screensizes

Discussion forum for the Picoscope 6 Linux software
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jerash
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screensizes

Post by jerash »

Hello,
i'm using a picoscope 2200 under linux ubuntu 12.04, and it works great ! thank you for supporting linux.

To be the very portable, i use a small Asus eeepc, and the max screen resolution is 1024x600.
This lead to have some windows too high for the screen, example attached is the waveform generator window.
Also the ubuntu sidebar menu is using precious pixels, so the rightmost part of the main window is not displayed.

Although these inconveniences do not prevent me from being able to use the software, i wondered if something could be done to maximize usability on small screen resolutions.

Raphaël
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picoscope 1024x600.png

Martyn
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Re: screensizes

Post by Martyn »

One of the advantages we have over competitors is the real estate offered by the PC screen, 1024x760 was chosen as the base resolution for this reason.

I will pass on your comments to the development team, it may become more relevant as we consider supporting mobile platforms and touchscreens.
Martyn
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rocket777
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Re: screensizes

Post by rocket777 »

Has anything been done here, I have an asus netbook. It is also 1024x600 and I've recently swapped in an ssd and that makes it quite zippy. With a >9 hour battery life, and small footprint, it would seem this netbook would be a perfect platform for a usb scope. I've already got a usb microsope, and a usb microphone that I use with this device.

I also have a few extra old flat panel monitors, and my asus supports a second screen. Will the software work on a second screen if attached? In particular, is there a full screen mode, and will it work on a secondary screen.

These are pre-buy questions as you can probably tell. Your product looks great, just want to know if it will work with my little friend.

Mark_O
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Re: screensizes

Post by Mark_O »

Hi, rocket.
rocket777 wrote:...I have an asus netbook. It is also 1024x600 and I've recently swapped in an ssd and that makes it quite zippy. With a >9 hour battery life, and small footprint, it would seem this netbook would be a perfect platform for a usb scope.
I agree. Though keep in mind that a Picoscope runs from USB power, so your 9 hours will be reduced, probably significantly. Still, the compactness and portability is great.
I also have a few extra old flat panel monitors, and my asus supports a second screen. Will the software work on a second screen if attached?
Yes! PicoScope is fully windowed. It even supports multiple windows (by launching another instance of the program). Since your system supports multiple screens, you can certainly drag one of the windows to the second screen. And if it is larger, PicoScope will take advantage of that.
In particular, is there a full screen mode, and will it work on a secondary screen.
No, there is no full-screen mode currently, that strips off the window framework. However, you can always Maximize the window to full screen, which is very nearly as good. And Maximize works fine on a second, third, or fourth screen.
These are pre-buy questions as you can probably tell. Your product looks great, just want to know if it will work with my little friend.
One slick thing you may be unaware of is that you can download the software for free, and try it in demo mode. That should answer a lot of questions you may have. (and perhaps generate a few more. 8) )

Mark_O
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Re: screensizes

Post by Mark_O »

Martyn wrote:One of the advantages we have over competitors is the real estate offered by the PC screen, 1024x760 was chosen as the base resolution for this reason.
I think you meant 1024x768. And while this is true, it fails to tell the whole story.

I have PicoScope running right now in a tiny window, at 743x278, with nothing cut off. Picoscope does a fine job of scaling both up and down. And if you look at the screenshot from jerash, you can also see that Pico has intelligently handled the vertical axis, since the Trigger bar is fully on screen, and not chopped off. In spite of the vertical screen size of 600 being < the 768 nominal window height you mentioned.

Picoscope is certainly capable of doing the same thing on the horizontal axis. But it has failed to detect that the width has been truncated, due to the ubuntu taskbar. So it's querying the physical screen width, and not the available display width. I would consider this to be a bug (small, and easily resolvable).

The problem with the sig-gen panel being too high to fit within the available vertical size is a separate issue. This could be made 'manageable', though still inconvenient, simply by making that window draggable (click inside anywhere, not on a button), and sliding the top off-screen to expose the bottom. That would be a 'quick hack', until a more desirable solution could be implemented (potentially quite some time in the future).
I will pass on your comments to the development team, it may become more relevant as we consider supporting mobile platforms and touchscreens.
I think they are relevant right now. jerash wasn't inquiring about either mobile or touchscreens. He was asking about a linux implementation on a netbook, with a screen that already meets the horizontal width requirements specified for PicoScope. I just tested a similar situation on Windows, with a pinned vertical taskbar on the side, and PicoScope6 detects this condition, and sizes appropriately. Pico for linux doesn't.

Mark_O
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Re: screensizes

Post by Mark_O »

I wrote:

> I have PicoScope running right now in a tiny window, at 743x278, with nothing cut off.

I just rechecked, and while that is true for controls at the top, it does cut off the Measurements, Rulers, and Notes buttons on the bottom. You need at least 978 horizontally, for all those to be included.

Also, when the Properties View is enabled, you need at least 397 vertically. There is a slider in the Properties view (when needed), but at <397 vertically, it can't scroll down far enough, and things still get cut off. Another boundary-condition bug, BTW, since that should not happen. This is on PicoScope6-Windows (Beta-release 6.11.4).

Mark_O
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Re: screensizes

Post by Mark_O »

rocket777 wrote:Your product looks great, just want to know if it will work with my little friend.
I see I side-stepped this question, so I'll answer it directly.

Yes, it should run just fine on your little friend. Even better than jerash experienced on his Asus running linux. There won't be any horizontal issues to contend with.

However, you will still be facing the vertical constraints that have been brought up. Very tall controlPanels/dialogBoxes, like for the sig-gen, will get truncated on the bottom, with no way (that I am aware of) to gain access to what is below. :(

But, if you do have a second screen attached, and drag the Pico window over to your larger screen and THEN bring up the sig-gen panel, it will draw on the same screen as your main window, and everything will be fine. :D

rocket777
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Re: screensizes

Post by rocket777 »

Well, I bought the 2204A and so far it works great. I haven't found anything that didn't fit on screen. I've been mostly just using the signal generator to learn how to use it, though I did (bravely) hook up a 9v ac power adapter to an xantrax battery pack and took a look at the inverter's modified sine wave as it came through the transformer. And nothing blew up :D

One thing though, I've had to use a bluetooth mouse (or the track pad) as the usb mouse becomes somewhat non responsive. Just monitoring the signal generator uses 50% of the cpu on my acer netbook.

I like how the mouse wheel can be used to change any setting you hover over. I see that it won't get 9 hours battery life with the scope drawing power, but it does get at least 2 hr continuous use, which is pretty good for a portable scope. And of course it weighs just ounces instead of the many pounds for my 25 year old scope.

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