On 22.9.2014 г. 01:18, Don Y wrote:
> Hi Dimiter,
>
> On 9/21/2014 5:49 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
>> On 21.9.2014 г. 07:15, Don Y wrote:
>>> On 9/19/2014 1:44 PM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
>
>>>> I intend to reverse engineer the signals to it, does not look
>>>> like the hugest of efforts. Plenty of wires to the touchscreen,
>>>> a few to the display - apparently lvds. Won't be the easiest of
>>>> tasks but should be doable in a few days if not hours. The module
>>>> certainly looks worth it [I have bought more than one tablet so
>>>> I will have modules for the first few prototypes; if I can't get
>>>> exactly this tablet later I will have to deal with it but this has
>>>> been invariably the case with display modules over the years for
>>>> me anyway, no matter how many datasheets and promises I got
>>>> and from which reputable (or not) supplier I have been buying].
>>>
>>> Why not just use the tablet itself as sort of a "smart display"?
>>> I.e., in much the same way you control the netmca *from* a PC
>>> (which could be regarded as a smart display)
>>
>> Well I do have this already, the current netmca *is* that.
>
> Yes -- though it is expected to talk to a *PC*. I considered the
> tablet a "step up" -- away from teh bulk of the PC but without
> abandoning the elegance of the "display service" (i.e., the
> display can easily be remoted -- at the expense of WIRE)
>
> It seemed a logical extension to migrate the display onto
> a (wireless) smartphone, tablet, etc.!
But it is usable with a phone, tablet etc., has been for years.
Look at the netmca-3 web page, the photo with my phone there
begins to look outdated, must take a new photo with some
newer phone.... :D .
> (Is there no VALUE in being able to tout this -- remote
> display -- as a FEATURE?)
>
There is huge value in that and I am taking full advantage of it
already. The RFB compressing I do is pretty efficient (just RLE
but for that sort of image this is very efficient) and I have been
able to do online support (me and customer simultaneously looking
at the same "screen" over VNC, the netmca supports multiple clients
simultaneously) over all sorts of slow links to various countries.
Being able to do that is a game changer, really.
Besides, no competitor can do it, they don't even come close to it.
The user can even put the netmca behind a router so it is not accessible
from the internet directly (that is the usual configuration), then
tell it to keep "calling" (i.e. initiate a tcp connection) to a
particular host (or several hosts); it will then try to connect
continuously to that host(s) and on an accepted connection will
initiate an RFB session, once the connection is lost it will
try again etc.
IOW the user can have the netmca call his home PC, his office in the
next building or whatever, all this without it being visible on
the internet at all. In the lab, he would just access it behind
the router.
>>> Talk to it via some interface (many of them have provisions for
>>> a "network dongle" to give them true ethernet connectivity).
>>> Tie in via a USB port? etc.
>>
>> The physical connection is a minor issue, can be done one way
>> or the other. USB, wifi, you name it.
>>
>> But (a) DPS has grown/matured into a really serious system and
>> should have its own, complete platform with display etc.,
>
> Ah, OK. I had considered your current implementation more elegant.
> OTOH, if you think (some) users perceive that as a shortcoming, then...
Oh I do not intend to stop the netmca line at all, it is just beginning
to gain popularity. It takes quite a while until people understand
what it is and why it should replace their outdated stuff but it
does happen eventually :-).
This is for a different product, I don't want to be too specific
about it. It will retain all the RFB/VNC etc. functions of the
netmca since it too will run under dps and this is general system
stuff anyway (vncsrv is just a task spawned in as many instances
as needed - well, not too many doing screen compress simultaneously
of course but 2 is perfectly OK and often used, 3-4 should be
OK too).
>
>> (b) using the touchscreen of a cheap tablet is *unbearable*,
>
> ?? For *everything*? Or, just for "typing"? (My tablets use an
> electronic stylus -- which is terrible for damn near everything other
> than *drawing*!)
>
> I.e., is the touchscreen unresponsive? slow? INHERENTLY poorly
> implemented (and thus "to be avoided")??
All of the above, it is unusable on these tablets. It can take you
*minutes* to be successful in pressing some small button, like the
three dots for some setup etc., a complete nightmare. Then when you
scroll the screen it moves in steps of 10-20 pixels only, plenty
of "disallowed" positions....
>> the only thing saving those here from being smashed into the wall is
>> the thought of the nice display modules I would break. This would
>> repel practically every customer who tries it out. I don't know why
>> it is so hard for those who make touchscreens to do the programming
>> such that the central point of each touch is always a display
>> pixel large and moves in a completely analog way but they can't do it.
>> I once talked to a guy doing exactly this sort of job for a large
>> well known company and he was clearly in the dark how this is to be
>> done. So I'll have to do it myself.
>
> So, are you claiming the problem would be similar for a "high end"
> tablet?
Never had a high end tablet in my hands, but on decent phones (samsung
galaxy s3 etc.) the problem is a lot less pronounced, typically
unnoticeable. You have to look for it to see it, when it hits you
you would think it was you who did not press where you wanted to
(but it does happen, not that rarely really). The guy I mentioned
showed me a tool for testing that sort of thing; he was just
drawing diagonal lines over the phone and they came out like a
ladder. This was on his iphone, which he told me had the best of
the touchscreens in that respect...
>
> Make sure you can *buy* them in the quantities you want. Some of
> that stuff geared largely to consumer kit may have outrageous minimum
> buys! (or infinite lead times for anyone smaller than BigChinaCorp)
I do find some on aliexpress etc. in small quantities, I'll get
some before I commit, obviously.
> [*Finally* starting our cooling trend, here -- though still unseasonably
> humid! In a couple of months, we may make it down to 25C!! :-/ ]
Oh the summer here is all but gone (tomorrow is supposed to be a summery
day, 24 to 27C max forecasts). We had 45 days of summer this year, even
less than last year (two months then). And I remember times when June
was already summer, sometimes mid-May too; this year it did not come
until August. Must be the global warming, I am sure they'll keep
repeating their nonsense even once we are a century into the
ice age :D :D.
Dimiter
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Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/sets/72157600228621276/