diff --git a/light8/dmxserver.py b/light8/dmxserver.py
--- a/light8/dmxserver.py
+++ b/light8/dmxserver.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ clients shall connect to the xmlrpc serv
 
 server is port 8030; xmlrpc method is called outputlevels(pid,levellist).
 
-
 todo:
   save dmx on quit and restore on restart
   if parport fails, run in dummy mode (and make an option for that too)
@@ -27,62 +26,129 @@ from __future__ import division
 from twisted.internet import reactor
 from twisted.web import xmlrpc, server
 import sys,time
+from optik import OptionParser
 from io import ParportDMX
+from updatefreq import Updatefreq
 
 class XMLRPCServe(xmlrpc.XMLRPC):
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self,options):
 
         xmlrpc.XMLRPC.__init__(self)
         
-        self.clientlevels={} # clientPID : list of levels
+        self.clientlevels={} # clientID : list of levels
+        self.lastseen={} # clientID : time last seen
+        self.clientfreq={} # clientID : updatefreq
+        
         self.combinedlevels=[] # list of levels, after max'ing the clients
         self.clientschanged=1 # have clients sent anything since the last send?
+        self.options=options
 
         print "starting parport connection"
         self.parportdmx=ParportDMX()
         self.parportdmx.golive()
 
         # start the loop
+        self.updatefreq=Updatefreq()
         self.num_unshown_updates=None
+        self.lastshownlevels=None
         self.sendlevels()
+        
 
-
+    def purgeclients(self):
+        
+        """forget about any clients who haven't sent levels in a while
+        (5 seconds)"""
+        now=time.time()
+        for cid,lastseen in self.lastseen.items():
+            if lastseen<now-5:
+                print "forgetting client %s (no activity for 5sec)" % cid
+                del self.clientlevels[cid]
+                del self.lastseen[cid]
+                del self.clientfreq[cid]
+        
     def sendlevels(self):
-        reactor.callLater(.02,self.sendlevels)
+        reactor.callLater(1/20,self.sendlevels)
         if self.clientschanged:
             # recalc levels
-            oldlevels=self.combinedlevels[:]
-            self.combinedlevels=[]
-            for chan in range(0,self.parportdmx.dimmers):
-                x=0
-                for clientlist in self.clientlevels.values():
-                    if len(clientlist)>chan:
-                        x=max(x,clientlist[chan])
-                self.combinedlevels.append(x)
 
-            if self.num_unshown_updates is None or (self.combinedlevels!=oldlevels and
-                                                    self.num_unshown_updates>10):
+            self.purgeclients()
+            self.calclevels()
+         
+            if (self.num_unshown_updates is None or # first time
+                self.options.fast_updates or # show always
+                (self.combinedlevels!=self.lastshownlevels and # changed
+                 self.num_unshown_updates>10)): # not too frequent
                 self.num_unshown_updates=0
-                print "Levels:","".join(["% 2d "%x for x in self.combinedlevels])
+                self.printlevels()
+                self.lastshownlevels=self.combinedlevels[:]
             else:
                 self.num_unshown_updates+=1
 
-        if (self.num_unshown_updates-1)%100==0:
-            sys.stdout.write("dmxserver up at %s   \r"%time.strftime("%H:%M:%S"))
-            sys.stdout.flush()
-        # now send combinedlevels (they'll get divided by 100)
+        if (self.num_unshown_updates-1)%50==0:
+            self.printstats()
+            
+        self.sendlevels_dmx()
+
+    def calclevels(self):
+        """combine all the known client levels into self.combinedlevels"""
+        self.combinedlevels=[]
+        for chan in range(0,self.parportdmx.dimmers):
+            x=0
+            for clientlist in self.clientlevels.values():
+                if len(clientlist)>chan:
+                    # clamp client levels to 0..1
+                    cl=max(0,min(1,clientlist[chan]))
+                    x=max(x,cl)
+            self.combinedlevels.append(x)
+
+
+    def printlevels(self):
+        """write all the levels to stdout"""
+        print "Levels:","".join(["% 2d "%(x*100) for
+                                 x in self.combinedlevels])
+    
+    def printstats(self):
+        """print the clock, freq, etc, with a \r at the end"""
+
+        sys.stdout.write("dmxserver up at %s, [server %s] "%
+                         (time.strftime("%H:%M:%S"),
+                          str(self.updatefreq),
+                          ))
+        for cid,freq in self.clientfreq.items():
+            sys.stdout.write("[%s %s] " % (cid,str(freq)))
+        sys.stdout.write("\r")
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+    
+    def sendlevels_dmx(self):
+        """output self.combinedlevels to dmx, and keep the updates/sec stats"""
+        # they'll get divided by 100
         if self.parportdmx:
-            self.parportdmx.sendlevels([l*100 for l in self.combinedlevels]) 
-        
+            self.parportdmx.sendlevels([l*100 for l in self.combinedlevels])
+        self.updatefreq.update()
+    
     def xmlrpc_echo(self,x):
         return x
     
-    def xmlrpc_outputlevels(self,pid,levellist):
-        self.clientlevels[pid]=levellist
+    def xmlrpc_outputlevels(self,cid,levellist):
+        """send a unique id for your client (name+pid maybe), then
+        the variable-length dmx levellist (scaled 0..1)"""
+        self.clientlevels[cid]=levellist
         self.clientschanged=1
+        if cid not in self.lastseen:
+            print "hello new client %s" % cid
+            self.clientfreq[cid]=Updatefreq()
+        self.lastseen[cid]=time.time()
+        self.clientfreq[cid].update()
         return "ok"
 
+parser=OptionParser()
+parser.add_option("-f","--fast-updates",action='store_true',
+                  help=('display all dmx output to stdout instead '
+                        'of the usual reduced output'))
+(options,songfiles)=parser.parse_args()
+
 print "starting xmlrpc server on port 8030"
-reactor.listenTCP(8030,server.Site(XMLRPCServe()))
+reactor.listenTCP(8030,server.Site(XMLRPCServe(options)))
 reactor.run()