tty2tft Soft & Hardware Add-On (shows core based pictures and videos on a color TFT display)

[salamantecas]

Thanks for the clear and precise information Larry. Thank you very much . it is beautiful to follow this spectacular project

[RealLarry]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220614

There is only one change and only affects those with an ILI9486 (480x360) display.
This display driver was borked and showed many picture with a gamma overdrive, but that has been fixed now.
Here is an example showing a picture before and after the fix:

[OnCor]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220614

There is only one change and only affects those with an ILI9486 (480x360) display.
This display driver was borked and showed many picture with a gamma overdrive, but that has been fixed now.
Here is an example showing a picture before and after the fix:

This is great news RealLarry! I wondered if there was a way to improve the contrast on these ILI9486 screens as most of the pictures that displayed on mine were very washed out. I assume we have to update the binary using the wget command thru SSH? I tried the updatetty2tft script and it said that my ESP32 was up to date. Please advise.

I've been playing around with TTY2TFT for several days now and it is pretty awesome. The only issue/question I have is that the menu.jpg image does not display when in the main menu of MiSTer. Is there a bug there perhaps? All I see is the arcade machine with MiSTER-Kun in the middle.

[RealLarry]

This is great news RealLarry! I wondered if there was a way to improve the contrast on these ILI9486 screens as most of the pictures that displayed on mine were very washed out. I assume we have to update the binary using the wget command thru SSH? I tried the updatetty2tft script and it said that my ESP32 was up to date. Please advise.

Erm, no, you was up to date indeed. It was the index file which was still at 220608. Shame on me, but has been also fixed now. Please rerun update.

I've been playing around with TTY2TFT for several days now and it is pretty awesome. The only issue/question I have is that the menu.jpg image does not display when in the main menu of MiSTer. Is there a bug there perhaps? All I see is the arcade machine with MiSTER-Kun in the middle.

Sounds like a mismatch on SD. Some days ago, when implementing FTP, I had to change the directory structure from /jpg/<resolution>/<picture.jpg> to /jpg/<resolution>/<Initial letter>/<picture.jpg> (e.g. /jpg/320x200/M/MENU.JPG). Please have look at your SD to see if it's reflecting this. Also a PM is on it's way.

[OnCor]

This is great news RealLarry! I wondered if there was a way to improve the contrast on these ILI9486 screens as most of the pictures that displayed on mine were very washed out. I assume we have to update the binary using the wget command thru SSH? I tried the updatetty2tft script and it said that my ESP32 was up to date. Please advise.

Erm, no, you was up to date indeed. It was the index file which was still at 220608. Shame on me, but has been also fixed now. Please rerun update.

I ran the update script and the ESP32 got updated to the new firmware. The contrast on the screen looks 1000% better. The images are absolutely spectacular on the 3.5" color screen!

I've been playing around with TTY2TFT for several days now and it is pretty awesome. The only issue/question I have is that the menu.jpg image does not display when in the main menu of MiSTer. Is there a bug there perhaps? All I see is the arcade machine with MiSTER-Kun in the middle.

Sounds like a mismatch on SD. Some days ago, when implementing FTP, I had to change the directory structure from /jpg/<resolution>/<picture.jpg> to /jpg/<resolution>/<Initial letter>/<picture.jpg> (e.g. /jpg/320x200/M/MENU.JPG). Please have look at your SD to see if it's reflecting this. Also a PM is on it's way.

The SD card was formatted with your latest Google archive and had the structure format you mentioned. Now after the latest update the arcade image disappears and I get an "Image Not Available" graphic when the menu is present. I made a handful of images for the console cores that were working 100% before today's update. Now I'm seeing some of them appear briefly before being replaced by the "Image Not Available" message. They were all formatted at 480x320 in GIMP and saved non-progressively as recommended. I'm not sure why there are issues with some and not others. I sent you a PM with those graphics to see if you have any thoughts.

[RealLarry]

Small tip for FTP usage: limit the "parallel connections" for this connection to 1. You'll get transfer errors otherwise.

