"Drawing app" for the PRS 700?

Anthuzad · 04-27-2009, 01:40 PM

Hey guys,

I'm taking Chinese studies as a major and just wanted to ask the software gurus of this board if this idea is feasible at all:

Since the PRS 700 has a touch screen would it be possible to make a program that basically traces your input and displays it as a black line on white background? I'm asking this because sometimes I need to scribble down new signs fast and since I'm working with my reader a lot this would be very helpful.

I have no idea if the reader supports something like that but a simple program with the functionality to display what you draw with the stylus, to clear the screen for a new drawing and maybe (like I said I have no idea if this is feasible) to save the drawings as jpegs or any other picture format on the internal memory of the reader would be unbelievably good.

If any of you know enough about the reader's internal software workings and programming structure I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Regards,

Anthuzad

PassingStranger · 04-27-2009, 10:42 PM

The actual coding of the program would be the easy part. Being able to boot custom programs from the device is what would be difficult. Not sure if this is possible, though.

Andybaby · 04-28-2009, 12:47 AM

nope, it simply cannot be done, You might want to look into the Iliad or other IREX devices

j7f · 04-28-2009, 05:41 PM

wow...that's a shame that it can't be done.
that actually sounds like an incredible idea.

i usually carry around my sketchbook wherever i go.
if i go somewhere and bring along my reader...i'm typically going somewhere for a read and leave my sketchbook behind.
it would be pretty great to be able to leave me sketchbook behind as usual and know that if something pops into mind i can throw down a rough sketch onto the 700.

the app would be wider serving, obviously...so, i would definitely back it.

Andybaby · 04-28-2009, 09:01 PM

sony likes locking down its firmware to developers, the only reason the PSP has homebrew is that there was nothing stopping it in version 1.00, and easily bypassed in 1.50. and the sheer amount of psp owners, I'm sure the amout of PSP owners to PRS owners are in the 1000:1 ratio.

Sony has no intentions of using even a writing functionality on the thing, only button tapping. the IREX devices, and future touch screen readers have that type of functionality.

el.astrologo · 04-28-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andybaby

nope, it simply cannot be done, You might want to look into the Iliad or other IREX devices

Err.. why would you state that as a fact like that? We can't be sure what could or couldn't be done at this moment because we can't hack the firmware without risking damaging the unit.

The PRS-700 (as does the PRS-50x series) supports HTML and JScript to some extent, the latter could be used to create a drawing app or something like that (a friend of mine did something similar for his website in such language). Granted we can't tell whether it would be possible to do the same for the reader or not but stating so flatly that "it cannot be done" seems a bit harsh, Andybaby.

Andybaby · 04-29-2009, 01:27 AM

okay, here is a more technical answer.

i find it highly unlikely the prs supports java script enough to get any kind of program to run on the 700.

now that means it would need to be a program. now a program like this could defenatly be run on the processor of the 700, and might work quite well, but there is a major think standing in its way, and that is that the 700 has no native aplication launching as far as i know. knowing what i know of the PSP homebrew scene, this is what made hacking the psp entirely possible.

now, to say that in the future, someone might hack the native firmware of the 700 enough to add aplication launching, I find this highly unlikely, the 700 has a very small user base, and most coders and hackers who i know, do it for the fame of the community, the 700 has almost no community.

now, lets get to a device that is closer to the prs 700, a 400 mgz processor. If im not mistaken, the Play station 2 has a 400 mhz processor. so to say that the 700 is a weak machine is wrong. its powerful. but here are my caviates, the homebrew community on the playstation 2 is serverly limited, despite having a user base of closer 10,000:1 compared to the 700. the PS2 is Limited to small programs that run in a text interface, Despite the graphics power of the PS2.

so, from the Homebrew community, i do not expect the 700 will be able to draw on it.

the odds of the homebrew community giving the 700 this functionality in my mind is, 1 in 100,000

Now, that does not leave out the possibility that Sony Might add the function to the prs in the future. but knowing sony for years, i think odds of this is about 5% the highest. sony has dragged their feet with the PRS firmware development. hell, even amazon drags its feet with firmware development, and they activly work on it, while as far as everyone is concerned, they are not working on adding functionally to the 700

el.astrologo · 04-29-2009, 12:11 PM

There... was that so hard?

igorsk · 04-29-2009, 10:15 PM

PRS-700 has the same SD card autorun option as PRS-500 and PRS-505. You can use it to run anything you wish on the device.

