What's New in Smaart

Created by Jake Bedard, Modified on Wed, 10 Jul at 9:21 AM by Jake Bedard

What's New in Smaart

Smaart 9.4 - Released July 9, 2024

New Features

Added "Create DSP Channel from Selected"** option to data trace/folder right-click menu
Added support for Transfer Function Target Curves**
Added Plot Time Reference (PTR) Display and Time Offset (TO)** controls
Added Hotkey to clear Time Offset: [Ctrl/Cmd] + [Shift] + [Y]
Added the ability to reorder target curves
Added ability to change trace color from trace right-click menu
Added support for running measurements that use Smaart Loopback while the generator is off
Added Multi-Trace drag and drop support
Added support for Controlling IR mode frequency plot with TF Y-grid interval setting
Added spectrum averaging depth to measurement settings
Added support for measurement delay times over 1000ms

**These features are explained in greater detail below.

Under the Hood

Updated Coherence View preset behavior follows global when "Always use MTW coherence" is not selected.
Updated Spectrum Target Curve file formatting.
Updated rendering of disabled combo boxes.
Updated "Trace Info" language.
Updated "Measurement Delay" to "Measurement Time Reference" in "Trace Info".
Moved "Mag Averaging Type" checkbox to graph settings and renamed it to "Mag Averaging Display".
Moved "Use MTW Coherence" checkbox to Graph Settings and renamed it "Always display MTW Coherence".

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where target curves would not reposition with banding changes.
Fixed a bug where deletion of target curves would not remove them from the plot.
Fixed a bug where switching views with LIFFT shown would corrupt the plot view.
Fixed a bug where max frequency limits for sine wave and band-limited pseudorandom pink noise did not equal Nyquist frequency for the selected device's sample rate.
Fixed a bug where unselected inputs would not be removed from the amplitude calibration window.
Fixed a crash that could occur on Windows when trying to change the Signal Generator's source to File while it is playing.
Fixed a bug where [Cmd] + [Y] (reset Y offset) hotkey only cleared offset of the focused plot.
Fixed a bug where graphs would get corrupted after changing views.
Fixed a crash when making mismatched target curve visible.
Fixed a crash when selecting "File" as the generator output type.

Release Overview

The primary focus of Smaart v9.4 is to bring Data Modeler features into the mainline platform for smoother integration and ease of use. For instance, the addition of controls for PTR (Plot Time Reference) and Time Offset (TO) allows you to adjust the phase display's time reference in previously captured data. Additionally, a new "Create DSP Channel from Selected" option has been added to the right-click menu for data traces/folders in the data bar, conveniently opening the selected trace/folder in Data Modeler, if installed. This new release also features a long-awaited feature: support for Transfer Function Target Curves.

Transfer Function Target Curves

To view TF Target Curves, first select a Magnitude plot, then press [X]. Manage your transfer function target curves in an updated tab-based dialog for Target Curves Options, accessible from the program menu or by using the [Alt/Opt] + [X] hotkey.

The Size column refers to the thickness of the target curve trace. The offset column determines the +/- Y offset, normalized to 1kHz.

Creating Transfer Function Target Curves

Like with Spectrum target curves, there are specific formatting considerations when creating a Transfer Function target curve. We've included 4 target curve examples by default for you to use as a starting point for editing your own curves.

This support article details how to properly create and import TF target curves.

Phase Plot Time Reference (PTR) Controls and Time Offset (TO)

This is an advanced feature that must first be enabled in Preferences > Advanced or by using hotkey [Alt/Opt] + [J].

Once enabled, a new PTR control will be shown in the lower left of any Phase plot(s). This plot is disabled when a live measurement is the top of the Z order.

The PTR value represents the Phase Plots Time Reference, or in other words, what that trace's phase display is based on. The PTR is equal to the Measurement Time Reference of the captured trace, plus or minus any Time Offset applied using the PTR controls (the +/- buttons to the right of the PTR display).

For example, the measurement below has an MTR of 154ms and the PTR text entry field reflects this.

When you adjust the PTR value, that amount of delay is reflected as +/- Time Offset (TO) and displayed in the upper right corner of the phase graph. The control and command concept here is meant to be like a Magnitude Y-offset, where a Y-offset is displayed in the upper right of the Magnitude plot.

The Phase Plot Legend will also display the TO value, and has a button to clear TO.

Below, the PTR value has been increased by .5ms. As now there is a Time Offset for that measurement, +0.50ms is displayed in the upper right corner of the phase graph. The PTR is 15.50, however, the MTR is still 15ms.

A key point here when describing what the phrase PTR value is, is that it is the MTR +/- any Time Offset (TO):

PTR = MTR +/- TO

Create DSP Channel from Selected

This option allows for data from Smaart Suite/RT/LE to be sent directly to Data Modeler (DM) without leaving the Smaart interface to either:

a. create new DSP channels in existing Data Modeler projects, or

b. create new Data Modeler projects from Smaart ST/RT/LE directly.

If you have DM installed on your computer and saved to the Applications folder, the "Create DSP Channel from Selected" will be enabled. It is otherwise disabled, but visible.

The "Select Data Modeler Project" dialog includes any of your stored projects, as well as the option to create a new project. If you select "Create New Project" then you will need to name the project and select its Filter Reference Mode, then confirm a sample rate for the target mode, if applicable. These three options are otherwise disabled if you are adding the selected traces to an existing project.