Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Related to the development libraries, released by Curt Binder
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paulo.hanashiro
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Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by paulo.hanashiro »

I'd like to remove the Temp/Ph charts and have the LCD to display only Date/Time, temp and pH but with a bigger font.

Is there a simple way to implement this? Or do I need to write my own LCD lib?

Thanks.
Paulo
binder
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by binder »

paulo.hanashiro wrote:I'd like to remove the Temp/Ph charts and have the LCD to display only Date/Time, temp and pH but with a bigger font.

Is there a simple way to implement this? Or do I need to write my own LCD lib?

Thanks.
Paulo
Ah yes, another one of those things on the good ole TODO list. I've been toying with the idea of re-arranging the main display but haven't had an opportunity to do much yet.

I know using a larger font is definitely on the list of things to add in, but more work has to be done with how the fonts get drawn/displayed.

I know I'm probably not going to have much time this week to do any development, but as soon as I do, I will let you know and probably post pictures to get feedback.

curt
rimai
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by rimai »

I remember someone did do something like this but modifying the simple code.
He stored the font code in the external EEPROM memory.
It was one of the first buyers of RA and I just never heard from him again.
Curt has a bold font, but it is not larger.
The current font is 5x8 pixels. How much bigger do you want?
Is it just numbers or you need letters too?
I may be able to come up with a quick solution if it's just numbers.
Roberto.
paulo.hanashiro
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by paulo.hanashiro »

Thanks Curt for your feedback.

Roberto, about your question...

Basically I want to display the same information we already have but without the graphic chart.

T1: xx.x
T2: xx.x
T3: xx.x
pH: xx.x
(port status)
rimai
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by rimai »

How's you program memory running?
Can you afford having the new characters inside the PROGMEM area?
Each character needs at least 8 bytes of space and then you need to add the code to display the new font.
So, if we do only numbers, I think we can squeeze in 500 bytes.
Otherwise, we can place the data into EEPROM (either internal or external)
EEPROM will be a little slower to read compared to flash PROGMEM, but I think it would not be too noticeable.
Roberto.
binder
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by binder »

paulo.hanashiro wrote:Thanks Curt for your feedback.

Roberto, about your question...

Basically I want to display the same information we already have but without the graphic chart.

T1: xx.x
T2: xx.x
T3: xx.x
pH: xx.x
(port status)
Have you looked at my latest code? I've got larger fonts working with custom main screen capabilities. You should check out this thread (http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=109) for some of the custom main screen ideas. I've even got some other screen ideas that are a little more complex that I haven't posted.

curt
paulo.hanashiro
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by paulo.hanashiro »

Thanks Curt.

When this new lib version will be available?

Regards.
binder
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by binder »

paulo.hanashiro wrote:Thanks Curt.

When this new lib version will be available?

Regards.
Soon. It's been a long time coming. I've made some big changes and I'm running through some additional tests to make sure everything is ok.

curt
binder
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Re: Is there a way to write bigger characters to LCD?

Post by binder »

paulo.hanashiro wrote:Thanks Curt.

When this new lib version will be available?

Regards.
The newest libraries are released officially. It was a relatively "quiet" release because people had already been using the latest code in helping testing.

Make sure you check out the Custom Main Screen tutorial page on how to create your own custom main screen and use the larger fonts.

curt
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