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4D Systems > Forums > Picaso 4DGL Display modules > SGC or GFX
 
 


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Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #1 
Hi Guys,
About to purchase a µLCD-24PT but unsure whether to buy a SGC or GFX version. It seems either firmware can be loaded onto each board, but i was wondering if the GFX and SGC versions in the store were physically identical? Some of the feature specs listed are different

i.e. Is it worth deciding what the board will be used for ahead of time?

Cheers
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #2 
They are identical.

What features and specs appear different?
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #3 
Thanks for the reply.

Just a few bullet points in the features page made me unsure.
For instance SGC states:
16 x General Purpose I/O pins. Upper 8 bits can be used as an I/O Bus for fast 8-bit parallel data transfers.

Whereas GFX states:
13 x General Purpose I/O pins. Upper 8 bits can be used as an I/O Bus for fast 8-bit parallel data transfers.

If anything, i would have though GFX has more IO pins as it may be able to reclaim UART Tx and Rx?

GFX also states:
1 x I2C interface (Master).
8 x 16 bit timers with 1 millisecond resolution.

Whereas SGC makes no mention of these in the features tab. However i guess a master I2C is not required for SGC.
Anyway, I assumed they were identical, just wanted to make sure.



Also, for my project i want to be able to send data from the MCU and have it displayed on a 2D graph moving with time. Sort of like a very inaccurate oscilloscope.
If the array is say 256 long, i was hoping to just pass the newest value to some code stored on the SDcard which acts like a shift register to kick the last value out the end and push a new value in the start, and then redraw the graph. How fast could I execute this? 1 new value per second, or is that too optimistic?
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #4 
It's mainly just the use of the pins, SGC can only use them as I/O, whereas GFX can use them for I2C extra serial, so the numbers change.

SGC doesn't have timers listed as there is no way to 'access' them.

This guy here says it's taking him about 4ms to build a graph http://4d.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5944772
So, 1 update a second should be easy
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #5 
Thanks for your help.

4ms would be excellent, is there a sample project which includes drawing graphs and data logging? I can't seem to find one. Would the method i described yield the quickest response time?

Also, can the SGC implement basically any of the GFX commands from code stored on the SDcard? Can this code stored on the SDcard be programmed using the 4D-Visi, or is this purely for GFX? I like this feature.
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #6 
You use either SGC or GFX.

So for what you are doing you would be using GFX, this would give you the best performance. You would almost certainly be best to store all the values in memory and draw them from it.

You could use Visi for most of the rest of the code without problems. Visi is GFX.
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #7 
Oh okay, sounds good. Can I still send UART data (for graphing) from the MCU to the uLCD? Or does it need to be parallel/I2S?

Is it possible in GFX to implement such a system where the buttons/slider bar implemented on the uLCD will send commands/variables to the MCU, but also allow the MCU to send commands back to control the display?
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #8 
I'd think serial (UART) would be best.

It is easy to send data in both directions with sliders and/or buttons sending information back to the MCU
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #9 
So in GFX, you still still communicate the same as if it were in SGC? I can still send commands via UART, the main difference is its easier to make the graphics?

I assumed GFX mode was a stand-alone mode where it didn't really want to be controlled from an external source.

Thanks for the help
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #10 
It is 'stand alone' as in you can write stand along code, but there's nothing to stop you actioning commands from one of the serial ports.
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #11 
Excellent! My dream LCD
I don't understand why you would use SGC mode then? Are all the commands available listed in the SGC command set, or just ones you program yourself?

Also, do you guys ship on the weekend?
ESPsupport

Moderator
Registered: 27/01/09
Posts: 4,279
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #12 
Some people don't want to learn another programming language or program another thing.

You can program anything yourself

There is a, sort of, SGC written in 4DGL if you need 'hints'.

Sorry, no shipping on weekends
Stive

Registered: 27/07/12
Posts: 7
Posted 27/07/12 Reply with quote  #13 
Thanks mate.
Hints?

Looking forward to receiving the display and having a play around with it 'hands on'


Cheers for all the help!
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