Andybaby · 04-29-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

PRS-700 has the same SD card autorun option as PRS-500 and PRS-505. You can use it to run anything you wish on the device.

if anything ever does come of that, and i dobut it will. Sony will just patch it, that is if it isn't already unable to run unsigned code based on their psp firmware development

PassingStranger · 05-01-2009, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andybaby

sony likes locking down its firmware to developers, the only reason the PSP has homebrew is that there was nothing stopping it in version 1.00, and easily bypassed in 1.50. and the sheer amount of psp owners, I'm sure the amout of PSP owners to PRS owners are in the 1000:1 ratio.

PSP homebrew is a magical thing.

AndrewMT · 05-12-2009, 01:45 AM

I was going to start my own thread to ask this question, but this thread seems fine. There are a lot of impressive users who know a great deal about various aspects of the hardware and software capabilities of the PRS-700. I was wondering if some of those users could help answer some of these questions for me.

1. What are the capabilities of the stylus-sensitive surface (digitizer?) on the 700? I know there is no pressure sensitivity, but what is the resolution?

2. I must admit that I was surprised 700 could quick refresh small parts of the screen (like when highlighting a word or a button color changing when clicked). I was also impressed with the pan and zoom functionality when looking at pictures (thanks to a rapid refresh). With that being said, could drawing and handwriting work in real time (or very little lag) on the 700's e-ink screen? How much could you draw before the whole screen would have to refresh?

Thanks Sony users! Back to reading with my 700 tonight!

Andybaby · 05-12-2009, 02:30 AM

well, for number 1, back when it first came out when it was asked, that's why they don't allow writing on the device due to low res of the touch screen. which I find kinda silly,

the second part, it should be able to draw on the whole screen before a refresh, but this is not a feature of the device, you cant write on it. the flash cleans the lines. without the refresh its can be very jagged

AndrewMT · 05-12-2009, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andybaby

well, for number 1, back when it first came out when it was asked, that's why they don't allow writing on the device due to low res of the touch screen. which I find kinda silly,

the second part, it should be able to draw on the whole screen before a refresh, but this is not a feature of the device, you cant write on it. the flash cleans the lines. without the refresh its can be very jagged

Thanks for the response. I was just wondering if Sony could implement these features in the future. Do you know what the resolution of the digitizer is in dpi?

igorsk · 05-12-2009, 08:16 AM

Quick partial updates are possible thanks to the new Epson/EInk screen controller. It can control several regions of the screen at once (AFAIK previous controllers could update either the whole screen or one rectangular region). It also uses a dedicated screen buffer, so the CPU doesn't have to send the complete bitmap every time it needs to update or scroll a part.

04-27-2009, 01:40 PM	#1
Anthuzad Jester Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Germany Device: Sony Reader PRS 700	"Drawing app" for the PRS 700? Hey guys, I'm taking Chinese studies as a major and just wanted to ask the software gurus of this board if this idea is feasible at all: Since the PRS 700 has a touch screen would it be possible to make a program that basically traces your input and displays it as a black line on white background? I'm asking this because sometimes I need to scribble down new signs fast and since I'm working with my reader a lot this would be very helpful. I have no idea if the reader supports something like that but a simple program with the functionality to display what you draw with the stylus, to clear the screen for a new drawing and maybe (like I said I have no idea if this is feasible) to save the drawings as jpegs or any other picture format on the internal memory of the reader would be unbelievably good. If any of you know enough about the reader's internal software workings and programming structure I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Regards, Anthuzad

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04-27-2009, 10:42 PM	#2
PassingStranger Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony PRS-500	The actual coding of the program would be the easy part. Being able to boot custom programs from the device is what would be difficult. Not sure if this is possible, though.

