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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- How To / Troubleshooting (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=2)
-- AvantGo 16-level greyscale (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=2950)


Posted by potter on 06-09-2000 05:16 PM:

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quote:
Originally posted by jack:
Well, I'm positive that the visor can handle 4-bit grayscale.


The Dragon Ball EZ processor (that used the Visor, all Palm V's, and all Palm III's except the original) can do 4-bit (16 level) gray scale. The original Dragon Ball (that used in the earlier Palms up to the III and in the current Palm VII) can only do 2-bit (4 level). The operating system is a different story. Two-bit gray scale support was added in Palm OS v3.0. Four-bit gray scale was not added until v3.3. Various game and image viewing programs have existed, which do gray-scale without support from the OS by directly accessing the Dragon Ball registers and screen memory.


Posted by Hoser_back_home on 06-09-2000 07:00 PM:

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would an example of this be Silverscreen? Perhaps there would be a solution there and asking the programmer might lead to something?


Posted by Vertigo on 06-09-2000 11:14 PM:

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nt

[This message has been edited by Vertigo (edited 06-09-2000).]


Posted by MarkEagle on 06-12-2000 01:45 AM:

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Just ran across this app called Screen Prefs. According to the info, it "sets the default screen color/gray scale depth for your Palm Connected Organizer", using OS 3.0 or later. Maybe it will help with AvantGo...

------------------
MarkEagle - Ice is nice!


Posted by Corky on 06-12-2000 04:22 AM:

Cool

Mark, please give us a review of ScreenPrefs when you have a chance.

It sounds the most promising of anything I've heard on this thread.

Does it give you the better greyscale pics/icons on AvantGo?

Thanks!


Posted by HoloDoc on 06-12-2000 04:39 AM:

Thumbs down

Here is a quick, down and dirty review of ScreenPrefs:

As advertised it shows up in the Prefs as an option.

My VDx had TWO options:
1-bit (B/W)
2-bit (4 Grays)

NOT Available:
4-bit (16 Grays)
Color (Was not expecting it anyway )

So, my review is that in all it does what its supposed to do. But, there must be something in the OS that limits the display to 2-bit. Based on the above I did not see what AvantGo would look like, as nothing changed.
--
Side note: Changing to 2-bit kicks the whole system into 2-bit mode all icons are now 2-bit instead of B/W.
--

Carl



------------------
Carl Lee
Hi! My name is Carl and I'm a Visorholic.

[This message has been edited by HoloDoc (edited 06-11-2000).]


Posted by BigJoe_GoneBlueDx on 06-12-2000 01:53 PM:

Unhappy

quote:
Originally posted by frozzle:
I've given those programs a spin, but no dice. AvantGo needs 3.3 ...

Handspring's response? "The Visor's OS can not be upgraded, since it is stored in the ROM (Read Only Memory). As for patches, we do not have any such patch available at this time, however you might find some 3rd party software that might make it possible to use the 4-bit grayscale."

I wasn't expecting much more of an answer



I am beginning to grow displeased with Handspring and this is just one more example of why.
When considering whether or not to buy a Visor or Palm product, from past experience with my old pilot, I felt that the inability to update the OS was a small price to pay. It seems that as the devices become more complex, this might not hold as true.

{Sorry, I know I took a tangent off the origianl topic}


Posted by MarkEagle on 06-12-2000 11:07 PM:

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Oh, well... the quest continues...

I just finished loading and trying ScreenPrefs... and I have to concur with HoloDoc... there is no visible difference between the 1-bit B&W or 2-bit Greyscale in AvantGo pictures.

I do also have FireViewer and it displays some really nice pictures in what it says is "16 level Greyscale"... perhaps it writes directly to the hardware???

------------------
MarkEagle - Ice is nice!


Posted by mtn on 06-13-2000 06:20 AM:

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AlbumToGo seems to work fine with 4-bit, too. Huge difference when toggling between 2-bit and 4-bit.


Posted by MarkEagle on 06-13-2000 12:50 PM:

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I noticed something with AvantGo on my Visor... The icon on the "home page" DOES show up in greyscale as opposed to B&W. Just compare it to the app icon in the launcher and you should see a difference. By fiddling with the contrast, I was able to get a little more clarity out of images, though still not really good. I then re-installed ScreenPrefs and tried it too by adjusting the contrast... there was no noticable difference. Of course, the contrast needed to be turned way up which obviously affects the rest of the system unacceptably.


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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!


Posted by Tan Kit Hoong on 06-19-2000 04:14 AM:

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Wow, I seem to have started my first "Hot Topic" in the discussion forum.

Mark, the little "A" icon on AvantGo always shows up in grayscale, even with the older version of AvantGo. The icon is only 2-bit, 4-level grayscale.

Just to help you understand, just go out to somebody who has AvantGo installed and ask them to add the Visorcentral website to their channels and take a look at the some of the pics in the Review section of VisorCentral mobile and compare it with ours. The difference is really night and day.



[This message has been edited by Tan Kit Hoong (edited 06-18-2000).]


Posted by Tan Kit Hoong on 06-22-2000 03:00 PM:

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Looks like the end of this topic - we've hit a dead end. Looks like we won't get the nice 16-level grayscale graphics on the Visor until somebody does an update. :'(


Posted by HoloDoc on 06-23-2000 05:39 PM:

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I just donwloaded the latest update of PalmName from palmgear, http://www.palmgear.com/software/sh...amp;prodID=2456

Anyway, it allows you to "fake" the OS string. I changed my OS to v.3.5, but it did not seem to make any diference in AvantGo. Which probably goes back to the API calls in 3.5.....

Oh well.

Carl

------------------
Carl Lee
Hi! My name is Carl and I'm a Visorholic.


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