Screen Tearing

[WarmFluffyUK]

Because of the recent reception a GPH emplyee got when trying to pass info on about the Wiz, I thought I would talk to GPH myself to find out more info regarding screen tearing etc, they have kinda asked me to be the spokesperson being that I have hardware/software knowledge, dev and own a Wiz.

Anyway, I now have official information regarding the screen tearing fix:

The screen is tearing not because of the actual screen itself, its because the part accociated with the OLED, it was designed for 240*320 and not for 320*240. The guys in the GPH laboritory fixed the issue in software, so if you use OpenGLES the games will run at 320*240 with no screen tearing. This may mean older software may have some tearing issues but anything new shouldn't if adhering to using OpenGLES.


Any questions you may have I will relay GPH's responce to the board.

 

[quartercast]

All hail the official representative of Wiz screen tearing issues.

 

[Squidge]

Have GPH produced a library which can convert frame buffer applications to OpenGLES applications, or at least provide skeleton code to do so? I really don't want to have to learn OpenGLES in order to fix a fault that isn't mine.

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

Have GPH produced a library which can convert frame buffer applications to OpenGLES applications, or at least provide skeleton code to do so? I really don't want to have to learn OpenGLES in order to fix a fault that isn't mine.

I will ask

 

[quote]

Interesting that representatives are needed from each party...

But then again, GPH tried going direct with GPH-INT, and that failed with all the technical questions.

 

[Jan-Nik]

Which library is needed to create OpenGL ES applications on the Wiz? GLX, SDL or something else?

 

[sam fisher]

Well he doesn't seem willing to be a relay between the technical and non-technical entities at GPH. There is another nice chap there, though, who is happy to do so.

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

Well he doesn't seem willing to be a relay between the technical and non-technical entities at GPH. There is another nice chap there, though, who is happy to do so.

Saying he is not willing is a bit harsh, he is very willing and really does want to give us as much info as he can, in fact GPH are in favour of keeping us up to date. We just need to ask the right questions instead of upsetting them. And we both have contact with "The other nice chap"

Having a GPH emplyee posting on here was an interesting idea but obviously didn't quite work out as desired. Having a community member as a rep is obviously a better solution as we understand what we want out of the Wiz and therefor what information would probably be relevant.

I think in a way we all need to give GPH a little breathing space as you would not believe how busy they are right now. They are in full swing copying manuals, packaging etc. It must be manic for them as they have about 14 days left until release date. Mind you saying that, I can't wait for the next firmware release which should be in a week or less. It's going to be interesting to see how much the interface has changed with the new Flash etc.

 

[Alex.]

So is it a guarantee that pure SDL apps will run at the native 320x240 (without that nasty speed hit)?

Make sure you let us know when the new firmware is released

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

So is it a guarantee that pure SDL apps will run at the native 320x240 (without that nasty speed hit)?

Make sure you let us know when the new firmware is released

I now have a few questions to ask them, unfortunately because of the time difference it will probably be tomorrow morning when I next talk to them.

As soon as the new firmware is released I will let you know

 

[geise69]

Thank you for keeping us all updated on everything, especially with the tearing issue. I have been a little disappointed with how the whole GPH on our forums was going. I was a bit sad to see the kind of responses from both sides. I like the way you are keeping this more civil, plus it just seems easier this way.

 

[Exophase]

So is it a guarantee that pure SDL apps will run at the native 320x240 (without that nasty speed hit)?

Make sure you let us know when the new firmware is released

No, they'll run at 240x320 with the 3D hardware rotating your framebuffer (really a backbuffer). This isn't really a "for free" solution but it should be close enough I guess.

But working in 240x320 yourself w/o any abstraction could still be preferable (less memory used, less bus contention). That is, of course, if it's not at all advantageous to use 320x240.

I'm not very sympathetic with us "upsetting" GPH, I think a company needs more backbone than that ;P

 

[Orkie]

I'm not very sympathetic with us "upsetting" GPH, I think a company needs more backbone than that ;P

You aren't a very sympathetic guy full stop .

 

[quote]

Wow, 14 days. I'm looking forward to it .
Not that there's much excitement here...

 

[Exophase]

I'm not very sympathetic with us "upsetting" GPH, I think a company needs more backbone than that ;P

You aren't a very sympathetic guy full stop .

I'm sympathetic where it's due ;p If you're running a business or hired by a business where you do something for a paycheck then you should be able to not take things said by (potential) customers too personally. I'm sure your average service representative takes much worse than anything we've thrown around here.

 

[Pickle]

warmfluffy, do they know how this going to effect opengles performance with this change?

 

[vampire8bit]

The guys in the GPH laboritory fixed the issue in software, so if you use OpenGLES the games will run at 320*240 with no screen tearing. This may mean older software may have some tearing issues but anything new shouldn't if adhering to using OpenGLES.

What do you mean by "older software", does it mean the great gp2x emu's like picodrive, temper, gpfce, alexkidd, mame and gngeo may have screen tearing issues when ported to the Wiz?

 

[Squidge]

She means the software and emulators that have already been ported to the Wiz. They will most likely require changes to remove the screen flickering.

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

Have GPH produced a library which can convert frame buffer applications to OpenGLES applications, or at least provide skeleton code to do so? I really don't want to have to learn OpenGLES in order to fix a fault that isn't mine.

Apparently they are working on it.

Which library is needed to create OpenGL ES applications on the Wiz? GLX, SDL or something else?

They can't tell us yes as it's likely to change before release, all the necessary guide lines will be coming out on May, so sorry you will just have to be a bit patient but they don't want to say anything until they are pretty sure what's going on.

So is it a guarantee that pure SDL apps will run at the native 320x240 (without that nasty speed hit)?

So far yes they will run fine.

warmfluffy, do they know how this going to effect opengles performance with this change?

They said that there will be no performance impact.

More Info:
GPH are going to open up a new website that is updated every 2 days, also there will be a FAQ section that the Tech support section will answer our queries directly, but as you can imagine, right now they are darned busy!

Oh and by the way HAPPY FRIDAY ALL the weekend is almost here

 

[Jan-Nik]

Thanks for all the answers! Now I'm even more excited to finally get a Wiz.