LCD plugin supporting more than 70 display types (now with full graphics support!!!) (1 Viewer)

[Nemulate]

Hi, already posted this under support but on reflection think it might be better posted here? Not trying to cross post just think posted in wrong place to start. Thanks

Area: Media Portal Program
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.0 (2006-07-03)
MediaPortal Skin: 3DMP-Blue
Windows Version: Windows XP (SP2)
.NET CLR Version: 2.0.50727
DirectX Version: 4.09.00.0904 (9.0c)
Audio Codec: DScaler Audio Decoder
Video Codec: DScaler Mpeg2 Video Decoder
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Memory: 1 GB
Motherboard: GA-K8N Pro-SLI (Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.)
TV Card Model: Haupauge Nova-T pci
TV Card Type: DVB
TV Card Driver: 2.4
Video Card Model: Radeon X300/x550 Series (128 MB)
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 6.2
Video Card Resolution: 1024x768
Video Render Type: VMR9
Audio Card Model: Realtek AC'97 Audio
Audio Card Driver: -

Hi, has anyone had IMON vfd problems. I can't seem to get mine to work with the External dispaly plugin but it will work with c.all plugin. I have configured the plugin to use Imon vfd and set the type to usb. I notice the c.all plugin needs to run another exe file to work, is this the case with External plugin too or am I missing simething? Thanks for reading and any help you can offer!

 

[Machismo]

Nemulate,

Im having the same problem as you. I have an iMon VFD connected to an internal usb plug but cant get it to work using the External Display plugin.

Has anyone got any suggestions for us??

Thanks.

 

[BoelShit]

Which driver are you using in the External Display plugin config?

I only got my iMON VFD to work with the "Soundgraph iMON usb driver" and not the iMON VFD.

Could you try that?

 

[Nemulate]

Yes someone else said this also. I have IMon VFD selected at moment so will try Soundgraph option when get home!

Thanks

 

[Nemulate]

Thanks for advice, tried it and works fine now although seems to be an issue with mp3 playback showing incorrect info!

 

[BoelShit]

If you set the internal player to WMP instead of direct blabla it usually fixes the incorrect info like duration...

 

[Nemulate]

It is already set to use WMP. Think this is an issue with the 'Now playing' screen not updating the track info on the vfd as it works fine when in share view!

 

[BoelShit]

Ahhhh yes, that's true... The "Now Playing" screen doesnt use the tags in MP like in other screens (#current.playing.artist etc.) I already mentioned it in the My Music plugin thread but no reply... Also you will notice that when going out of My Music and into e.g. My Movies the VFD won't be updated when a next song is being played except for the duration part... It's not really a LCD bug but more a glitch in MP....

 

[JoeDalton]

I finally committed the long awaited new features to SVN:
Custom defined characters and Graphic overlay support.

The second feature is only available for displays supporting graphics mode. The first one is available for both text- and graphic displays. Of course your display must support custom defined characters. I don’t have a list of displays that support it, but most displays support a limited set of them. I can confirm that the HD44780 and the T6963c support them.

So what can you do with custom characters?
As the name inclines, custom characters give you the possibility to define your own characters. This allows you to define accented characters if your display does not support them, or you can build little logo’s with one or more characters.

How to get it to work?
First draw a 8x8 matrix on a piece of paper, and draw the character you want to create in it. Then convert each line in a binary number of 8 bits, using every filled square as a 1 and an empty square as 0. Next convert each of these numbers to decimal (calc can help you here (in scientific mode)). This will give you 8 numbers. If you want to create another character, repeat this procedure. Example:

-----------------
| | |X|X|X|X| | |00111100 =  60
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
| |X| | | | |X| |01000010 =  66
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
|X| |X| | |X| |X|10100101 = 165
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
|X| | | | | | |X|10000001 = 129
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
|X| |X| | |X| |X|10100101 = 165
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
|X| | |X|X| | |X|10011001 = 153
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
| |X| | | | |X| |01000010 =  66
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|
| | |X|X|X|X| | |00111100 =  60
-----------------

Next, add all these numbers to the externaldisplay.xml file in a CustomCharacters section. Put the numbers for each character inside a CustomCharacter section. For example:

<CustomCharacters>
  <CustomCharacter>
    <int>60</int>
    <int>66</int>
    <int>165</int>
    <int>129</int>
    <int>165</int>
    <int>153</int>
    <int>66</int>
    <int>60</int>
  </CustomCharacter>
<CustomCharacter>

These custom characters are mapped to the characters below 32 (space). The first custom character you define will be known as character 0, the second as character 1, etc…
So, in order to use your custom characters you need to add the corresponding character to the texts in the externaldisplay.xml file. The simplest way is to do it like this:

<Text Value=" MediaPortal " />

This displays the text MediaPortal, surrounded by our first custom character.

What can you do with graphic overlays?
Graphic overlays allow you to use a monochrome bitmap as a background image for the display. It is not possible to use it to draw text on graphical displays that do not support text mode (yet). Its sole purpose is to let the display look nicer, by adding logo’s or drawings. The graphics you add will be drawn behind the text that is displayed.

How to get it to work?[b/]
You can add a graphic overlay by adding an image tag in the externaldisplay.xml file in the image section where you want it to appear, like this:

  <Message Status="Idle">
    <Line Alignment="Centered">
      <Text Value="MediaPortal" />
    </Line>
    <Line Alignment="Centered">
      <Property Value="#time" />
    </Line>
    <Image X="0" Y="0" File=".\MPLogoText160x128BW.bmp" />
  </Message>

The X and Y represent the position where the graphic should be drawn. (I only tested with values 0 and 0). It should be possible to add more than one image, although I did not test that.

Some words of caution:
The image you use should be in the monochrome BMP format (2 colors: black and white).
The plug-in does not test for the type and size of your image. If your display is 160x128, the image should be too. If you want to start your image at position 10,10 then the maximum size is 150x118.
Once an image is drawn, it is never erased. You can only replace it with another (empty) one.

A word of advice:
Don’t overreact on the number of graphics. Most graphical displays are rather slow because of the amount of data to process.

Looking forward to your feedback…
Joe

 

[CHli]

I have to buy a graphic LCD any tips ? (my char mode VFD just died...)

I need something ~compatible in size with the Imon VFD...