[RealLarry]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220615

As requested by two users: The menu now shows MENU.jpg (if available) instead of Sorgelig's cat. That means, for our cat-lovers, you might have to delete or rename /jpg/<res>/M/MENU.jpg

[RealLarry]

...coming up next: A nicer screensaver!
Still needs some positioning and tests, but works. And look nice. Even for blind owls like me

clockwork_orange.jpg

[OnCor]

I'd have to say that adding this little color screen to my MiSTer setup has really taken it to the next level. I was blown away when I first came across tty2oled (thanks Venice!), but having a larger color screen that can display images and movies opens up so many options for graphics/media. RealLarry has also been awesome to work with on resolving issues I was having and implementing new features. The MiSTer community is amazing!

I love the idea of having different options for the screensaver. RealLarry would it be possible to specify a particular jpg that could be displayed at a reduced size in random positions around the screen similar to how tty2oled does it?

I was also wondering if a specific jpg could be displayed when no image is available after launching a particular core instead of having the generic "Image Not Available". Would anyone else find that useful?

[OnCor]

I threw together an image for the menu and thought I would share in case anyone else would like to use it. There are two versions (480x320 and 320x240) depending on your screen size.

MENU.jpg

[RealLarry]

I'd have to say that adding this little color screen to my MiSTer setup has really taken it to the next level. I was blown away when I first came across tty2oled (thanks Venice!), but having a larger color screen that can display images and movies opens up so many options for graphics/media. RealLarry has also been awesome to work with on resolving issues I was having and implementing new features. The MiSTer community is amazing!

Thanks for your warm words, always appreciated.

I love the idea of having different options for the screensaver. RealLarry would it be possible to specify a particular jpg that could be displayed at a reduced size in random positions around the screen similar to how tty2oled does it?

As always, everything is possible. But tty2oled is using a plain bitmap with a small footprint, tty2tft is using a "compressed file with an algorithm" and unknown size in memory. I need help for that.

I was also wondering if a specific jpg could be displayed when no image is available after launching a particular core instead of having the generic "Image Not Available". Would anyone else find that useful?

Yes, absolutely. The actual information screen is just a placeholder to show that "something went wrong" on what and why. Not very artful, but informational

[RealLarry]

I threw together an image for the menu and thought I would share in case anyone else would like to use it. There are two versions (480x320 and 320x240) depending on your screen size.

Many thanks for that! With your permission I'd like to throw both images into repo's basic media equipment.

[salamantecas]

...coming up next: A nicer screensaver!
Still needs some positioning and tests, but works. And look nice. Even for blind owls like me

clockwork_orange.jpg

The progress and quality of RealLarry's work is spectacular, not only with the treatment of the betatesters in the closed beta but with the precise detailed information of the feedback of the great amount of work that he does and always efficient developing not only a project but 2 new drivers that were wrong solved that everyone can benefit from it. The venice project is already spectacular but seeing all this in color with videos and more options to come opens the doors to imagination and future developments, that screensaver looks incredible
One piece of advice is that at startup many times the letters are of different colors and some are not clearly readable, however other combinations are great. It would be nice to be able to choose the fixed color within the ini or something like that, is it possible?
I am also looking forward to seeing a somewhat more intense welcome animation, perhaps an alternative where some giant sprites are seen interacting or, for example, some funny and striking entrance are ideas
thank you for making it possible congratulations for the work
the screen team we are a great team!!

[RealLarry]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220616

Changes are a complete overhauled screensaver. Okay, this only one change, but a huge one! With a surprise for a requested feature
There are three new INI parameters you can take over to your user-INI and edit them there, if needed. These are the defaults:

Code: Select all

SCREENSAVER_AMPM="no"
SCREENSAVER_TEXT="no"
SCREENSAVER_PICT="yes"

• SCREENSAVER_AMPM : Set to "yes" if your area is using a 12h clock system, leave it at "no" for a 24h system.

• SCREENSAVER_TEXT : Set to "yes" to show text for the time displayed. "no" will use graphical numbers for the time displayed.

• SCREENSAVER_PICT : Set to "no" to show the time only. "yes" will show the last loaded picture, the MENU picture (see attachment) or the time. Will be diced out what to display.

Have fun!

[OnCor]

I threw together an image for the menu and thought I would share in case anyone else would like to use it. There are two versions (480x320 and 320x240) depending on your screen size.

Many thanks for that! With your permission I'd like to throw both images into repo's basic media equipment.

