Support and General Use > Theming and Appearance Customization
Displaying "stop"... and other (unnecessary?) images
hhannah:
On a thread regarding an ipod 320x240 theme (http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=16228.msg121928#msg121928), came the idea of suggesting to avoid loading the (very frequently used in themes) "stop" image, since it's apparently only displayed for a very brief moment, between the moment when a playlist ends and the menu screen is shown. Before adding this information to the CustomWPS wiki (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CustomWPS) in a more general way ("Optimizing the Use of Images�), I'd appreciate feedback and ideas (see below), and of course, if the "stop thing" applies to the other targets, not only ipods.
Proposal:
A. Under the "Playback Mode" part (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CustomWPS#Playback_Mode) the following note would be placed:
Note: Playing status 0 (stop), is only entered for a brief period of time when the last file in a playlist ends, just before “menu†screen is automatically displayed.
----
B. In the “Images†chapter, I’d include a sub-chapter that could be called something like “Optimizing the Use of Imagesâ€, that would be like:
In order to save loading time and minimize the memory used by WPS loaded images, in general terms the number of images loaded should be minimized, as well as the images size:
1. Try to make the conditional images as small as possible, by placing just the portion of the image that actually changes, avoiding that it contains redundant static portions already in the main background.
2. Try to place in the background image one of the conditional images. That saves loading one image per case. Example: To display the “hold†status, instead of loading an “open lock†image to be displayed when hold is off, and a closed lock image when hold is on, you can put the opened lock image static in the main background image, “covering†it when hold is on. The hold switch tag instruction would look something like %?mh. Typical examples of cases where this applies are battery, volume, repeat, shuffle, play mode, etc.
3. Use bitmap strips (subimages) where possible, since only one image is loaded per case, versus loading single images one by one. [link to “bitmap stripsâ€]
4. Avoid loading images that are finally not used (this is common sense but it happens all the time). A special example of this case is the “stop†image, since it is only displayed briefly when a playlist is over, just before jumping to the menu screen.
Chronon:
I'm all for it. I see you've covered the "stop" image issue and incorporated some other useful hints on image use in the WPS. :)
dreamlayers:
Omitting images or making them smaller won't save any memory because the size of the buffer is set at compile time.
It would decrease the time spent loading the theme, but not by much.
IMHO you could decrease load time far more if the images were stored in a single file. Edit: Right after I posted this I saw another message about recent "bitmap strips" commits which do this very thing.
Chronon:
Good point. Though it's like a drippy faucet: Why waste the buffer if you don't need to? And why make graphics that will rarely, if ever, get seen?
Still, this points to a revision for the text above.
hhannah:
--- Quote from: dreamlayers on April 10, 2008, 02:05:46 PM ---IMHO you could decrease load time far more if the images were stored in a single file. Â Edit: Â Right after I posted this I saw another message about recent "bitmap strips" commits which do this very thing.
--- End quote ---
See
--- Quote from: hhannah on April 10, 2008, 11:43:51 AM ---3. Use bitmap strips (subimages) where possible, since only one image is loaded per case, versus loading single images one by one. [link to “bitmap stripsâ€]
--- End quote ---
So I guess this is covered.
--- Quote from: dreamlayers on April 10, 2008, 02:05:46 PM ---Omitting images or making them smaller won't save any memory because the size of the buffer is set at compile time.
--- End quote ---
I don't know much about the technical part of all this, so this imput is important... but is the buffer you mention only used for the images loaded?
...
--- Quote from: dreamlayers on April 10, 2008, 02:05:46 PM ---Omitting images or making them smaller ... would decrease the time spent loading the theme, but not by much
--- End quote ---
You may be right, but I've seen different opinions, for example from Llorean in the default theme thread:
--- Quote ---4) It should load quickly. Try to use as FEW individual images as possible to get your point across. Each extra file adds to load time. We want this to put forth the best foot possible. Increasing the boot time doesn't do this.
--- End quote ---
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