diff --git a/include/osgDB/DataTypes b/include/osgDB/DataTypes
index 7397fa495..8014c244e 100644
--- a/include/osgDB/DataTypes
+++ b/include/osgDB/DataTypes
@@ -84,8 +84,9 @@ struct ObjectGLenum
 #define GLENUM(value) osgDB::ObjectGLenum(value)
 #define DEF_GLENUM(var) osgDB::ObjectGLenum var;
 
-struct ObjectProperty
+class ObjectProperty
 {
+public:
     ObjectProperty( const char* name, int value=0, bool useMap=false )
     : _name(name), _value(value), _mapProperty(useMap) {}
     
@@ -101,6 +102,9 @@ struct ObjectProperty
     std::string _name;
     int _value;
     bool _mapProperty;
+
+protected:
+    ObjectProperty():_value(0),_mapProperty(false) {}
 };
 static ObjectProperty defaultProp("");
 
@@ -109,8 +113,9 @@ static ObjectProperty defaultProp("");
 #define DEF_PROPERTY(name, var) osgDB::ObjectProperty var(name);
 #define DEF_MAPPEE(pairName, var) osgDB::ObjectProperty var(#pairName, 0, true);
 
-struct ObjectMark
+class ObjectMark
 {
+public:
     ObjectMark( const char* name, int delta=0 )
     : _name(name), _indentDelta(delta) {}
     
@@ -119,6 +124,9 @@ struct ObjectMark
     
     std::string _name;
     int _indentDelta;
+
+protected:
+    ObjectMark():_indentDelta(0) {}
 };
 static ObjectMark BEGIN_BRACKET("{", +INDENT_VALUE);
 static ObjectMark END_BRACKET  ("}", -INDENT_VALUE);
diff --git a/include/osgDB/InputStream b/include/osgDB/InputStream
index 749c98473..6736fe809 100644
--- a/include/osgDB/InputStream
+++ b/include/osgDB/InputStream
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ public:
     virtual ~InputStream();
     
     bool isBinary() const { return _in->isBinary(); }
-    bool getUseFloatMatrix() const { return _useFloatMatrix; }
     const osgDB::Options* getOptions() const { return _options.get(); }
     
     // Serialization related functions
@@ -161,7 +160,6 @@ protected:
     IdentifierMap _identifierMap;
     
     int _byteSwap;
-    bool _useFloatMatrix;
     bool _useSchemaData;
     bool _forceReadingImage;
     std::vector<std::string> _fields;
diff --git a/include/osgDB/Serializer b/include/osgDB/Serializer
index f58f0cb49..bf28e6796 100644
--- a/include/osgDB/Serializer
+++ b/include/osgDB/Serializer
@@ -336,14 +336,17 @@ public:
     
     virtual bool write( OutputStream& os, const osg::Object& obj )
     {
+
         const C& object = OBJECT_CAST<const C&>(obj);
         const osg::Matrix& value = (object.*_getter)();
         if ( os.isBinary() )
         {
+            OSG_NOTICE<<"MatrixSerializer::write() binary"<<std::endl;
             os << value;
         }
         else if ( ParentType::_defaultValue!=value )
         {
+            OSG_NOTICE<<"MatrixSerializer::write() ascii, ParentType::_name="<<ParentType::_name<<std::endl;
             os << PROPERTY((ParentType::_name).c_str()) << value << std::endl;
         }
         return true;
@@ -352,6 +355,9 @@ public:
 protected:
     void readMatrixImplementation( InputStream& is, osg::Matrix& matrix )
     {
+#if 1
+        is >> matrix;
+#else
         if ( is.getUseFloatMatrix() )
         {
             osg::Matrixf realValue; is >> realValue;
@@ -362,6 +368,7 @@ protected:
             osg::Matrixd realValue; is >> realValue;
             matrix = realValue;
         }
+#endif
     }
     
 public:
diff --git a/src/osgDB/InputStream.cpp b/src/osgDB/InputStream.cpp
index 3449f48b2..32e81563b 100644
--- a/src/osgDB/InputStream.cpp
+++ b/src/osgDB/InputStream.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ using namespace osgDB;
 static std::string s_lastSchema;
 
 InputStream::InputStream( const osgDB::Options* options )
-    :   _byteSwap(0), _useFloatMatrix(true), _useSchemaData(false), _forceReadingImage(false), _dataDecompress(0)
+    :   _byteSwap(0), _useSchemaData(false), _forceReadingImage(false), _dataDecompress(0)
 {
     if ( !options ) return;
     _options = options;
@@ -141,27 +141,104 @@ InputStream& InputStream::operator>>( osg::Plane& p )
     p.set( p0, p1, p2, p3 ); return *this;
 }
 
