After uncovering some issues in the initial release (thanks to the folks posting on the
original thread), hopefully these have now been resolved.
Attached is a new ProcessPlugins.dll for MediaPortal 2.2 and for 2.3 RC1.
Improvements include:
- bitmaps are included for "ü", which of course was a real problem for the German users
- fixed the bitmap for '['
- added a new driver iMONLCDg, which is graphics based (essentially the same driver iMONLCD, but with graphics enabled)
- Made two modifications to DisplayHandler.cs to address two problems I encountered being
- when using the graphics driver and not forcing graphical text, the screen blanks momentarily when scrolling; and,
- if settings are saved with a graphics driver, these configurations are loaded by a non graphics driver. If you happened to have had the force graphics text changed, then you might not get any text displayed.
I will let Jim Dalton and the MP development team decide which driver they want to use at the end of the day (if any!) I include both, because if the change I made to DisplayHandler.cs is not acceptable to the MP team, then we might need both the text driver for those who want two line displays with the default ExternalDisplay.xml, and a graphics driver for those who want that graphics flexibilty.
Still some room for improvements (eg using the icons and graphic equaliser, backlight and contrast, and fixing bitmaps for non-english characters), but unfortunately, I will be unable to support these in a hurry (I will one day). With the source code published as well as an API, and I am sure others can implement these features.
Don't forget - make sure that SG_VFD.dll is version 5. I believe that the Version 5 dll should continue to work with the
VFD type display from Soundgraph, provided you continue to select the old iMONVFD driver
If you choose the graphics driver (iMONLCDg), don't forget to select 96x16 pixels. Arial Black font is a bit blocky for my liking - Arial is better for this size LCD. Also note that the default ExternalDisplay.xml is designed for a two line display, so if you do choose the fulls graphics option, you'll only get a one line display and miss out on all the other useful information on the second line. You can get two lines by toggling the ForceGraphicsText, but this just defaults back to the basic iMONLCD code. I presume you could change the xml file to customize the display to some degree - am I correct?)
More instructions are in the README.txt..
Hope there are fewer problems with this install compared to the
original.
Please note these drivers ONLY WORK with the
LCD and WILL NOT WORK WITH THE
VFD
You only need to download the ProcessPlugins.zip file. The second zip file is the source code.