08/11/2026
It’s been a long road - but Genius V2 is finally here!
Join us this Thursday @ 8:30PM Central as we walk through all the new features.
https://zoom.experiencelights.com
Firmware download will be available after the call.
—- Here’s a Short Summary of Genius V2 ————
Complete ground-up rewrite of the Genius controller firmware.
- Applies To Genius Controllers: 16, PRO 16, PRO 32 & Long Range, Light-O-Rama: Aurora Core, Your Pixel Store: VIVID, PixelLink
- Universal Genius Binary Firmware file (`*.bin`).
This means all Genius controllers will use a single `.bin` file for firmware updates.
(Aurora Core, VIVID and PixelLink will continue to maintain separate firmware update files.)
System-Level Enableable Features
- Desired features can now be enabled or disabled based on what the user needs, optimizing memory usage.
Enableable features include: Wired LAN, WiFi Hotspot, WiFi Client, mDNS, SD Card, Sync Packets, Standalone Animator, Bluetooth and Adaptive Brightness.
- mDNS adds support for `http://{hostname}.local` in the URL.
- Adaptive Brightness allows dynamic brightness adjustment to help prevent tripped fuses or overloaded power supplies.
- Each feature has a memory footprint, so disabling features you don't need creates a more optimized environment.
Networking & Connectivity
- Bluetooth support added for simple mobile app connectivity.
- Full unicast, broadcast and multicast support for FPP multi-sync SD-card playback.
- DDP, E1.31 (sACN) and Art-Net UDP support, along with FPP-compatible discovery.
- E1.31 multicast support.
- Independent wired Ethernet and WiFi client operation.
1 WiFi Hotspot can now be enabled or disabled manually through the web UI or OLED menu on Genius PRO controllers.
- Configurable enable/disable of DHCP timeout
- Configurable DHCP timeout before falling back to a static IP.
- WiFi auto-reconnect with configurable retry intervals when unexpectedly disconnected.
- WiFi Hotspot - Configurable to Auto-Disable when idle
- Faster web/TCP stack, better tuned for embedded performance.
Better messaging on the Network page for invalid IP and netmask values.
Genius Net — Device Discovery & Fleet Management
- Scan the network and list all V2+ Experience Lights controllers found. (“This device" is pinned to the top of the discovered controllers list.)
- Perform batch firmware updates.
- Perform batch Test Mode on/off commands.
- Perform batch reboot commands.
- Manually add controllers to list by IP
Pixel Output & Protocols
- Loaded with many new pixel protocols and timings, including Minleon RGB+, RGBW+, and DMX512P.
- Create your own user-definable pixel protocols and timings, including bit-reversed output, UART, inverted output and hard-coded preamble instructions.
- Full 8-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit protocol support.
- Full support for both 3-channel and 4-channel pixels.
Pixel Data Mediation Engine
- SD Card functionality is now independent of UDP data and can operate alongside the new mediation and priority engine.
- The mediator switches active control between SD Card (Schedule), SD Card (Sync Packets), UDP Data (DDP/E1.31/Art-Net) and Bluetooth (Schedule).
- Definable priority of data sources.
Animation & Effects Engine
- New standalone animation engine powers both the mobile app and built-in test/preset patterns.
- Built-in effects include: Chase, Fill, Meteors, Rainbow, Static, Blobs, Color Cycle, Fire and Twinkle/Sparkle.
- Animation engine supports tweening, layering, blending, transitions and more.
- Center-aware support for out-to-in and in-to-out animations from a center point.
- Center can be defined as either a single point or dual-center points.
Test Modes
- Utilizes the new built-in animation and effects engine.
- Lots of new fun test modes, including Holidays, The Matrix, Starry Night and many more.
-new “Color Order" Test Mode shows your pixel's color order directly. No more guessing.
- Test Mode playback speed control.
- All Test Modes work cleanly with both 3-channel and 4-channel pixels.
SD Card & Standalone Playback (FSEQ)
- Play FSEQ sequences directly from your SD card.
- Play, pause and real-time scrubbing support.
- Compressed FSEQ support — zstd and zlib in-place decompression, with a manual "inflate" option for otherwise unplayable compressed sequences.
- Uploads are accepted even for files that won't play directly, allowing them to be inflated later.
- Sparse-range support with automatic channel-offset syncing to the playing FSEQ.
File System
- Migrated to LittleFS for faster file-system performance. This does mean that upgrading from V1.0 will wipe the existing file system.
New Schedule Engine
- Solar relative events — sunrise and sunset scheduling driven by latitude/longitude.
- Holiday-relative dates.
- SD Card Schedule and Bluetooth Schedule can both be active, with the mediator determining priority.
- NTP support when public internet access is available.
Web UI & Mobile
- Complete web UI rewrite for faster response and an improved interface.
- Fully mobile-friendly web interface lets you perform any command available on your computer directly from your phone.
- Hold `Shift` + arrow keys to move up, down, left and right on the Outputs screen.
- Pixel outputs - New Wands, Configurable Display Columns
- Configurable long range receiver string sorting.
- gzip compression of web assets means faster responses.
- Improved current monitoring and pixel counting, especially for lower-current pixels.
- Turn power on/off for individual outputs (eFuses) or entire power banks.
- Find Me — geolocation tools to acquire latitude and longitude.
Bluetooth / Mobile App
- The EXP Lights App is almost ready for prime time.
- Gives permanent lighting installers an easy way to set up and configure controllers.
- Gives non-technical residential homeowners an easy way to control their lights without a sequencer!