04-28-2009, 12:47 AM	#3
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	nope, it simply cannot be done, You might want to look into the Iliad or other IREX devices

04-28-2009, 05:41 PM	#4
j7f Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: none yet	wow...that's a shame that it can't be done. that actually sounds like an incredible idea. i usually carry around my sketchbook wherever i go. if i go somewhere and bring along my reader...i'm typically going somewhere for a read and leave my sketchbook behind. it would be pretty great to be able to leave me sketchbook behind as usual and know that if something pops into mind i can throw down a rough sketch onto the 700. the app would be wider serving, obviously...so, i would definitely back it.

04-28-2009, 09:01 PM	#5
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	sony likes locking down its firmware to developers, the only reason the PSP has homebrew is that there was nothing stopping it in version 1.00, and easily bypassed in 1.50. and the sheer amount of psp owners, I'm sure the amout of PSP owners to PRS owners are in the 1000:1 ratio. Sony has no intentions of using even a writing functionality on the thing, only button tapping. the IREX devices, and future touch screen readers have that type of functionality.

04-29-2009, 01:27 AM	#7
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	okay, here is a more technical answer. i find it highly unlikely the prs supports java script enough to get any kind of program to run on the 700. now that means it would need to be a program. now a program like this could defenatly be run on the processor of the 700, and might work quite well, but there is a major think standing in its way, and that is that the 700 has no native aplication launching as far as i know. knowing what i know of the PSP homebrew scene, this is what made hacking the psp entirely possible. now, to say that in the future, someone might hack the native firmware of the 700 enough to add aplication launching, I find this highly unlikely, the 700 has a very small user base, and most coders and hackers who i know, do it for the fame of the community, the 700 has almost no community. now, lets get to a device that is closer to the prs 700, a 400 mgz processor. If im not mistaken, the Play station 2 has a 400 mhz processor. so to say that the 700 is a weak machine is wrong. its powerful. but here are my caviates, the homebrew community on the playstation 2 is serverly limited, despite having a user base of closer 10,000:1 compared to the 700. the PS2 is Limited to small programs that run in a text interface, Despite the graphics power of the PS2. so, from the Homebrew community, i do not expect the 700 will be able to draw on it. the odds of the homebrew community giving the 700 this functionality in my mind is, 1 in 100,000 Now, that does not leave out the possibility that Sony Might add the function to the prs in the future. but knowing sony for years, i think odds of this is about 5% the highest. sony has dragged their feet with the PRS firmware development. hell, even amazon drags its feet with firmware development, and they activly work on it, while as far as everyone is concerned, they are not working on adding functionally to the 700

04-29-2009, 12:11 PM	#8
el.astrologo Groupie Posts: 164 Karma: 462 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Device: PRS-700BC	There... was that so hard?

04-29-2009, 10:15 PM	#9
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	PRS-700 has the same SD card autorun option as PRS-500 and PRS-505. You can use it to run anything you wish on the device.

05-12-2009, 01:45 AM	#12
AndrewMT Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Sony PRS-700	I was going to start my own thread to ask this question, but this thread seems fine. There are a lot of impressive users who know a great deal about various aspects of the hardware and software capabilities of the PRS-700. I was wondering if some of those users could help answer some of these questions for me. 1. What are the capabilities of the stylus-sensitive surface (digitizer?) on the 700? I know there is no pressure sensitivity, but what is the resolution? 2. I must admit that I was surprised 700 could quick refresh small parts of the screen (like when highlighting a word or a button color changing when clicked). I was also impressed with the pan and zoom functionality when looking at pictures (thanks to a rapid refresh). With that being said, could drawing and handwriting work in real time (or very little lag) on the 700's e-ink screen? How much could you draw before the whole screen would have to refresh? Thanks Sony users! Back to reading with my 700 tonight!

05-12-2009, 02:30 AM	#13
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	well, for number 1, back when it first came out when it was asked, that's why they don't allow writing on the device due to low res of the touch screen. which I find kinda silly, the second part, it should be able to draw on the whole screen before a refresh, but this is not a feature of the device, you cant write on it. the flash cleans the lines. without the refresh its can be very jagged

05-12-2009, 08:16 AM	#15
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Quick partial updates are possible thanks to the new Epson/EInk screen controller. It can control several regions of the screen at once (AFAIK previous controllers could update either the whole screen or one rectangular region). It also uses a dedicated screen buffer, so the CPU doesn't have to send the complete bitmap every time it needs to update or scroll a part.

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