Neat Preview Channel Firmware

Last updated on December 2, 2024

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This document details what features, updates and bug fixes are new in the Neat Preview channel when compared to the Stable update channel.

1. Introduction

Neat has released a new Preview software release based on the upcoming 24.6 release for you to try out! Please read this article to find out more.

2nd Preview software release date: December 3, 2024
1st Preview software release date: November 25, 2024

NOTE: This article only information about the features, improvements and bug fixes on the Preview build. If you are interested in learning about the full list of features and bug fixes included in our last major update, please see our latest Stable version release notes: https://support.neat.no/article/neat-devices-version-24-5-0-release-notes/

2. Important information about Preview channel

Neat has two ‘channels’ we use when releasing new software updates.

Our production software goes on our Stable channel. Updates are released via this channel when they are ready for your production environment.
We also have a second channel we call Preview. New updates are placed in the Preview channel for a few weeks before being promoted to the Stable channel.

The good news is that you already have access to both channels.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please keep in mind that Preview updates are for evaluation and not yet under full support. We do not recommend updating Neat devices that are currently being used in a production environment with Preview software. Once you move your device to the Preview channel, you will not be able to return your test device to the Stable channel version of the software after upgrading to Preview.

Ideally, you should use a Neat device that is in a lab or a lower-risk user environment to try out the Preview software. And please report any feedback or issues you find while testing to us using the steps outlined in section 6. Getting help from Neat. We would love to hear from you!

Unlike Stable release that will automatically upgrade all of your Neat devices, if you are willing to test Preview release, you will need to manually configure your Neat devices to look for and download the Preview software. To do this, follow the steps below:

To change a Zoom Neat device to the Preview update channel, navigate to System Settings -> System -> Software Update -> Update channel on Neat Pad, Neat Board, and Neat Frame.
To change a Microsoft Teams Neat device to the Preview update channel, navigate to Settings > Device Settings > System > Software Update > Update channel on Neat Pad and Neat Board.

If there is already a newer version available when you move your Neat device to the Preview channel, your Neat device will automatically download the new version and upgrade between 1am to 5am local time on the next day.

3. What’s new

	Preview release (November 25, 2024)	Preview release (December 3, 2024)
The Neat firmware builds:	Neat Pad firmware: NFA1.20241113.0507 Neat Bar firmware: NFB1.20241113.0007 Neat Board firmware: NFC1.20241113.0007 Neat Bar Pro firmware: NFD1.20241113.0007 Neat Bar Generation 2 firmware: NFE1.20241113.0007 Neat Frame firmware: NFF1.20241113.0007 Neat Board 50 firmware: NFH1.20241113.0007 Neat Board Pro firmware: NFK1.20241113.0007 Neat Center firmware: NFL1.20241113.0006 Neat Pulse Agent: 0.13.32	Neat Pad firmware: NFA1.20241113.0509 Neat Bar firmware: NFB1.20241113.0009 Neat Board firmware: NFC1.20241113.0009 Neat Bar Pro firmware: NFD1.20241113.0009 Neat Bar Generation 2 firmware: NFE1.20241113.0009 Neat Frame firmware: NFF1.20241113.0009 Neat Board 50 firmware: NFH1.20241113.0009 Neat Board Pro firmware: NFK1.20241113.0009 Neat Center firmware: NFL1.20241113.0008 Neat Pulse Agent: 0.13.32
The built-in Zoom Room versions. More information about the latest versions of Zoom can be found here: New updates for Zoom Room Appliances New Updates for Zoom Rooms Android Controller	Zoom Room Controller software version: 6.2.5(3142) Zoom Room Appliance software version: 6.2.5(5813)	Zoom Room Controller software version: 6.2.5(3142) Zoom Room Appliance software version: 6.2.5(5813)
The built-in Microsoft Teams versions: More information about the latest versions of Microsoft Teams can be found here: Release notes for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android What’s new in Microsoft Teams devices – Teams Displays and Panels	Microsoft Teams Rooms Devices (Neat Bar, Neat Bar Pro, Neat Bar Gen 2, Neat Board, Neat Board 50, Neat Board Pro and Neat Pad as a controller): – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for MTR devices): 5.0.6152.0 – Teams Rooms Devices (MTRA 2.3.2): 1449/1.0.96.2024101004 Microsoft Teams Displays: – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for Displays and Panels): 5.0.6152.0 – Display (Display U3A): 1449/1.0.95.2024062804 Microsoft Teams Panels (Neat Pad as a scheduler): – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for Displays and Panels): 5.0.6152.0 – Panels (Panels 3.2.1): 1449/1.0.97.2024102301	Microsoft Teams Rooms Devices (Neat Bar, Neat Bar Pro, Neat Bar Gen 2, Neat Board, Neat Board 50, Neat Board Pro and Neat Pad as a controller): – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for MTR devices): 5.0.6152.0 – Teams Rooms Devices (MTRA 2.3.2): 1449/1.0.96.2024101004 Microsoft Teams Displays: – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for Displays and Panels): 5.0.6152.0 – Display (Display U3A): 1449/1.0.95.2024062804 Microsoft Teams Panels (Neat Pad as a scheduler): – Admin Agent (733): 1.0.0.202407050618.product – Company Portal (for Displays and Panels): 5.0.6152.0 – Panels (Panels 3.2.1): 1449/1.0.97.2024102301

