Charts

[cagney]

Originally Posted by jonasaberg

Thomas,
I must be daft, I totally miss the point.

Isn't the RGB,DAY,DSK,NGT headers the dimming palette headers?

/J

The point is that Hydrographicas demo (the link), does not contain DAY,DSK and NGT. The attached file, with a "D_", prefix, is my tweak of their demo.
No big deal, perhaps these attributes are not mandatory in bsb ver 3.
They have included, though, in the texts I have seen on the subject.
Thomas

[sinbad7]

Thomas.. I've examined your demo file but I can not find the DAY,DSK,NGT nemonics you say you have inserted. Am I missing something?
I understand the original demo chart did not include them.

Tore

[CarCode]

Tore,

look at lines 163 to 543 of his file.

Gerhard

[sinbad7]

Sorry... I was looking at the Hydrographica's demo version.

[GDD]

Hi,
Does anyone know who makes charts of Central America in a format OpenCpn can run? I have CM93 but was hoping for something else to compare against.
I"m looking for Panama, Belize, Hondurars and Mexico in particular.

Thanks

George

[jonasaberg]

I asked Hydrographica (and Olle the Seaclear author who is the one that calibrates Hydrographicas charts).
The software used by Hydrographica to create the graphic files from their cartographic data does not provide other palettes than RGB. They have no current plans to implement other palettes as most software handles it anyway...as the lead guy Lasse Granath says.

I think it is a reasonable approach from their perspective.

Technically the other palettes are an option (not required) in BSB3, and not a part of BSB1 and 2.

I think the way to go is to find a general dimming solution - be it hard or not...

/Jonas

[cagney]

Originally Posted by jonasaberg

I asked Hydrographica (and Olle the Seaclear author who is the one that calibrates Hydrographicas charts).
The software used by Hydrographica to create the graphic files from their cartographic data does not provide other palettes than RGB. They have no current plans to implement other palettes as most software handles it anyway...as the lead guy Lasse Granath says.

I think it is a reasonable approach from their perspective.

Technically the other palettes are an option (not required) in BSB3, and not a part of BSB1 and 2.

I think the way to go is to find a general dimming solution - be it hard or not...

/Jonas

Jonas

That is interesting, and I have to agree with them.
Navigation is more than OpenCPN. Maybe I need to look at ZyGrib or a Cruising Guide in the pdf format for example. So it can be argued that it's a waste of time to develop this in OpenCPN specifically.
But it would be real helpful to the users to include in OpenCPN the ability to dim the screen for all applications.

For Linux this should be a "piece of cake". I found the "xcalib" application. I have associated

$xcalib -co 80 -a

with the SHIFT + F2 keys, and

$xcalib - clear

with the F2 key. The result is that I can dim every application - the whole screen in about 10 steps, and clear it instantly.
With this I consider this problem solved for Linux. There are other approaches to this in Linux as well, shown by "idpnd" and others.

Interestingly xcalib is also available in a win version, but have problems. It seems, from different Internet posts, to be dependent on the actual graphic card. Worth looking into for Win users.
xcalib is open source, so maybe it can be included in OpenCPN one way or another.
Another approach could be to check the code for the opensource multi-platform Stellarium, that is said to include a global dimming ability. Wx Widgets might be the limitation here, as Dave mentioned.
Stellarium seems to be using Qt.

For win users that want global dimming now there is DarkAdapted.

Astronomers has the same problem as navigators, and this is discussed quite a bit in different forums.

Jonas, thanks for raising this subject!

Thomas

[CarCode]

I guess there is a screen dimming function for any OS available which darkens the whole screen and not only the OCPN application window. Darkening only an application window is rather useless in my eyes. There are even computers available which darkens the screen automatically depending of the environment as mine does with also the lightened keyboard keys together.

Gerhard

[sinbad7]

Thomas... Thanks for the DarkAdapted tip,BUT, it does not seem to dim the WHITE areas in a chart which is very brilliant and blinding on a dark night. Only dims RGB.

An extended range of dimming from the keyboard would be ok for me,the present one does NOT darken my screen,only brightens it.

[fgd3]

I just turn down the brightness on my display. It doesn't get as dim as I would like for night use but if that were a real problem for me I could solve it by hanging a neutral density filter over the screen. I've had different laptops that allowed the screen to be dimmed more completely.

Fabbian

[sinbad7]

#822 Only trouble is my laptop screen is already in it's lowest luminocity for normal daytime use and can only be increased.

Tore

[dacust]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

#822 Only trouble is my laptop screen is already in it's lowest luminocity for normal daytime use and can only be increased.

Tore

Most graphics cards allow you to change the color balance. I got good results on a Sony Viao by changing the color balance way towards the red side.

-dan

[fgd3]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

#822 Only trouble is my laptop screen is already in it's lowest luminocity for normal daytime use and can only be increased.

Tore

I wish we could trade laptops. Mine is always set to full brightness and even then the display washes out in daylight. You could solve your problem with a small sheet of window tinting film. They make some that clings with static electricity so you can easily install and remove it.

I don't need the tinted film at night but during the day I have to retreat deep into the cabin to avoid any shafts of direct sunlight. I'd love to have a daylight viewable touchscreen at the helm station but they cost more than another laptop. Well, if it weren't hard it wouldn't be sailing.

Fabbian

[sinbad7]

OK,let's hope the DarkAdapted developers (also free Open software) have a solution.

Tore

[sinbad7]

Here's the reply from the developers of DarkAdapted:

Hello Captain Christiansen,

Thanks for your message!

Unfortunately, it is Windows that defines how the standard gamma routines are implemented, and Windows has always ignored white when adjusting screen color. I am not sure why they do it this way, but they have been consistently doing so ever since I first wrote DarkAdapted many years ago.

Some users report success using different Windows appearance themes, but it has never been satisfactory for me.

This is actually the main reason that there is no DarkAdapted Pro for Windows. On the Mac side, they properly (IMHO) implement the operating system gamma routines, which affects all colors including white.

There's a more in-depth discussion of all this on page 45 of the 2.3.7 User Guide.

Sorry I didn't have better news for you. :-(

Best wishes,

Steve

--
Stephen E. Hutson
AquilaDigital Partnership
--
AquilaDigital Partnership
support@aquiladigital.us