Feature Requests: An Option to Cycle Through Multiple Display Modes, Option to Cycle Through Multiple GIFS in "Weather" Mode, Time Inaccuracy, and Screen Tearing Fix #35
I've had my SmallTV Pro for a couple of weeks now, and I quite enjoy it! You've done an excellent job with it. It reminds me a bit of a miniaturized modern-day Chumby. There are a couple of things I'd like to see added to it:
1: The option to cycle through multiple modes, for example to have it display the "weather" mode for a user-defined time, then switch to the "stocks" display, then the next display, etc.. My ideal version of this feature would be to allow the user to select which modes to include in this multiple-display-cycling mode, how long to display each one, and the option to "shuffle" them to display them in a randomized order. Incidentally, this is exactly how "widgets" (mini apps) are able to be configured within "channels" (collections of mini apps) on the Chumby.
2: There are some screen tearing and slowdown issues in "Weather" mode. In particular, the scrolling ticker exhibits some tearing, which can be quite severe depending on which GIF is selected for display in the bottom right corner (some of the GIFs tested were the default options as well as some I uploaded myself in the correct resolution). Sometimes, the screen will freeze for a moment before recovering, which throws off the time. Multiple screen stutters can result in a cumulative time error of several seconds before the clock resynchronizes with the NTP time.
3: Similar to my first request, I would quite like to see an option to cycle through multiple uploaded GIFs in the bottom right-hand corner of the "Weather" display. Since it's already possible to have multiple GIFs uploaded, I think it would be nice to be able to use more than one. Also like my first request, being able to select how long each GIF displays and whether to "shuffle" them or not would be an added bonus. Another similar idea would be to allow certain GIFs to be displayed at certain times. For example, I found a very nice GIF of the moon lighting up a lake at night. It would be great to be able to have a GIF representing times of the day, such as morning, noon, evening, and night and have them be displayed at the appropriate times. My idea for the interface for this would be very similar to the one that is already present for the Night Mode function (which I love).
I think it's great that you provide firmware updates for these cool little devices, especially for how relatively inexpensive they are. If these features are too much work to implement and/or you don't have time to do so, I'm also a programmer, so I would likely be able to make the changes for myself if you're willing to give me the information needed to do so.
Hello,
I've had my SmallTV Pro for a couple of weeks now, and I quite enjoy it! You've done an excellent job with it. It reminds me a bit of a miniaturized modern-day Chumby. There are a couple of things I'd like to see added to it:
1: The option to cycle through multiple modes, for example to have it display the "weather" mode for a user-defined time, then switch to the "stocks" display, then the next display, etc.. My ideal version of this feature would be to allow the user to select which modes to include in this multiple-display-cycling mode, how long to display each one, and the option to "shuffle" them to display them in a randomized order. Incidentally, this is exactly how "widgets" (mini apps) are able to be configured within "channels" (collections of mini apps) on the Chumby.
2: There are some screen tearing and slowdown issues in "Weather" mode. In particular, the scrolling ticker exhibits some tearing, which can be quite severe depending on which GIF is selected for display in the bottom right corner (some of the GIFs tested were the default options as well as some I uploaded myself in the correct resolution). Sometimes, the screen will freeze for a moment before recovering, which throws off the time. Multiple screen stutters can result in a cumulative time error of several seconds before the clock resynchronizes with the NTP time.
3: Similar to my first request, I would quite like to see an option to cycle through multiple uploaded GIFs in the bottom right-hand corner of the "Weather" display. Since it's already possible to have multiple GIFs uploaded, I think it would be nice to be able to use more than one. Also like my first request, being able to select how long each GIF displays and whether to "shuffle" them or not would be an added bonus. Another similar idea would be to allow certain GIFs to be displayed at certain times. For example, I found a very nice GIF of the moon lighting up a lake at night. It would be great to be able to have a GIF representing times of the day, such as morning, noon, evening, and night and have them be displayed at the appropriate times. My idea for the interface for this would be very similar to the one that is already present for the Night Mode function (which I love).
I think it's great that you provide firmware updates for these cool little devices, especially for how relatively inexpensive they are. If these features are too much work to implement and/or you don't have time to do so, I'm also a programmer, so I would likely be able to make the changes for myself if you're willing to give me the information needed to do so.
Thanks!