Smaller font for OSD-elements. - Feature Requests - CHDK Forum
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Smaller font for OSD-elements.

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Offline oid_maps

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Smaller font for OSD-elements.
« on: 03 / July / 2014, 05:53:01 »
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Another "would be nice to have":

Be able to _reduce_ the size of the OSD-elements (and if needed choose another font).

I think for each camera, the needed settings (in size and maybe font and color) for "minimal on-screen-size but still readable" are different, so I suspect that to be not an easy task (I think it has a reason that the font for OSD is not choosable -- somewhat hardcoded but therefore easy/ fast/ ...).

But since lines of the OSD-characters appears to me to be two pixel wide -- this could at least be a place to save some space? Also in the vertical could some space be saved.
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Offline msl

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Re: Smaller font for OSD-elements.
« Reply #1 on: 03 / July / 2014, 07:06:04 »
Try the layout editor (CHDK version 1.3): http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_1.3.0_User_Manual#OSD_Layout_Editor

msl
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Offline oid_maps

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Re: Smaller font for OSD-elements.
« Reply #2 on: 03 / July / 2014, 07:33:39 »
Quote from: msl on 03 / July / 2014, 07:06:04
Try the layout editor (CHDK version 1.3): http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_1.3.0_User_Manual#OSD_Layout_Editor

That allows me only to make the elements larger than default, not smaller.
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  - Pentax K10D (Firmware 1.31)
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Smaller font for OSD-elements.
« Reply #3 on: 03 / July / 2014, 07:49:05 »
Quote from: oid_maps on 03 / July / 2014, 07:33:39
That allows me only to make the elements larger than default, not smaller.
For what it's worth,  the most common complaint about our font & icon sizes is that they are too small !  I think that relates mostly  to the age of some of the CHDK users (i.e. not the mobile phone camera generation),  and also to the fact that even our current fonts / icons are not readable against some background colors.  The Canon fonts and icons play tricks with outlining their characters or go to a "half tone semitransparent" background at times to get around this.

Have you looked at the RBF font choices for the CHDK menus?  I'll grant that they let people have larger sized text that may be easier to read. But to me they all look terrible !

So, step one. Do you had a small font set that would look good on the screen?  We could mock that up in a demo version easily.  The source for the current standard fonts are in chdk/lib/fonts/font_8x16.h  and chdk/lib/fonts/font_8x16_uni_packed.c if we don't want to follow the arcane RBH "standard" format.

Update : some of these topics are starting to repeat so often that I forget what I've posted earlier : big fonts for CHDK   The first post shows a smaller font that I think I can build into a demo. Compare the word "SMALL" on the screen to the <ALT> text at the bottom and you get the idea.  But it's not pretty.

Also, FWIW, I think the only time I've wanted smaller fonts is for the Misc Values / State display on-screen text.  And some of the debug print output when developing code - but that's another story.

« Last Edit: 03 / July / 2014, 08:19:14 by waterwingz »
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Offline oid_maps

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Re: Smaller font for OSD-elements.
« Reply #4 on: 03 / July / 2014, 08:35:24 »
Quote from: waterwingz on 03 / July / 2014, 07:49:05
Quote from: oid_maps on 03 / July / 2014, 07:33:39
That allows me only to make the elements larger than default, not smaller.
So, step one. Do you had a small font set that would look good on the screen?
On A2000, I use for the menu "ARIEL_10.RBF", which looks good and is more space-efficient than the standard OSD font. On A570, it's not a good choice; there I use either the standard menu font or "ARIEL_14.RBF", both of them seem to have  the possibility to be made more space-efficient but that needs tunig to the specific camera's display.

But, some of the OSD-information for me can also be more poorly readable than the menu; ARIEL_09 is still readable on A570, and ARIEL_08 on A2000.


Quote from: waterwingz on 03 / July / 2014, 07:49:05
We could mock that up in a demo version easily.  The source for the current standard fonts are in chdk/lib/fonts/font_8x16.h  and chdk/lib/fonts/font_8x16_uni_packed.c if we don't want to follow the arcane RBH "standard" format.
Ah, OK, I may have a look at it if I can fiddle in my own font there.

Quote from: waterwingz on 03 / July / 2014, 07:49:05
Also, FWIW, I think the only time I've wanted smaller fonts is for the Misc Values / State display on-screen text.  And some of the debug print output when developing code - but that's another story.

I use a lot of OSD-information and I would like to have it more space efficient :).
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My cameras:
* Canon PowerShot:
  - G7X Mark II (Firmware 1.10b)
* Other manufacturers:
  - Pentax K10D (Firmware 1.31)
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