Table: Software release versions listed for each preview release. Items in bold are what changed from the previous preview s/w of the 24.6 release.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The table above shows the supported combinations of Neat firmware builds and Zoom or Microsoft Teams versions. To ensure you can get support from Neat’s technical team, please keep your devices on a supported combinations of software releases. If you encounter an issue with older software (outside our support policy), or with incompatible combinations, when you reach out to Neat technical support, they will ask you to upgrade first to a supported software release first. For more information, please see: https://support.neat.no/article/neat-technical-support-policy/

New features in this release:

Automatic microphone switching
Neat Pad, Neat Center, and Neat Main devices now automatically switch between microphones for optimal audio performance.
Volume control on Neat Board, Neat Board Pro and Neat Board 50
Easily adjust the volume directly from the slide-out menu
Hostname configuration for Neat Center
You can now set up the hostname for Neat Center through its web access interface.
JPEG image access for App Hub applications
Applications on Neat App Hub can now access JPEG images from Neat Cameras for enhanced functionality.

3.1 Automatic microphone switching

In our previous 24.5 release, we introduced the ability to dynamically select between the pad microphones and the main Board or Bar’s microphones.

In this release, we’ve now expanded the support for using the Neat Pad microphone alongside both Neat Center and main room microphones. This enables further audio coverage for larger rooms where both Neat Center and Neat Pad microphones can be used together.

Microphones are now dynamically selected based on the direction and volume of the active speaker, ensuring optimal audio quality.

For more guidance on Neat Center setup, please see this article: https://support.neat.no/article/how-to-set-up-neat-center/
To enable Neat Pad’s microphones, please view this article: https://support.neat.no/article/how-to-enable-neat-pads-microphones/

3.1.1 Requirements for enabling the Neat Center and Neat Pad microphones

To enable Neat Pad or Neat Center, the following conditions must be met:

If using Neat Pad with a Neat Board or Neat Board 50, the Pad must be paired with the Board at the Neat OS level (not just at the Zoom or Teams level).

Wired Ethernet Connection:
- Both the Neat Pad or Neat Center and the main room device (e.g., Neat Bar, Neat Bar Gen 2, Neat Bar Pro, Neat Board, or Neat Board 50) must be connected via Ethernet.
- Wifi is not supported for this feature.
Pairing for Neat Board, Neat Board Pro or Neat Board 50:
- If using Neat Pad with a Neat Board, Board Pro or Board 50, the Pad must be paired with the Board at the Neat OS level (not just at the Zoom or Teams level).

3.1.2 Known issues

Table Noises:
Sounds near the Neat Pad, such as keyboard clicks, paper rustling, or setting items on the table, may be heard loudly by remote participants unless Voice Isolation or Zoom’s noise suppression is enabled.
Blocked Microphone Path:
Audio may sound muffled if the microphone’s direct line to the speaker is obstructed, such as by an open laptop placed in front of the Pad.
Microphone Initialization Delay:
After enabling the microphone toggle, it may take 1–2 minutes for the Neat Pad microphones to initialize. If a call starts during this time, the main device microphones will be used until the Pad microphones are ready. This delay only occurs during the initial setup; future calls will not experience delays.
Audio Performance: Neat Center vs. Neat Pad
Neat Center outperforms Neat Pad in audio pickup due to its 16 microphones and advanced beamforming (sound focusing). However, if the Neat Pad is placed close to Neat Center, it might take over the audio, which may lower the sound quality.

