The Nightsword project

[ez78]

I like the simple version better in post 811. I think the solid color icons look higher quality than the ones with gradient in the more colorfull version. Just matter of tastes I quess. I have to say I am not yet sure if I will be able to get one of these once they become available but like to give some input anyways.

 

[London Lad]

I MUCH prefer the simple one over and above all the previous options posted to date.

To my mind it looks much more funtional and profesional, the bright coloured ones with excessive graphics and animation make the light look like a children's game IMHO.

 

[get-lit]

Thanks for the input guys. I definitely agree. I've been deliberately going all over the board to cover as much ground as I can before programming the display, so that once it's done I don't look back and wish I'd done it any different.

In the end this is not a toy. I've just updated the graphic image again in my final attempt to clean it up and make it more suited for its purpose. In post #811, I've also added other less vibrant versions to see if that helps. I think they are the improvement that makes the difference.

Please refresh, take a look at them again, and let me know if your impressions change. If the last revisions don't cut it, I'll be switching gears to work on the strictly functional version.

Thanks!!

 

[London Lad]

In the current post 811 my preference is still the first pic closely followed by the last

 

[ez78]

Thanks for the update. My favourite would still be the clean version. I think it's good to have some color, but that version still blends nicely with the body and it's styling. Does not pop out too much.

Edit: Didn't notice all the versions. My second choice would be the one with less intense color and no background, but still think the gradient in the icons maybe gives it some of that "game" look. Maybe flat color would look more business.

 

[get-lit]

Thank you ez78.

Just added another purely for the fun of it.

 

[London Lad]

Still this followed by this!

 

[BVH]

I much prefer the more graphic display. This is a flashy light (no pun intended) and the display should reflect this.

Here's the more graphic display...

The graphic display on the housing (top view):

 

[get-lit]

The differences are so stark, I like both for very different and valid reasons, it may be worth making two versions of the display that can be toggled in the settings.

 

[knegolf]

First of, I would like to commend you on your amazing effort to see this to the end even through some very hard design challenges. This is truly inspiring in so many ways. I have been following this thread for about 18 months now, and this is the first time that I feel that I have something worth while to say about the design. I should also point out that I won't be one of the lucky few that can afford or justify purchasing one of these awesome lights, so my opinion shouldn't be considered with the same weight as BVH's or any of the other potential buyers.
With that said, I would like to say that I am a bit torn between the more clean layout of the display and the more graphic one. As they both stand right now, I would probably choose the less graphic one since its color-scheme really complements the texture of the carbon fiber and the other graphics on the light. My main issue with the more graphic of the two is that it has (in my opinion) too many different shades and nuances of color. I think that the culprit here is the fact that the bar graphs are solid color which kind of mismatches the more shaded icons, and there also seems to be differences in hue which kind of makes it look a bit too much like a candy store (absolutely no offense meant, it is just the best way that I can describe it). If these bar graphs were a bit more matched to the overall color scheme, I think that I would start preferring the graphic display since the over all layout of the thing is very much appealing to me aesthetically.

I also think that it might be a good idea to post the pictures of the displays side by side with the graphics on the side of the NS to get a better view of how the lights color scheme would play out in its entirety.

Another thing that hit me yesterday was a detail about the focus slider. If I understand things correctly the light will start focusing as soon as you start moving the slider up and down, as well as focuses directly to the point you set it to by pressing anywhere on the length of the slider. Would it be possible to program it in such a way that the focusing doesn't start until you lift your thumb of the slider which would allow you to set your desired focus by looking at the numbers displayed on the slider and then have it go to that focus directly. And if real time tracking of the thumbs movement is desired, a simple double click on the slider could be used to go into real time tracking. This could also be applied the other way around. I just thought that it could be a neat little detail for the user interface.

Once again. Thank you for letting us follow your journey to the perfect light.

 

[get-lit]

Thank you knegolf for the kind words. It's nice to know that the headache and effort is appreciated. Those difficult phases of experimentation and setbacks make the construction phase all the more worth it.

I'll definitely include a setting to toggle how the slider action works. I'm not sure I'd have it change the setting with a double tap because inadvertent double taps could occur frequently when using the slider actively.

I'm likely going to include two versions of the display to toggle between, so this should give the flexibility needed to suit most people's preferences.

The display is scheduled to arrive tonight so I can post photos of the design variations while being shown on the actual display. This should help a lot.

Also, everyone's view carries weight. I hope that anyone following along would feel free to let me know their impressions.

 

[get-lit]

I just thought of something, I may be able to make the objects in the display blend with different backgrounds, if gradient transparency is supported in the display. If that's the case, the user may be able to use any background by uploading it to the CF card. Maybe I cold also include the ability to upload button sets as well. That way, we would only need the programming for one display scheme, but with much more flexibility. I'll be looking into this.

 

[HKJ]

Could the buttons not be part of the background?

 

[get-lit]

I've been looking to see if can be done. The display would need to be able to support gradient transparency, aka alpha-transparency.

EDIT: Unfortunately I just found that it does not. It only supports setting transparency of a single color from to fully opaque to fully transparent. This is too limited to be useful for nice looking graphics on different backgrounds.

That leaves the possibility of using interchangeable image sets, where the user would upload or otherwise configure which set to use in the FL card. If would be better if I could create a setting for the user to switch among image sets from within the display, but I know the display's core programming libraries don't support this. I may be able to modify the display's core programming libraries for this.

Whatever amount of work it takes to arrive at a solution for multiple image sets, I think it would be easier and better than settling on a single display design for everyone.

 

[HKJ]

I wonder why you want a button set, as long as they are static on the background, why not make them part of the background.

But files with the digits 0 to 9 and symbols could be used to customize the fonts.
And if you split the slider into 20 steps, each step could be a separate file, making customization of the slider possible. The same could be done with the bars.

Then you just need a definition file for the touch positions and placement of elements, and everything can be customized.

 

[get-lit]

That's pretty much the plan. The button images will have the background as part of them. I've done web work back in the 90s before alpha transparency, even before any transparency at all, it's not the ideal way but it can be done just fine.

The button sets I'm referring to would be groups of images which come together to make up the display as a set of images. There's several possibilities for maintaining multiple sets for multiple display themes, as long as the dimensions of the images remain the same among all themes.

 

[BVH]

The programming talk is beyond me but interesting to read. The two-option would be nice. I don't think I'm exactly correct here but I'm trying to remember the input Voltage options for NS - 120VAC - XXXVAC and 120VDC to XXXVDC?

 

[get-lit]

90-264 VAC (120-300 VDC)

 

[get-lit]

Ok so after adding the finishing touches to the strictly practical display and I like it. The meters are thinner and spaced between bars. This makes them just as easy to see because their pixel brightness is 100%, yet overall they are dim in relation to the slider because of the bar spacing. I've also included color-graduated bars on the meters to indicate level of caution.

 

[get-lit]

Also, as it's been requested that the slider actually work as a touch function, where you just touch the display where you want the beam spread to go. If we go this route, I'd have the display be...

Multicolor...

Blues

Reds

Greens

Indigo

Pink (Women like lights too)

Compared...

I'm very much liking this display layout, more than anything so far... most functional use of screen space, and I actually think it looks the best. To be honest, I'm left with little interest in a "graphical" display.