Chromagnon Update: Late October 2026

October 27, 2026by Lars3 min read

Hi all! A short one with good news: the RevK Chromagnon boards are done.

RevK is done

I finished the RevK main board on Sunday, October 25, along with RevB of the rear IO board.

RevK fixes everything we found while testing the RevJ prototypes. In short:

All of the colours come through correctly
The sync and video outputs both run at full strength
The controls that shape the image now cover their full range
The connections on the back move to their own small board, joined to the main board by a single cable

We also tidied up a lot under the hood. The picture is cleaner and quieter, and a few parts of the circuit are simpler, so the board is easier and less expensive to build.

Chromagnon RevK main board The RevK main board. Rendered from the design files.

Chromagnon RevK main board, top side RevK, top side.

Chromagnon RevK main board, bottom side RevK, bottom side.

The rear IO board carries the connections on the back of the enclosure: 12V power in with the power switch, Sync In and Sync Out, USB-C for firmware updates, and a BOOTSEL button. One 13-pin cable joins it to the main board.

Chromagnon rear IO board RevB, top side Rear IO board, RevB, top side. Rendered from the design files.

Chromagnon rear IO board RevB, bottom side RevB, bottom side, with the pin legend for the main board cable.

What's next: testing RevK, then Ship Unit #1

Two assembly orders are in, and the boards arrive fully assembled around November 8.

When they arrive, they go on the bench for the same tests the RevJ prototype went through. If they pass, RevK becomes the production board and one of these boards becomes Ship Unit #1: the first complete Chromagnon, going to a beta tester for use outside our workshop.

I'll post again when the boards are in and testing is under way. Progress is on the Chromagnon status page in the meantime.

Simulator fixes

A few bugs in the Chromagnon Simulator are fixed since I last mentioned it:

The built-in video loops now play in Firefox and Safari
Choosing a picture for Video in shows it right away
Rotation and Mod Angle move in step with the video, and the Ramp preset is a proper saw
The Luma output carries the picture, and Luma Invert works

One more thing

Something else has been taking shape on the bench: a new case design. I'm not ready to say more about it yet, but we'll have some new power infrastructure and cases to make available soon.

A black prototype case with a carry handle on top and an open front showing two rows of mounting rails A new case design, on the bench.

Thanks for reading,

Lars