TPI/4 Performance Questions

youstra

I have a setup with 2 TPI/4s, each with an Elo accutouch with a serial mouse interface.

They both have 2 composite vid slots and 2 VGA/PC with keyboard/mouse interfaces.

PROBLEM 1
The panels we design are pretty tricked out. When I port them from Modero to TPI/4, they're considerably slower. I've yanked the hide/show effects, but there's still a dissatisfactory latency issue.

1 - What other factors effect the latency? Per-page bitmap size? Overall free memory?
2 - Is there any way to upgrade the processor? We need the multi-video capability of the TPI/4, so modero's not an option.

PROBLEM 2
One of the TPI/4s shows worse latency symptoms than the other. Same gear, same firmware, same panel profile, same wire distances, etc. Any ideas on where I should kick this thing to get it in line?

Thanks,
Bill

DHawthorne

I would suspect some of your latency is coming from the Elo itself, and some from the TPI. It's hard to compete with a graphics processor that is tied directly to the display with no conversions, and is optimized for that particular display.

You can probably scale down your grapics quite a bit without noticable image degradation. Change the color depth, compress to 90% in a jpg, things like that. I imagine that can't but help somewhat.

youstra

It's all about the RAM

A follow-up: I finally tried upgraded RAM and it makes a HUGE difference. The panel is snappy and handles all the transparency and animation I can throw at it. Anyone who wants to impress a client should chuck a stick of 256 PC133 SODIMM in where you can. I tested it on a CV12 as well - that panel was inherently snappier than the TPI/4 out of the box, but it improved as well - easily worth the cost of reasonably priced RAM.

It does seem odd that AMX would be so aggressive (even punitive) in pricing RAM/CFlash capacity. These can have a huge impact on the ability of guys like us to exploit all the great custom R&D AMX sticks in their hardware. It'd help turn heads for referrals from current installations.

I have no prob explaining why a TP should cost 2-10x the cost of a laptop (optimized design & performance, stability, support, custom R&D, less programming labor), but there's no way I could ever justify AMX pricing of RAM/CFlash and not risk insulting the client -- especially when they've already paid for the intellectual property on the card.

Whatever....not like that's a new argument....

joelw

youstra wrote:

A follow-up: I finally tried upgraded RAM and it makes a HUGE difference. The panel is snappy and handles all the transparency and animation I can throw at it. Anyone who wants to impress a client should chuck a stick of 256 PC133 SODIMM in where you can.

Did you use generic RAM from your favorite computer store?

youstra

Yes - generic - the local retailer stopped carrying laptop PC133 so I got a few sticks off the web for about $30 each to test.

joelw

Excellent. I have an older project that experiences sluggish animations that could really benefit from this.

Thanks for the info!