Eventide ARGUS 5000 - Page 156

Programming and Debugging Hints
Notes on use of color
The Argus creates a color screen with "Liquid Crystal Shutter" technology. Much like
very early color television which used a "color wheel" in front of the CRT, the shutter
alternately allows green light and red light to pass through. By synchronizing the
displayed information with the active shutter color, it is possible to display information
in three different colors: red, green, and orange-yellow, which is the resultant of the
red and green overlaid. When using the color features, you should know several
important points:
1: Red is traditionally used for danger or other warnings. If you wish to alert the user
to an out-of-range setting, especially one that could cause damage to the engine,
aircraft, etc., red is the appropriate color. Otherwise, it is better to avoid it.
2: Because the yellow-orange results from the overlapping of red and green, it will be
somewhat brighter than either color alone. If you are going to draw small features or
other information that might be hard to see, this color will enhance visibility.
3: While the Argus handles the color separation automatically, if you deli berately draw
a red object on top of a green object, the resulting overlapping area will also appear
orange-yellow, which may not be intended. Likewise, if you erase red from a yellow-
orange area (by using the EXOR drawing function, for example), then the erased area
will appear green.
4: The Argus has an Amend setting that allows the user to select a monochrome
display. This feature will seldom be used, but it does override the terminal colors you
select with the escape sequence. If the user selects monochrome, all information will
be displayed in the color he chooses. While no data or graphics will be lost, any
information that is distinguishable only by color contrast will not be visible. Therefore,
we recommend that some indicia other than color be used to contrast critical
information. It would also be wise to warn the user against making a monochrome
selection if you cannot avoid using color for information display.
Notes on screen brightness control
July 1999 Argus 5000/7000 Ver. 5.xx Reference Manual Part#141003 151