Absolutely! I’m happy to make any contributions to this project that I can.

[marcopolo316]

I’m keenly following the project, looks absolutely amazing and I’ll incorporate this into my desktop arcade cab. Any idea what the power draw is? Also any plan to use this on a wide aspect tft?

[marcopolo316]

Oh sorry NVM just read on the first page the draw is less than 200mah. I’m going to order the screen and ESP32 module, any guide I can follow? Had a look on GitHub but couldn’t find info on where to dump files and ftp instructions

[salamantecas]

Hi everyone

I have created some images in case you want to put them as a menu or at startup before showing the menu screen

[salamantecas]

I want to propose a new function that would be interesting on the screen.

the screensaver is great, I like the new format Larry has chosen and the numbers look good. It looks like a table tennis marker, it's nice, very nice, but it would be nice to have a touch function on the screen so that when you touch it, it will show the image of the nucleus that is running at that moment. I mean if it came out of the screensaver with the touch screen function that would be fantastic

a greeting

[RealLarry]

Oh sorry NVM just read on the first page the draw is less than 200mah. I’m going to order the screen and ESP32 module, any guide I can follow? Had a look on GitHub but couldn’t find info on where to dump files and ftp instructions

The project page at GitHub isn't finished yes while in beta, but there are some documentations. A good start is Setup guide

[RealLarry]

it would be nice to have a touch function on the screen so that when you touch it, it will show the image of the nucleus that is running at that moment. I mean if it came out of the screensaver with the touch screen function that

Unfortunately touch function is cancelled for now - see post #1

[RealLarry]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220617

• 220617 - Internal changes to the jpeg routine(s) which saved some kb; added dirletter for fetchfile; dirletter to uppercase

Nothing special and for today only needed if you are drinving your own http server for pictures.

[RealLarry]

A little news:I have just successfully tested a ILI9488 display.

[salamantecas]

A little news:I have just successfully tested a ILI9488 display.

good news every time it is compatible with more models

[RealLarry]

I think I'll drop audio support at ESP's side. There are two potential libraries, but one is too big and can't be stripped down, the other one lacks compatibility for actual ESP32 system libs. But we could implement audio at MiSTer (see BGM). Path would be Video (ESP)-> Picture (ESP)-> Audio (MiSTer) then, one after the other. What do you guys think?

[salamantecas]

I think I'll drop audio support at ESP's side. There are two potential libraries, but one is too big and can't be stripped down, the other one lacks compatibility for actual ESP32 system libs. But we could implement audio at MiSTer (see BGM). Path would be Video -> Picture -> Audio then, one after the other. What do you guys think?

a good movie without sound is not the same if one option is not possible, the other would be fine, if the ftp is eliminated, would the sound work? I vote yes to the sound please! lets the music sound!

[RealLarry]

f the ftp is eliminated, would the sound work?

I don't think so (but not tested). The working sound library is a very big one and consumes therefore a lot of RAM. It's like implementing a home cinema setup into a VW beetle...it works, everything would be there, but you can't use nor enjoy it in practical

[RealLarry]

Update time! I just released the closed beta 220626

• 220626 - Sound added (playing through MiSTer)

Run the updater (update_tty2tft.sh) on MiSTer and you'll get the new firmware and updated tty2tft files. After tty2tft has restartet, you'll find a new subdirectory caslled /media/fat/tty2tft/sound. Extract the attached archive to it. Restart tty2tft by typing /media/fat/tty2tft/S60tty2tft restart on MiSTer's console.

For now only mp3 files are supported, but I think that should be totally enough to rock the party. When you are creating your own soundfiles, keep in mind to respect uppercase and lowercase of the filename (see our naming spreadsheet). Extension doesn't matter, but has to be mp3 (or MP3) obviously.

[salamantecas]

works perfect, without a doubt we will have to create samples of all the games! I have tried with a song and the only thing that I don't know how to lower or raise the volume but it is heard in a perfect tone, neither too high nor too low. Thanks Larry for every time adding more things

[RealLarry]

Small update to the Daemon and system-ini by request: New Option PLAYSOUND_DELAY
Defaults to "0" (Zero) and can be can be non-integer. This option is meant to force a configurable delay if your HDMI device needs some time to sync and you therefore miss the beginning of sound.