Sunday, July 6, 2014

July 2014 release of Wise Clock 4 software

This latest code release includes:
  1. introduction of the two-faced (Kandinsky) feature, on 2 or 4 displays;
  2. fixes related to screen centering for 3 or 4 displays (Big, Stopwatch etc);
  3. fix for Pacman app on 3/4 displays;
  4. fix for Words app on 3/4 displays (so the text does not start scrolling in the middle of the screen);
  5. improved the font definition for digits (effectively making them 5x7 pixels; see photo below);
  6. fix for Score app (swapped button functions);


I am sure that there are still a few bugs to fix.
As well, some improvements would be nice, the most notable being the better use of a screen with 3 or 4 displays, especially for the Big mode, where the time is still shown on the (center) 2 displays. (This would call for spreading out of the digits, or even the definition of a wider font.)


(One of the displays in the 3-display clock is faulty, hence the missing pixel in the bottom 1.)

14 comments:

  1. Nicely done Florin! Looking forward to trying this out. Expanding fonts for use on the increased real estate would be a great addition (the list is never ending eh!). I've had a few displays from Sure that have arrived with the occasional defective LED. Every time it has turned out to be a bad solder joint on the back of the display board and a retouch with the soldering iron has fixed it...perhaps you have a similar issue?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One day I will have to do that (fill the whole screen real estate) too. It is not difficult, just tedious. Should be a good exercise for you :)

      I will have to look at the solder joints as well, as I did in the past, when I found small spheres of solder between pins.

      Delete
    2. This is so awesome, love 4 display setup! I didn't get a chance to try it with 32x16 boards, just 24x16. I also get several defective displays from Sure on every order, they need better QA. But they were good about sending me replacements (although I had to pay for shipping).

      Delete
  2. I'm game Florin, just point me in the right direction and I'll have a crack at it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is a good start. Work on AppBig.cpp.
      The x coordinates around line 274

      #ifdef MULTI_DISPLAY_SCROLL
      ht1632_putBigDigit(18+xOffset, 2, hour % 10, 5, bigColor, 6);
      ht1632_putBigDigit(26+xOffset, 2, minute/10, 5, bigColor, 6);
      ht1632_putBigDigit(32+xOffset, 2, minute%10, 5, bigColor, 6);
      ht1632_putBigDigit(40+xOffset, 2, second/10, 5, bigColor, 6);
      ht1632_putBigDigit(46+xOffset, 2, second%10, 5, bigColor, 6);
      #endif

      should be modified so that the 6 digits (hh:mm:ss) are spread out on either 96 or 128 pixels.

      Delete
  3. I have a Wise Clock 3/4. How can I change the color of the BIG font from green to red or orange?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can change the color of the quotes, normally displayed in green, by using the tags for orange, for red, for green in the quot1.txt (on the SD card).


      Delete
    2. Blogspot blocks tags between angular brackets, so they did not show up my previous reply.
      There is a comment at the top of the file quot1.txt explaining the color tags.

      Delete
  4. Thanks. I know how to change the color of the quotes and reminder messages.

    I would like to change the color of the numbers themselves in the BIG clock font. I have not found anyplace where that can be done. Late last year around Christmas time the BIG font would change to red after a certain time at night and return to green in the morning. That would be acceptable to me. How was that done?

    Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I see what you mean.
      The color of the digits (showing time) change if the alarm is ON. 3 hours before the alarm time, the color is yellow, then it changes to red one hour before alarm time.
      If you want to change the color "permanently", independently from the alarm time, you would have to re-program the chip, as described in this post:
      http://timewitharduino.blogspot.ca/2011/02/uploading-sketches-to-wise-clock-3.html

      Delete
    2. Thank you! I'll check into that.

      Delete
    3. Another question: what is the SCHEDULE.TT file and what does each state do?

      Delete
    4. That (scheduling) was another project I started briefly (a few hours spent) and abandoned. I may still have the incipient sketch for that somewhere.

      Delete
  5. Thank you. I'll check into that.

    ReplyDelete