+#if 0
 InputStream& InputStream::operator>>( osg::Matrixf& mat )
 {
-    *this >> PROPERTY("Matrixf") >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+   ObjectProperty property("");
+   *this >> property  >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+
+   if (property._name == "Matrixf")
+   {
+        // stream has same type as what we want to read so read directly
+        for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+        {
+            *this >> mat(r, 0) >> mat(r, 1) >> mat(r, 2) >> mat(r, 3);
+        }
+   }
+   else if (property._name == "Matrixd")
+   {
+        // stream has different type than what we want to read so read stream into
+        // a temporary and then copy across to the final matrix
+        double value;
+        for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+        {
+            for ( int c=0; c<4; ++c)
+            {
+                *this >> value;
+                mat(r,c) = static_cast<float>(value);
+            }
+        }
+   }
+
+   *this >> END_BRACKET;
+   return *this;
+}
+
+InputStream& InputStream::operator>>( osg::Matrixd& mat )
+{
+   ObjectProperty property("");
+   *this >> property  >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+
+   if (property._name == "Matrixf")
+   {
+        // stream has different type than what we want to read so read stream into
+        // a temporary and then copy across to the final matrix
+        float value;
+        for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+        {
+            for ( int c=0; c<4; ++c)
+            {
+                *this >> value;
+                mat(r,c) = static_cast<float>(value);
+            }
+        }
+   }
+   else if (property._name == "Matrixd")
+   {
+        // stream has same type as what we want to read so read directly
+        for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+        {
+            *this >> mat(r, 0) >> mat(r, 1) >> mat(r, 2) >> mat(r, 3);
+        }
+   }
+
+   *this >> END_BRACKET;
+   return *this;
+}
+#else
+InputStream& InputStream::operator>>( osg::Matrixf& mat )
+{
+    *this >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+
+    // stream has different type than what we want to read so read stream into
+    // a temporary and then copy across to the final matrix
+    double value;
     for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
     {
-        *this >> mat(r, 0) >> mat(r, 1) >> mat(r, 2) >> mat(r, 3);
+        for ( int c=0; c<4; ++c)
+        {
+            *this >> value;
+            mat(r,c) = static_cast<float>(value);
+        }
     }
+
     *this >> END_BRACKET;
     return *this;
 }
 
 InputStream& InputStream::operator>>( osg::Matrixd& mat )
 {
-    *this >> PROPERTY("Matrixd") >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+    *this >> BEGIN_BRACKET;
+
     for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
     {
         *this >> mat(r, 0) >> mat(r, 1) >> mat(r, 2) >> mat(r, 3);
     }
+
     *this >> END_BRACKET;
     return *this;
 }
+#endif
 
 osg::Array* InputStream::readArray()
 {
@@ -642,7 +719,6 @@ InputStream::ReadType InputStream::start( InputIterator* inIterator )
         type = static_cast<ReadType>(typeValue);
         
         unsigned int attributes; *this >> attributes;
-        if ( attributes&0x1 ) _useFloatMatrix = false;
         if ( attributes&0x2 ) _useSchemaData = true;
     }
     if ( !isBinary() )
diff --git a/src/osgDB/OutputStream.cpp b/src/osgDB/OutputStream.cpp
index 7d15c4276..2db0cd2a1 100644
--- a/src/osgDB/OutputStream.cpp
+++ b/src/osgDB/OutputStream.cpp
@@ -112,9 +112,11 @@ OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Quat& q )
 OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Plane& p )
 { *this << (double)p[0] << (double)p[1] << (double)p[2] << (double)p[3]; return *this; }
 
+
+#if 0
 OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixf& mat )
 {
-    *this << PROPERTY("Matrixf") << BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    *this << PROPERTY("Matrixf")<<BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
     for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
     {
         *this << mat(r, 0) << mat(r, 1)
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixf& mat )
 
 OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixd& mat )
 {
-    *this << PROPERTY("Matrixd") << BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    *this << PROPERTY("Matrixd")<<BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
     for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
     {
         *this << mat(r, 0) << mat(r, 1)
@@ -135,6 +137,31 @@ OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixd& mat )
     *this << END_BRACKET << std::endl;
     return *this;
 }
+#else
+OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixf& mat )
+{
+    *this << BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+    {
+        *this << (double)mat(r, 0) << (double)mat(r, 1)
+              << (double)mat(r, 2) << (double)mat(r, 3) << std::endl;
+    }
+    *this << END_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    return *this;
+}
+
+OutputStream& OutputStream::operator<<( const osg::Matrixd& mat )
+{
+    *this << BEGIN_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    for ( int r=0; r<4; ++r )
+    {
+        *this << mat(r, 0) << mat(r, 1)
+              << mat(r, 2) << mat(r, 3) << std::endl;
+    }
+    *this << END_BRACKET << std::endl;
+    return *this;
+}
+#endif
 
 void OutputStream::writeArray( const osg::Array* a )
 {
@@ -503,8 +530,7 @@ void OutputStream::start( OutputIterator* outIterator, OutputStream::WriteType t
         
         bool useCompressSource = false;
         unsigned int attributes = 0;
-        if ( sizeof(osg::Matrix::value_type)!=FLOAT_SIZE )
-            attributes |= 0x1;  // Record matrix value type of current built OSG
+
         if ( _useSchemaData )
         {
             attributes |= 0x2;  // Record if we use inbuilt schema data or not