When using my 990 there are times when I would like to check the display window readout. This seems to usually pertain to the volume setting. The only way to activate the window is to press one of several panel switches or rotate the volume control enough for the circuit to advance (or reduce) volume by one increment. Due to the slight delay in the window coming on, one is not sure exactly what the original volume setting was.

Suggestion: Use a capacitive switch (or similar detection circuit) on the volume control knob, the mere touching of which (no actual rotation required) would activate the screen.

To not take full credit for this idea, many years ago I had an FM tuner in which touching the tuning knob would disable the PPL station lock to allow precise meter tuning. Letting go of the knob would then turn on the PPL to maintain the freq. Just one fewer switches on the panel and one less thing to remember.

I'm lazier than that. How about a backlit LCD display in the remote to display system status and volume? This would require two way communication but that's no big thing.