TT3 & PPC backlight

wibbly · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2003 Posts: 315

Anyone know if there's a setting or utility that turns on the PPC's backlight when a turn is announced? That way I have the backlight time out (to save battery) and for it to 'wake up' and show me the map when I need to pay it attention...

W

wibbly · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2003 Posts: 315

... this could pehaps potentially be done by a utility that would simulate a key press whenever the audio is used.

W

carl_w · Lifetime Member Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 242

On a related note, it would be nice to be able to dim the backlight when the night colours are in use. I know this can be done manually, but I'd like to see it happen automatically when night colours are selected.

MrT · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:51 am Post subject:

You could set your PDA screen brightness to automatic so in darker conditions there is less lighting.

oddsock · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:05 am Post subject:

DavidW · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:58 pm Post subject:

Programmatic control of a PDA's backlight is very hard to achieve successfully, due to lack of standardisation in the way that different manufacturers handle it. The calls in the Windows CE API don't provide a standardised way of controlling backlight levels.

Most if not all iPAQs do have a light cell for automatic backlight level in battery mode only - what do you see in Settings, System tab, Backlight, Brightness tab? If there's a check box for automatic, that's where you select it. I hate automatic and don't use it - but that's a personal thing. I don't see where Sprite Backup comes into this.

Personally I believe that you should supply power to the PDA in car. After a long drive, you could arrive at your destination with almost flat batteries, then you're unable to use your PDA as a PDA? Still, it's a personal thing.

I'm using a Brodit active mount which is hard-wired to a cigarette lighter socket hidden behind my dashboard connected to my carphone wiring.

David

swing · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:27 pm Post subject: Re: TT3 & PPC backlight

oddsock · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject:

Davidw Wrote :"I don't see where Sprite Backup comes into this. "

What I was refering to was that on my 2210 the only ref I can find about auto back light brightness is a setting on my Today screen which comes as a monitoring program with the premium edition of sprite backup!
dave

DavidW · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:56 pm Post subject:

oddsock,

I see - you were meaning the Backlight control in the PocketMon Today screen plug-in. The instructions I gave are where the control is to be found on a Pocket PC without any such software installed.

swing,

If your Pocket PC is powered in your car cradle, you will need to set the backlight timed turn-off option for AC power to what you want.

I very much doubt any plug-in author can create the behaviour wished for. Unless it's changed in the Navigator 3 SDK, no plug-in program is aware of when Navigator issues a voice command or, indeed, of the state of the navigation engine.

Add to that the fact that the code to reprogram the backlight settings is different for each range of Pocket PC and sometimes each individual model, and any features to control the backlight becomes a testing and maintenance nightmare. Even the 'big boys' like Spb don't guarantee that backlight control will work in their application.

David

swing · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:17 pm Post subject:

wibbly · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2003 Posts: 315

DavidW · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:05 pm Post subject:

The innards of Windows CE and Pocket PC are available on MSDN if you wish to look!

I wouldn't worry about backlight failure as such - I've not heard of backlight failure being an issue on Pocket PCs, though the battery issue is understood.

One thing that is worth knowing, if you didn't already, is the "long press on the power button" trick - this is addressed more to swing than wibbly. If you press on the power button for a couple of seconds, the machine will stay on but the backlight turns off. A second long press turns the backlight back on.

So far as hooking the sound, I know that Jo, the author of GPSAssist, wasn't finding it that easy. I had suggested that Jo tried to avoid cutting into voice commmands or at least mix sound from GPSAssist with the voice commands - and there didn't seem a particularly easy way to do either. However, it's a while since I've looked at this myself and my recollection of the sound API is vague.

If you want the kind of backlight behaviour you describe, wibbly, it may be worth suggesting to Tomtom - though do bear in mind the problems of controlling the backlight programmatically that I've already mentioned.

David

carl_w · Lifetime Member Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 242

A pity, as the Tomtom GO controls the backlight beautifully. Sad

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