--- a/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py	Sat Jun 13 04:13:38 2015 +0000
+++ b/light9/effecteval/effectloop.py	Sat Jun 13 04:28:13 2015 +0000
@@ -172,11 +172,11 @@
                 ", ".join("%r: %.3g" % (str(k), v)
                           for k,v in out.get_levels().items()))
 
-Z = numpy.zeros((50, 3), dtype=numpy.uint8)
+Z = numpy.zeros((50, 3), dtype=numpy.float16)
 
 class ControlBoard(object):
     def __init__(self, dev='/dev/serial/by-id/usb-FTDI_FT232R_USB_UART_A7027NYX-if00-port0'):
-        self.board = serial.Serial(dev, baudrate=115200)
+        self._dev = None#serial.Serial(dev, baudrate=115200)
 
     def _8bitMessage(self, floatArray):
         px255 = (numpy.clip(floatArray, 0, 1) * 255).astype(numpy.uint8)
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@
         command = {0: '\x00', 1: '\x01'}[which]
         if pixels.shape != (50, 3):
             raise ValueError("pixels was %s" % pixels.shape)
-        self.board.write('\x60' + command + self._8bitMessage(pixels))
+        self._dev.write('\x60' + command + self._8bitMessage(pixels))
+        self._dev.flush()
 
     def setUv(self, which, level):
         """
@@ -198,7 +199,8 @@
         level: 0 to 1
         """
         command = {0: '\x02', 1: '\x03'}[which]
-        self.board.write('\x60' + command + chr(max(0, min(1, level)) * 255))
+        self._dev.write('\x60' + command + chr(max(0, min(1, level)) * 255))
+        self._dev.flush()
 
     def setRgb(self, color):
         """
@@ -206,48 +208,49 @@
         """
         if color.shape != (1, 3):
             raise ValueError("color was %s" % color.shape)
-        self.board.write('\x60\x04%s' + self._8bitMessage(color))
+        self._dev.write('\x60\x04%s' + self._8bitMessage(color))
+        self._dev.flush()
 
         
 class LedLoop(EffectLoop):
     def initOutput(self):
-        kw = dict(baudrate=115200)
-        self.boards = serial.Serial('/dev/serial/by-id/usb-FTDI_FT232R_USB_UART_A7027NYX-if00-port0', **kw)
-        self.lastSentBacklight = None
+        self.board = ControlBoard()
+        self.lastSent = {}
         
     def combineOutputs(self, outputs):
-        combined = {'L': Z, 'R': Z, 'blacklight': 0}
+        combined = {'L': Z, 'R': Z,
+                    'blacklight0': 0, 'blacklight1': 0,
+                    'rgb': numpy.zeros((1, 3), dtype=numpy.float16)}
         
         for out in outputs:
             if isinstance(out, Effects.Blacklight):
-                combined['blacklight'] = max(combined['blacklight'], int(out * 255))
+                key = 'blacklight%s' % out.which
+                combined[key] = max(combined[key], out)
             elif isinstance(out, Effects.Strip):
                 pixels = numpy.array(out.pixels, dtype=numpy.float16)
-                px255 = (numpy.clip(pixels, 0, 1) * 255).astype(numpy.uint8)
                 for w in out.which:
-                    combined[w] = numpy.maximum(combined[w], px255)
+                    combined[w] = numpy.maximum(combined[w], pixels)
                 
         return combined
 
     @inlineCallbacks
     def sendOutput(self, combined):
-        for which, px255 in combined.items():
-            if which == 'blacklight':
-                if px255 != self.lastSentBacklight:
-                    b = min(255, max(0, px255))
-                    yield succeed(self.serialWrite(self.boards['L'],
-                                                   '\x60\x01' + chr(b)))
-                    self.lastSentBacklight = px255
-            else:
-                board = self.boards[which]
-                msg = '\x60\x00' + px255.reshape((-1,)).tostring()
-                # may be stuttering more, and not smoother
-                #yield threads.deferToThread(self.serialWrite, board, msg)
-                yield succeed(self.serialWrite(board, msg))
+        for meth, selectArgs, value in [
+                ('setStrip', (0,), combined['L']),
+                ('setStrip', (1,), combined['R']),
+                ('setUv', (0,), combined['blacklight0']),
+                ('setUv', (1,), combined['blacklight1']),
+                ('setRgb', (), combined['rgb']),
+        ]:
+            key = (meth, selectArgs)
+            if self.lastSent.get(key) == value:
+                continue
 
-    def serialWrite(self, serial, msg):
-        serial.write(msg)
-        serial.flush()
+            log.debug('value changed: %s(%s %s)', meth, selectArgs, value)
+            getattr(self.board, meth)(*(selectArgs + (value,)))
+            self.lastSent[key] = value
+                
+        yield succeed(None) # there was an attempt at an async send
         
     def logMessage(self, out):
         return str([(w, p.tolist() if isinstance(p, numpy.ndarray) else p) for w,p in out.items()])