NovaStar MRV336 Receiving Card: Specifications, Firmware & Setup
The NovaStar MRV336 is a receiving card for full-color LED displays, built with 12 integrated HUB75E connectors and a maximum resolution of 256×256@60Hz.
This guide covers all three: the full specification, where to get the real manual and firmware files, and how to load them through NovaLCT.
1. What Is the NovaStar MRV336 Receiving Card?
The MRV336 sits between the sending card and the LED modules, acting as a translator. A NovaStar sending card pushes video and control signal to it over an Ethernet cable, and the MRV336 converts that signal into something the modules can actually display, sending it out through HUB75E ports.
What makes this card practical on-site is the onboard design. There’s no separate hub board to wire in — the connectors are built directly onto the card, and that lets a single unit output 24 groups of parallel RGB data by itself. Fewer boards, simpler wiring, one less thing to fail.
Here’s the full specification, taken directly from NovaStar’s official datasheet:
| Item | Spec |
| Maximum resolution | 256×256 @ 60Hz |
| Input voltage | DC 3.8V–5.5V |
| Rated current | 0.5A |
| Rated power consumption | 2.5W |
| RGB data output | 24 groups |
| HUB75E connectors | 12, integrated |
| Scan mode support | Up to 1/32 |
| EMC certification | Class B |
| Operating temperature | –20°C to +70°C |
| Storage temperature | –25°C to +125°C |
| Board dimensions | 145.6 × 95.3 × 18.4 mm |
Beyond 256×256@60Hz resolution, the MRV336 handles a bit of its own maintenance too. It keeps an eye on its own temperature and input voltage, checks the Ethernet connection quality, and can hold a preset image to show if the video signal drops out — so the screen doesn’t just go black while you’re diagnosing the problem. None of that needs extra hardware. It’s all built into the card.
2. MRV336 Manual and Firmware Download
Two things people usually need once they’ve confirmed the specs: the manual, and the firmware. Neither is easy to find directly from NovaStar — you end up on some reseller’s page with a file that hasn’t been touched in years, or no file at all.
The specification document doubles as the manual here. This is the current version:
✔ NovaStar MRV336 Specifications
Firmware is a separate file:
Don’t try to run this on its own — it’s not an installer. NovaLCT reads the package and pushes it to the card over the network. More on that in the next section.
Working on a different NovaStar card, or need the software that goes with it? LedInCloud keeps the whole library in NovaStar Software Download. Saves you from hunting across five different sites for one file.
✔ Reading the Indicator Lights
Before you open NovaLCT and start clicking through menus, look at the card first. The running indicator tells you most of what you need to know in about ten seconds.
| Blink pattern | What it means |
| Once every second | Normal. Network and video are both fine. |
| Once every 3 seconds | Ethernet connection is bad. Check the cable and the connector before anything else. |
| Three times every 0.5 seconds | Network’s fine — there’s just no video reaching the card. |
| Once every 0.2 seconds | The card couldn’t load its main program and dropped to the backup. |
| Eight times every 0.5 seconds | Redundancy kicked in on the Ethernet loop. Backup’s running the show now. |
No power light at all, and it’s not the network’s fault. Check the power connector.
3. Setting Up the MRV336 with NovaLCT
NovaLCT is the software that talks to the whole system — sending cards, receiving cards, all of it. One thing to get straight first: you don’t connect a PC directly to the MRV336. The receiving card lives inside the LED cabinet and gets its signal from a sending card over Ethernet. Your PC connects to the sending card instead, using a USB or Ethernet control cable, and NovaLCT reaches the MRV336 through that connection.
Once the hardware’s wired up, NovaLCT usually picks up the sending card on its own. If it doesn’t, go to System > Reconnect. Most basic functions work without logging in, but anything that touches configuration or firmware needs a login: User > Advanced Synchronous System User Login. The default password is admin.
✔ Updating the MRV336's Firmware
Step 1: Open the Screen Configuration interface and click Program Update.
Step 2: Choose your communication port, then click Refresh to check the current firmware version on the connected receiving cards.
Step 3: You’ve got two paths from here:
- Cloud update — only works if the control PC has an internet connection. Select a server, choose the driver IC and decoding method, and NovaLCT will match the right package automatically.
- Local update — click Browse and load the firmware file yourself. This is the one you’ll use with the MRV336 firmware package linked above.
Step 4: Click Advanced, select what you want updated, and confirm.
Step 5: Choose whether to update all connected receiving cards or just the ones you’ve selected, then click Update.
Step 6: Wait for the confirmation, then click OK.
A couple of things worth knowing before you start. If something goes wrong mid-update, don’t disconnect the power — let it finish or fail on its own. And if your receiving card supports program readback, NovaLCT can save a copy of the current firmware before you overwrite it, which is worth doing if you’ve never touched this specific screen before.
4. How Much Does the MRV336 Cost?
There isn’t a straight answer to this one anymore. Since NovaStar stopped actively producing the MRV336, there’s no official price list to point to — what you’ll find instead is scattered reseller stock, and the price on those listings swings a lot depending on who’s selling it, how much stock they have left, and whether it’s new-old-stock or pulled from a decommissioned screen. Two listings for the “same” card can be worlds apart in price, and neither one tells you much about what you’d actually pay for a bulk order today.
