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CDU brightness indicator bar

Started by samer747, Fri, 15 Apr 2022 18:46

samer747

Thanks Hardy,

I wanted to ask you about the CDU brightness indicator bar at the bottom of the CDU screen, is it possible to add a brightness indicator bar that comes on at the bottom section of the CDU screen momentary while increasing or decreasing brightness? this feature is available on the NG CDU units.

Best Regards
Sam

Hardy Heinlin

I'm not sure what you mean by "brightness indicator bar".

By "NG CDU" you probably mean "LCD CDU". (There's no such thing as an NG CDU; there's just an NG FMC.)

If you mean the LCD CDU specific brightness push buttons; those are already available in PSX.
Just select "LCD CDU" on the Model page.

You can use LCD CDUs on the legacy FMC as well.


Best wishes,

|-|ardy

Dirk Schepmann

Hi Hardy,

on some CDUs (e.g. 747-8, 777) there is an artificial brightness scale in the scratchpad when you press the DIM buttons.

The scratchpad is filled with white boxes, corresponding to the level of brightness. With maximum brightness, the scratchpad is completely full with white boxes, at lowest brightness the scratchpad shows no white boxes. 

I think it is CDU specific. It looks like it is implemented on all LCD type CDUs which have pushbuttons to control brightness.

Best regards,
Dirk

Hardy Heinlin

Thanks, Dirk. If it's standard on all LCD CDUs, I'll implement it when I have the time.

Does it hide the scratchpad text on all subsystems like FMC, ACARS, MENU etc.?


Regards,

|-|ardy

Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

Unfortunately the three LCD CDUs I had on my bench have been returned to their owner, but I know what you mean. I could have filmed the thing. Grrrr.

Now I need to rely on memory. Can some big iron driver make a few shots of this?

The brightness indicator bar is simply implemented by writing blocks (not open boxes as far as I remember) to the scratch pad, thereby masking out whatever was there. I don't remember whether anything that was there is first completely suppressed but I guess that is the only reasonable option. A few seconds after the last button push, the whole thing disappears and the original scratch pad contents returns. It is an internal CDU function, so the subsystems have no clue about this all and it is universal for each page and each MENU choice.


Hoppie

Hardy Heinlin

When the brightness is set to zero, will the bar show 1 block or none?

Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

I don't remember but I do remember I played with it and I came to the conclusion that the design was sane, so you could for example not dim the display to nil and then confuse the heck out of your colleagues. This means that I now bet that the minimum bar length indeed is one for minimum brightness. When you keep pushing minus, it will stay at one and not disappear and make you wonder whether your key presses are being seen at all.


Hoppie

Dirk Schepmann

Here are some details regarding the scratchpad messages.
No information if the bar goes to zero or if one block remains displayed, though.


samer747

I can take a video of a B777 CDU to demonstrate going up to a full brightness then going down to a full dim  and send to you.

flyer605

Here is a link to a video showing the brightness scale on the 747-8. I think this is the same behaviour as on the -400 LCD CDU (apologies for the black scrolling across the screen - that obviously doesn't occur with the mk1 eyeball)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ezn7dfasdgxwnl/CDU%20BRT.mov?dl=0

QuoteWhen the brightness is set to zero, will the bar show 1 block or none?

One bar does remain displayed at the minimum level.

QuoteI don't remember but I do remember I played with it and I came to the conclusion that the design was sane, so you could for example not dim the display to nil and then confuse the heck out of your colleagues.

Confusion avoided - the screen is still on at the lowest brightness level.

Hope this helps!

Hardy Heinlin

Thank you for the video. This helps.

I see a "+" sign remains in position 24.

Did you hit the switch 23 times? Does each hit cause one block step?

Does the brightness also change when you hold the switch? If so, how long does it take from max to min?


Regards,

|-|ady

flyer605

QuoteThank you for the video. This helps.

Very welcome!

QuoteI see a "+" sign remains in position 24.

The plus sign does get covered up by the final block at maximum brightness.

QuoteDid you hit the switch 23 times? Does each hit cause one block step?

Each hit causes one block step - I can't remember specifically how many times I hit it, but I guess assuming from minimum brightness (one block) to maximum brightness (24 blocks) I think it would be 23 switch pushes. Will check in a few days when I fly again (most likely also -8, but still -400 applicable I think)

QuoteDoes the brightness also change when you hold the switch? If so, how long does it take from max to min?

It does, but I can't remember timings. Will do some investigation on my next flight.

Hardy Heinlin

The bar is now implemented in PSX 10.153. Thanks again to flyer605 and Sam for the videos; the delay, scroll, and bar removal timings in PSX agree exactly with the real box.

https://aerowinx.com/board/index.php?topic=4191.0


Regards,

|-|ardy

B747-400

Hi Hardy,

btw.: can we generate those boxes as well over the CDU QCodes?

THX, BR
Hans

Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

They are linked to BRT rocker switch pushes. If you control that switch, they will appear. They are not a function that should be controllable outside rocker switch pushes, I believe. And certainly not from any CDU subsystem. It's purely an internal CDU feature.


Hoppie

B747-400

Yeah, I know that they are for the BRT push rocker.

But when one of us creates a sub system for volume control of some of our speakers, it would be great having the same boxes available in the CDU display. Just as we can define background color etc....

BR
Hans

Hardy Heinlin

These filled boxes are not part of the CDU font in PSX, so you can't use them.

If I were you I would use the little stars **** which you see on the ACARS OOOI page. I find them cute.


|-|ardy

B747-400

THX. I was afraid, that they are not in the font set. I tried all chararcters and did not got them  ;)

What also work is the light gray background (y).

BR
Hans

Hardy Heinlin

Ah, the gray background. -- You're a genius :-)

flyer605

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Fri, 22 Apr 2022 16:33
The bar is now implemented in PSX 10.153. Thanks again to flyer605 and Sam for the videos; the delay, scroll, and bar removal timings in PSX agree exactly with the real box.

https://aerowinx.com/board/index.php?topic=4191.0


Regards,

|-|ardy

Very welcome - I was just about to put up a video showing the scroll timings, but it looks like you got everything you need, it works great thank you!