SwitchCast v1.5.0 — Release Notes

Release Date: October 20, 2026

Target Platform: Windows 10 (version 1809+) & Windows 11 (x64)

Binary Package: SwitchCast-v1.5.0-win-x64.zip

Creator: John Christopher King Zamora

Website: https://switchcast.wasmer.app/

Repository: https://github.com/jczamora-git/SwitchCast

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🚀 Overview

SwitchCast v1.5.0 is a major architectural performance milestone. Inspired by the efficiency of professional broadcasting suites (OBS Studio), v1.5.0 introduces Adaptive Rendering, a GPU-Backed Zero-Copy Frame Pipeline, Self-Healing DirectX Device Recovery, and a Live Performance Telemetry Monitor directly in Settings.

This release cuts memory traffic by over 8.3 MB per frame at 1080p, eliminates UI latency during rapid source switching, and guarantees unbroken presentations across GPU driver resets, monitor hotplugs, and system sleep/wake cycles.

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✨ What's New & Enhanced in v1.5.0

⚡ Tri-State Adaptive Rendering Engine

• Hardware Probing (IGraphicsCapabilityService): Probes GPU capabilities and dedicated video memory (VRAM) using low-overhead DXGI 1.1 COM interop at startup.
• Three Selectable Rendering Modes:
• Auto (Recommended): Automatically selects hardware Direct3D 11 rendering on capable GPUs and smoothly transitions to WARP software rasterization on resource-constrained or virtualized systems.
• Prefer Hardware: Locks rendering to the physical Direct3D 11 GPU adapter for maximum throughput and minimum latency.
• Compatibility Mode (WARP): Forces high-efficiency Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), delivering 100% stable presentation rendering inside Remote Desktop (RDP), VMs, or legacy hardware without hardware driver dependencies.
• Zero-Restart Switching: Rendering mode changes take effect instantly for new sessions without requiring application restarts.

🚀 Direct GPU-Backed Frame Pipeline

• Zero-Copy Surface Copying: Leverages Direct3D 11 CopyResource and CopySubresourceRegion to transfer frames directly on the GPU, eliminating CPU-side byte array allocations and saving ~8.3 MB of system RAM per frame at 1080p60.
• Hardware Backpressure & Frame Pacing: Implements a bounded latest-frame-wins queue that drops stale frames atomically under load, eliminating presentation drift and UI thread stutter.

🛡️ Self-Healing DirectX Device Loss Recovery

• Driver Crash & Reset Resilience: Listens for DXGIERRORDEVICEREMOVED, DXGIERRORDEVICERESET, and DXGIERRORDEVICE_HUNG HRESULT errors.
• Seamless Pipeline Reconstruction: Automatically rebuilds D3D11 device, swapchain, render target views, and active source feeds without tearing down the audience-facing presentation window or terminating meeting screen shares.
• Clean Logging: Correctly distinguishes initial cold device startup from true recovery resets, eliminating spurious warning logs.

📊 Live Performance Telemetry Monitor

• Real-Time Performance Dashboard: Embedded directly within Settings > Performance, displaying live metrics:
• Live Render FPS: Real-time output framerate alongside configured target FPS.
• Active Rendering Backend: Visual badge indicating whether Hardware Acceleration (with active GPU model) or WARP Software Rasterizer is rendering.
• Frame Render Latency: Measured rendering duration in milliseconds with adaptive color coding (Green < 16ms, Orange < 33ms, Red >= 33ms).
• Dropped Frames: Real-time dropped frame count and drop rate percentage.
• VRAM / Buffer Memory: Estimated video memory footprint allocated for swapchain and composition buffers.
• Zero Overhead When Disabled: Metric sampling and high-resolution stopwatch timers run only when the user explicitly enables telemetry and the settings page is active.

🐛 Sources UI & SwitchDeck Hotfixes

• Category Dropdown Synchronization: Resolved an issue where the Sources page category dropdown appeared blank on initial navigation despite "Application Windows" being selected.
• SwitchDeck HWND Teardown Protection: Hardened native window cleanup to prevent AccessViolationException or invalid HWND references when dismissing the SwitchDeck floating presenter dock.

☕ Developer Support & Sidebar Enhancements

• "Buy me a coffee" Integration: Added a minimal, unobtrusive developer support link directly in the primary navigation sidebar above Settings.
• Dedicated Coffee Icon: Features the Segoe MDL2 Cafe glyph () styled with SwitchCast's signature coral accent ({ThemeResource AppAccentBrush}) and external-link icon ().
• Non-Interrupting: Opens the official PayPal donation page in the default web browser without deselecting active views or interrupting live presentations, music, or SwitchDeck.

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📥 Download & Installation

Windows x64 Setup Wizard (Recommended)

• Standalone Installer: SwitchCast-Setup-v1.5.0-x64.exe
• SHA-256 Checksum: SwitchCast-Setup-v1.5.0-x64.sha256
• Installation Method:

1. Download and run SwitchCast-Setup-v1.5.0-x64.exe.

2. Follow the setup wizard to install into your user profile or custom location.

3. Start Menu and optional Desktop shortcuts are created automatically.

4. Supports in-place upgrades and clean uninstallation via Windows Settings > Installed Apps.

Windows x64 Portable Standalone Package

• Package Archive: SwitchCast-v1.5.0-win-x64.zip
• SHA-256 Checksum: SwitchCast-v1.5.0-win-x64.sha256
• How to Run:

1. Download SwitchCast-v1.5.0-win-x64.zip.

2. Extract the archive to any folder on your computer.

3. Launch SwitchCast.exe.

4. Zero external .NET runtimes or Visual Studio installations required (Self-Contained Windows App SDK package).

🛡️ Verified Publisher & SmartScreen Guidance

• Verified Author / Publisher Identity: John Christopher King Zamora
• Official Domain: https://switchcast.wasmer.app/
• Repository: https://github.com/jczamora-git/SwitchCast
• Windows Defender SmartScreen Notice:
• Because SwitchCast is distributed independently outside the Microsoft Store, Windows Defender SmartScreen may display:

"Windows protected your PC — Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting."

• Why does this happen? SmartScreen uses cloud telemetry reputation based on download volume. Newly released versions carry new binary hashes that must build reputation over time. Even code-signed binaries experience this until the certificate's identity establishes sufficient telemetry history.
• How to proceed safely:

1. Verify that the SHA-256 checksum matches the published checksum file above using PowerShell:

       Get-FileHash .\SwitchCast-Setup-v1.5.0-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256

2. Click "More info" on the SmartScreen dialog.

3. Click "Run anyway" to proceed with installation.

• Code Signing Readiness: The installation pipeline supports full Authenticode SHA-256 code signing with RFC 3161 timestamping (build-installer.ps1 -Sign) for hardware tokens, PFX credentials, and cloud HSM providers (SignPath Foundation, Azure Trusted Signing).

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🧪 Quality & Verification Summary

• Automated Test Matrix: 480 passing tests (100% pass rate, 0 failures, 0 skipped).
• Target Platform Alignment: .NET 8 (net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0) on Windows App SDK 1.5.
• Compiler Health: 0 compiler errors, 0 compiler warnings on both Debug and Release configurations.
• Privacy & Security: 100% offline, zero network telemetry, zero external egress.