If you’re speccing a new project, the more useful number isn’t the MRV336’s price anyway — it’s the price of whatever’s replacing it. Register LedInCloud – LED Screen Cloud Platform and you can pull real-time quotes on the MRV412 and MRV412-N directly, instead of guessing off a resale listing that might be months out of date.
5. Is the MRV336 Discontinued, and What Replaces It?
Short answer: yes, functionally.
Three cards currently sit in its place on NovaStar’s official lineup, and they’re not interchangeable with each other.
5.1 MRV412-N: The Closest Match
Same 12 HUB75E connectors, same 24 groups of RGB output — the physical footprint carries straight over from the MRV336. What changed is everything inside: max load jumps to 512×512@60Hz on PWM driver ICs, and it adds color management (Rec.709/DCI-P3/Rec.2020), 18-bit+ grayscale, individual RGB gamma adjustment, and 3D support. It also moved to EMC Class A, and its storage temperature range narrowed to –40°C to +85°C, tighter than the MRV336’s –25°C to +125°C.
5.2 MRV416-N: Same Generation, More Ports
Essentially the MRV412-N scaled up — 16 HUB75E connectors instead of 12, 32 groups of RGB data instead of 24. Same feature set otherwise. This is the card to look at if you’re driving a bigger cabinet and need more onboard ports, not more resolution per port.
5.3 MRV532: A Different Connector Entirely
This is where compatibility breaks. The MRV532 uses HUB320F connectors, not HUB75E — ten of them, supporting up to 40 groups of real pixel RGB data. It’s the only one of the three with HDR support (HDR10, HLG), plus module-level features the others don’t have, like automatic calibration when a new module gets swapped in. But because the connector is different, an MRV336 cabinet can’t just take an MRV532 — the wiring would need to change.
5.4 How They Compare
| Features | NovaStar MRV336 | NovaStar MRV412-N | NovaStar MRV416-N | NovaStar MRV532 |
| Connector | HUB75E ×12 | HUB75E ×12 | HUB75E ×16 | HUB320F ×10 |
| RGB data groups | 24 | 24 | 32 | Up to 40 |
| Max resolution (8-bit) | 256×256@60Hz | 512×512@60Hz (PWM) | 512×512@60Hz (PWM) | 512×512@60Hz (PWM, COEX) |
| Color management | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDR | No | No | No | Yes |
| EMC certification | Class B | Class A | Class A | Class A |
That EMC shift isn’t a downgrade, even though it looks like one on paper. Class B is the stricter standard, built for equipment near residential areas. Class A covers commercial and industrial environments. Moving to Class A just reflects where these cards actually get installed.
5.5 Do You Actually Need to Switch?
Not urgently, if the screen’s doing its job. If you’re staying within the HUB75E family, the MRV412-N is the drop-in option — confirm the swap with your team before committing on a live screen, and make sure NovaLCT is updated first. If you’re considering the MRV532 instead, that’s a bigger decision: new connectors mean new cabling, so it’s really a next-generation upgrade rather than a repair-time swap.
6. FAQs
Q1: Is the NovaStar MRV336 still available to buy?
Through secondary distributors, yes — official channels have largely moved on to the MRV412-N and MRV416-N. If you're sourcing spares for an existing screen, expect the search to take longer than it used to.
Q2: What's the real max resolution of the MRV336 — 256×256 or 256×226?
256×256@60Hz. That's what NovaStar's own datasheet says. The 256×226 figure floating around various reseller pages is an old typo that's been copied for years.
Q3: Can I replace an MRV336 with an MRV412-N directly?
Physically, yes, in most cases — same 12 HUB75E connectors, same pin layout. Just confirm your NovaLCT is updated first, since the MRV412-N's full resolution needs a recent version to work properly.
Q4: Why does my screen have a mix of MRV336 and newer receiving cards installed?
Usually it means a past repair used whatever card was in stock at the time. It'll run fine, but the screen's overall calibration is capped by whatever the oldest card on it can do.
Q5: Is EMC Class A worse than Class B?
No — they're built for different environments. Class B is the stricter standard, meant for equipment near residential areas. Class A covers commercial and industrial use. The shift reflects where these cards get installed, not a drop in build quality.
Q6: What's the difference between the MRV336 and the MRV532?
More than just a resolution gap. The MRV532 uses a different connector (HUB320F instead of HUB75E), so it's not a drop-in swap — it needs different cabling. It's also the only card in this lineup with HDR support.
7. Conclusion
The NovaStar MRV336 is still a functional, well-documented receiving card — it’s just not what NovaStar is actively selling anymore. If your screen is running on one and working fine, there’s no rush to change anything. If you’re sourcing spares, planning an upgrade, or just landed here trying to confirm a spec, the short version is this: 256×256@60Hz is correct, the manual and firmware are still available, and the MRV412-N is the closest match if a swap becomes necessary.
For real-time pricing on the MRV412-N, MRV416-N, or MRV532, register with LedInCloud — it beats guessing off a reseller listing that might be months out of date.