Graphics library: How well or bad could it be?

Anonymous

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: OMAP-L138

Hi,

I have first asked a question BIOS: GUI possible without Qt? in BIOS forum about the interoperation between Qt and BIOS, where TI employee there suggested Sitaraware graphics library for my OMAP L138 device.

Then I searched and viewed some videos including two by Henry Wiechman. From the website and the video it seems that the relationship between Stellarisware, Sitaraware and Starterware is:

Stellarisware was originally for MCU
Sitaraware is probably for ARM only, or for TI's Sitara EVMs only
Starterware is intended more generally for a broader array of platforms in the DSP+ARM category

I am not sure about the above classification and feel that the distinctions are blurred due to the close similarities in the names and devices they support. Could anyone give me a definitive and unambiguous classification between them?

And since I am using OMAP L138 which is a DSP + ARM architecture, should I use

Sitaraware for ARM
Starterware for more generally ARM + DSP

Another major concern for me is about their graphics library. I did find a grlib folder under my SitaraWare_01_00_00_09 download and within the folder about 20 c files defining common graphics primitives. However, do we have any manual showing the effect of these graphics primitive rendering? I did found a user guide which is 4.5MB, but the chapter did't even contain a single screenshot of grlib result but only abstract software architecture schematic. Nor could I find any example on these graphics primitves from TI.com.

If one compares the document with common graphics libraries on PC such as DirectX and OpenGL:

DirectX has extensive help document bundled with it or in MSDN, and full of screenshots and tutorial projects
For OpenGL, there are also tons of books

Granted that Starterware(, etc.) is not for generaly purpose programming but only for an array of TI processors, I sitll find frustrating to study the graphics library without any of its graphic result in the document. I am trying to compare it with the alternative of Qt + Linux, and for Qt the result is well-known such as demonstrated by KDE projects, but for Starterware(,etc.) grlib there is no reference for comparision, so there is no way I could know how well (exceedingly sufficient) or bad (inadequate) its graphics effect is going to be before deciding to devote time into studying it.

Is there a place I can find some?

Zheng

over 12 years ago

0 Valentin Ivanov over 12 years ago

Intellectual 350 points

If I understand it correctly everything is consolidated under one name StarterWare. There are 4 non-conflicting "flavors" to choose from based on your hardware.

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/StarterWare

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Valentin.

0 Anonymous over 12 years ago in reply to Valentin Ivanov

Guru 17045 points

Valentin,

Thanks for the link, I think the confusion on different sub-types of Starterware is resolved.

I am still looking for answers on the graphics library.

Zheng

0 Joe Coombs over 12 years ago

TI__Expert 8890 points

Zheng,

The C files in the grlib folder are, as you surmised, the source code for the graphics library itself. There are actually several example applications that show the graphics library in action:

grlib_demo - Demonstrates several graphics primitives and simple UI widgets
demo - Uses grlib to render text and simple graphics
usb_dev_* - Uses grlib to render text and simple graphics
game - Uses grlib to render simple graphics

You can find the example source code in the examples/<platform> folder tree. For OMAP-L138, the platform would either be evmOMAPL138 or lcdkOMAPL138. (As an aside: the LCDK is a lower cost development platform that will be available later this year. The latest StarterWare releases for OMAP-L138 and C6748 already have support for the LCDK platform.) You can also find pre-built binaries of all the example applications and libraries in the "binary" folder tree of your StarterWare installation. The build materials are located in the "build" folder tree.

Please take a look at the example applications (I recommend starting with grlib_demo) and let me know if you have any trouble running them. In general, you can find more information about the StarterWare example applications in the user guide:

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/StarterWare_01.10.01.01_User_Guide

Hope this helps.

0 Anonymous over 12 years ago in reply to Joe Coombs

Guru 17045 points

Joe,

Thanks for the reply. I will look at the demos and examples.

Besides, is there any screenshots or photos showing the effect of the software? Because even if there are sourcecode and binaries of the examples/demos, since the hardware and LCD types of mine are different from the platform on which the Starterware was originally developed, it might require a significant amount time of porting to make it running on my hardware.

Zheng

0 Valentin Ivanov over 12 years ago in reply to Anonymous

Intellectual 350 points

+1 for eye candy! :)

0 Anonymous over 12 years ago in reply to Valentin Ivanov

Guru 17045 points

Valentin,

What do you man by "+1 for eye candy"? I looked up this in the dictionary but didn't find the right meaning in the context.

Zheng

0 Valentin Ivanov over 12 years ago in reply to Anonymous

Intellectual 350 points

Oh, sorry.

It means - I would like to see some beautiful screen shots as well. :)

0 Anonymous over 12 years ago in reply to Valentin Ivanov

Guru 17045 points

To Joe and Sitaraware team:

I concur.

That's is also what I am expecting.

Zheng

0 Valentin Ivanov over 12 years ago in reply to Anonymous

Intellectual 350 points

@Joe

As an aside: the LCDK is a lower cost development platform that will be available later this year.

I am interested to read more about this new platform. Is there a description anywhere on the site?

Thanks,

Valentin

0 Baskaran Chidambaram over 12 years ago in reply to Anonymous

TI__Genius 17370 points

Hi All,

Currently we dont have the UG which show the effect of each component in the graphics lib. This is a good feedback and we will plan for enhancing the user guide in future releases.

Thanks

Baskaran

0 Anonymous over 12 years ago in reply to Baskaran Chidambaram

Guru 17045 points

Baskaran,

Thanks for the confirmation. I am looking forward to the official guide.

Zheng

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Graphics library: How well or bad could it be?