bleed problems. Draw an array of high-contrast objects and you will see vertical and horizontal shadow lines extending to the display edges. Careful brightness and contrast adjustments help.  Their later MVP-8400 wireless panels use a much better (and bigger) display and look great…but not many working units show up on the secondary market at all, much less at great prices. As my Australian colleague noted I am lucky…but much of the luck was in getting broken panels and spending hours fixing them.

So, if you want great–stunning, really –graphics and can’t afford recent AMX products, use an iPad. And don’t forget….the current crop of low-cost wireless serial port, IR output, and contact closure devices further blur the cababilities matrix between what most of us can afford and what AMX offers in their incredibly broad portfolio. Consider Homeseer, HSTouch, and any of the many Homeseer-supported devices of every description to design a very comprehensive home automation and media center system.

I’ll write more about Homeseer’s  HSTouch on an iPad , and about how to combine AMX and Homeseer HS2 to get the ultimate whole-house automation experience. In the meantime, here’s a preview of my HSTouch Security page on the same iPad.

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