3.2 Volume control on Neat Board, Neat Board Pro and Neat Board 50

A volume control slider has been added to the slide-out menu on Neat Board, Neat Board Pro and Neat Board 50, allowing you to adjust the volume of connected devices via HDMI or USB-C during local presentations in Zoom or Teams.

Note: This is a global volume control, and will be synchronized with the volume settings on the Neat Pad for both Zoom and Teams.

Figure 1: The slide-out menu on the Board 50 and Board Pro now has the volume control slider

3.3 Hostname configuration for Neat Center

You can now configure the hostname for Neat Center during the out-of-box setup process via web access (see Figure 3).

Note: If you need to change the hostname later, you’ll need to unpair and reset the device, then complete the out-of-box setup again.

3.3.1 How to access Neat Center’s web admin during out-of-box (OOB) setup

Connect a laptop to the same subnet as the Neat Center. During the OOB process, enter Neat Center’s IP address* (https://<ip_address>) or serial number (https://<center_serial_number>.local) on your web browser and login using the following username and password:

username: oob
password: <Serial_Number_Of_Neat_Center>

As shown in the screen shots below, during OOB you can view the status, get logs, upload certificates to the root certificate trust list, and configure the proxy and NTP server settings. To configure hostname, navigate to the Network tab on the left hand side and enter your chosen hostname.

Figure 2: OOB-only webadmin for Neat Center

Figure 3: Navigate to the Network menu to configure the hostname of your Neat Center

Figure 4: Enter your hostname in the custom hostname field for the Neat Center

3.3.2 Known limitations:

The webadmin of the Neat Center is only available during the initial out-of-box (OOB) phase before Neat Center is paired. Once it is paired and OOB is complete, remote access will be disabled. After OOB is complete, you can only use the webadmin to download logs from the Neat Center by navigating to: https://<ip_address_of_neat_center>/downloadlogs

Important Note: To find out your Neat Center’s IP address, you can utilise your laptop’s DNS service discovery protocol (On Windows powershell: Resolve-DnsName command; on Mac OS terminal: dns-sd). For further instructions, please follow the article here: https://support.neat.no/article/checking-if-mdns-is-enabled-on-your-network/
Alternatively you can ask your network administrator to let you know the IP address of the Neat Center you’re trying to configure.

3.4 JPEG image access for App Hub applications

This release enables App Hub developers to access JPEG images from the Neat Camera, supporting applications like visitor badging.

Note: This feature operates in the background and does not include user-facing controls.

3.5 Other improvements

Open Source Software Declaration

The open-source software license declaration is now visible when remote access is enabled.

Image Tuning Enhancements for Neat Center

We have made adjustments to color saturation to bring the Neat Center’s performance closer to the Neat Bar and Neat Board cameras.

Zoom Logs in Log Collection

Starting with ZR App version 6.3.0, Zoom application logs are now included in the log collection process via the ZR VendorOS API.

4. Fixed issues and improvements

2nd Preview on December 3, 2024:

Issue reference

Description

CUS-1120/ CUS-1164/ CUS-1332

In the previous releases, if a Neat device hadn’t received a response to an ARP request from the gateway in time, Neat would proceed to prematurely reset its network interface card even when all other network connectivity parameters were working as expected. This phenomenon could result in Neat device to disconnect constantly (e.g. in cases of Neat Centers) or appear permanently offline on Neat Pulse Management Platform (e.g. in cases of Bars and Boards). In this release, we now prevent the network card to be reset prematurely if all network activities are working as expected. Note: This issue doesn’t affect Neat Pads.

1st Preview on November 25, 2024:

Issue reference	Description
CUS-544	In the previous releases, customers could experience poor audio (e.g. audio artefacts) when using direct guest join from Zoom to teams. This is resolved in this release.
CUS-1203 and CUS-1251	In previous releases, in rare circumstances, Neat devices could send incorrect EDID to the content source via HDMI input, resulting in either green screen or duplicated content when displayed on the TV. This is resolved in this release.
CUS-1258	In previous releases, Neat Bars and Boards could encode incoming HDMI content with the wrong colour range, resulting in the far-end participants sometimes receiving content that appeared with inaccurate colors. This is resolved in this release.
CUS-1289	In previous release, Neat devices being configured in BYOD-mode could encounter a faulty mode if the out-of-box configuration did not complete correctly. In this release, we have resolved this issue so that the device cannot enter into this faulty state.
CUS-1292	In previous releases, Neat center could rapidly switch between two or more participants. This is resolved in this release.

