We have no Programmable System On Chip silicon on our SLCD controller boards.

Currently, SLCD products only support BMP file formats. However, many image applications (Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop, etc.) allow conversion from non-BMP to BMP file formats. Watch tutorial videos for more details.

Although we do not have a canned graphics library, you can get bitmaps of buttons and other controls to use in your interface from iStockphoto. There you will find good quality graphics, for a low cost. Do a search on “buttons” to see a sample. Some other options: Free SVG or find other image galleries.  You can use Inkscape to convert a .SVG to a .BMP. You might also consider using a tool like GIMP. See Reach Technology video tutorials for making graphic elements. You might also consider working with an interface design firm like GUIFX.

The free Open Source program GIMP is helpful. See video tutorials for more information.

To clear a power-on macro, use the BMPload program, check the “Set Power On Macro,” and set the Power On Macro to 0. This will turn the power-on macro feature off. It can also be done via the serial port using the command: *PONMAC 0 The command: *PONMAC 0 0 will also restore the copyright message usually suppressed when a power-on macro is assigned. Similarly, check the “Set Splash Screen” and set Bitmap Number to 0, which will disable the splash screen. The splash screen and power-on macro are typically not set together.

There are two or three LEDs on the controller board, depending on the model. One LED is a “controller good indicator” that comes on when the controller firmware has powered up and is running. This LED shows the unit has power. The second is a “controller busy indicator” that lights up during command processing or upgrades/downloads. Some boards have a third LED, which indicates activity on the USB port.

This is a feature of Windows, it tries to keep USB ports unique, so when you plug in a particular device, it holds the same COM port number it was first assigned. There is a way around this. Our board uses an FT232R chip, and the chip manufacturer has an application note to tell Windows to use the same COM port. See Application Note, Section 7.1, Ignore Hardware Serial Number. In a nutshell, you have to edit the registry and add a key with a value of “01”:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\UsbFlags\IgnoreHWSerNum04036001 Please heed the application note warning about editing the Windows Registry.

The BMPload program displays the full path and file name to load files in different directories. It makes the display hard to read, but it positively identifies the location of each bitmap file.

Use a transparent bitmap. This feature is only available with high-color firmware versions; the “vers” command will show the version you are using. To use transparency, create a 24-bit color bitmap with a fixed color for the transparent (non-displayed) pixels. Let’s say you used pure red. In 24-bit terms, this color is hex FF0000 (RRGGBB format). The high color firmware uses RGB565, that is, 5 bits of red, 6 of green, and 5 of blue. So it would be best if you converted the 24-bit color value to 16-bit. In this example, it would be hex F800. Then add the string “.trf800” to the name of the bitmap, and it becomes a transparent bitmap. (The transparency value has to be put in the filename because the .BMP format cannot specify a transparent color value). To get the 565RGB value corresponding to a 24-bit RRGGBB color, use the ‘S’ command to [...]

With Reach Technology products, you do not need to redesign your PCB, assuming it will be the “Host Computer,” provided it has a serial bus (USB, RS-232 UART, CMOS/TTL UART depending upon product).