5. Known issues

Issue reference	Description
INBUGS-31	‘Unable to verify certificate’ message is displayed when uploading CA certificate which has a text part before the actual certificate part. To work around this issue, copy only the certificate portion (BEGIN CERTIFICATE / END CERTIFICATE) to a file and save it as .pem/.cert etc.
ZOOM-93	In this release, it is not possible to disable Zoom’s ‘Advanced Noise Suppression’ feature. As a result, any users using the ‘Music mode’ feature will notice that their audio is being suppressed by Zoom’s noise suppression algorithm, making the experience poor. This issue is being investigated by the Zoom engineering team.
CUS-326	In this release, color correction configuration options are available in the accessibility settings on the Neat Board and Neat Bar Pro, but enabling the feature will not have any effect on the screen.
CUS-635	In this release, if a Neat Bar is rebooted while BYOD mode is enabled and in use, the Neat camera and Microphone will no longer function as expected until the USB-C cable is unplugged and replugged from the device.
CUS-651	In this release, it is possible for a Neat Bar and Neat Pad to lose the ability to pair over Wifi.
CUS-760	In this release, it is possible for a Neat device to show an “untrusted server certificate” warning due to a network timing issue. Rebooting the device should resolve the error in these scenarios.
INBUGS-1664	In this release, switching between external audio hardware and the internal speaker while using Audio over USB on a Neat Bar Pro does not always work during a Zoom meeting.
INBUGS-2482	When a Neat Pad is paired with a Neat Board or Neat Board 50, and manual BYOD mode is started on the Board itself (instead of the Neat Pad), then the Board/Board 50 enters the BYOD mode, but the Pad does not. The workaround is to either start BYOD mode on the Pad or if it has already started on the Board, to enter it from the Pad by selecting the manual BYOD mode.
INBUGS-2484	We have identified a compatibility issue affecting users who are utilizing USB Audio with third-party audio devices (such as Shure) in conjunction with the BYOD mode. When both the USB Audio setting and the BYOD Enabled setting are activated in Pulse management platform, USB audio functionality is disrupted. As a result, users with USB Audio connected to third-party devices may experience audio disruptions when both USB Audio and BYOD are enabled. To avoid this issue, please ensure that you do not enable both BYOD and USB Audio in Pulse simultaneously. Disabling the BYOD settings in Pulse will prevent the conflict and maintain USB audio functionality.
INBUGS-2502	Neat Bar Gen 2 can show a shifted layout during OOB phase when connected to some high resolution monitors.
CUS-1181	If an update is requested via Pulse (by changing profile to a newer channel such as Preview from Stable) OR all devices are restarted at the same time when an upgrade is available it can synchronise the OTA polling across the devices for a site. Assuming the devices for the site are all on the same network, the Neat devices will then simultaneously request to download from the Neat OTA servers their upgrade files (around 1GB worth of data per device). When there are many devices doing this on certain networks it can potentially cause network throttling or alert security monitors that block the downloads part way through. If a device has started the upgrade procedure and it is unable to complete within the set upgrade window (1am – 5am local time) it can cause the device to be stuck on a purple upgrade screen and a restart (via Pulse or by removing the power to the device) is needed to restore functionality.

6. How to check if you have the new build

Zoom Rooms Software Versions: Click on the Settings button on the lower left corner of Neat Pad, Neat Board, or Neat Frame. Then click on ‘About’. The Zoom software version numbers will be displayed on the right.

Microsoft Teams Software Versions: Click on the “More” button on the main screen of the Neat Pad, Neat Board, or Neat Frame. Then click on “Settings” and “About” and the Microsoft Teams software version numbers will be displayed.

Neat Firmware Versions: From your Neat system settings, navigate from System Settings -> System -> About and you should be able to view the serial number and firmware versions for each device.

You can also see the serial number and firmware version of your Neat devices in the Zoom Room administrator portal and the Teams Admin Center (TAC) online portal.

7. Getting help from Neat

We encourage you to visit our support website and view new articles, FAQs, how-to and troubleshooting guides which are being regularly added there. Please search the following page to find answers to your common questions or problems: https://support.neat.no

If you encounter an issue with your Neat device, please email: support@neat.no and one of our technical support engineers will reach out to you.

Note: Neat provides support on Neat devices running current released software, or running software from the previous release. For more information on our support policy, please see the article ‘Neat’s technical support policy’.

IMPORTANT: Please see our privacy policy at https://neat.no/privacy-policy/