Title: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedstudio
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 08:26:48 am
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 08:26:48 am
I just got my last batch of PCBs from Seeed. All but one design seems to be ok upon visual inspection, a polygon fill on the 16 channel dimmer had too small isolation in the high-voltage section. Easily fixed with a dremel....
The dithered image on two of the boards that I wrote about earlier turned out rather good - much better than I expected.
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The dithered image on two of the boards that I wrote about earlier turned out rather good - much better than I expected.
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Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 08:31:24 am
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 08:31:24 am
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Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: ian on August 22, 2012, 09:46:36 am
Post by: ian on August 22, 2012, 09:46:36 am
The dithering looks amazing! I will have to look ar the conactless test tool closer.
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 09:55:04 am
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 09:55:04 am
Alan Yate's video about the Curious-C Beeper - http://www.vk2zay.net/article/266 (http://www.vk2zay.net/article/266)
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: vimark on August 22, 2012, 10:07:34 am
Post by: vimark on August 22, 2012, 10:07:34 am
Wow Arduino shield using the dithered images looks great
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 10:21:07 am
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 10:21:07 am
Thanks....
It seems like a single "on" (white) 6 mil pixel is ok, but having a single "off" (black) pixel among many whites can't be properly silkscreened, they are overwritten by their white neighbors. Damn those racist pixels :-)
Maybe some specialized filter can do 6 mil whites but also ensure that single blacks are at least 10 or 12 mils to make the image look even better.
But my intent with this was merely to test if it was possible to do a dithered image, and apparently it can. So I'm happy and will probably use this for other PCBs with a lot of empty space at the back just to "jazz up" the boards a bit.
It seems like a single "on" (white) 6 mil pixel is ok, but having a single "off" (black) pixel among many whites can't be properly silkscreened, they are overwritten by their white neighbors. Damn those racist pixels :-)
Maybe some specialized filter can do 6 mil whites but also ensure that single blacks are at least 10 or 12 mils to make the image look even better.
But my intent with this was merely to test if it was possible to do a dithered image, and apparently it can. So I'm happy and will probably use this for other PCBs with a lot of empty space at the back just to "jazz up" the boards a bit.
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: Squonk on August 22, 2012, 02:18:07 pm
Post by: Squonk on August 22, 2012, 02:18:07 pm
Congrats, the Arduino shield looks good, but can you post a close-up for the "racist" pixel problem?
Let's hope the PCB manufacturers will not charge additional fees when they figure out that people are using more silkscreen ink thaan before :)
Let's hope the PCB manufacturers will not charge additional fees when they figure out that people are using more silkscreen ink thaan before :)
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 05:53:02 pm
Post by: matseng on August 22, 2012, 05:53:02 pm
A bit blurry from the camera, but problem should be visible... The top right hand corner have single white pixels, and they are ok, but the single blacks around the pads are more or less completely overrun by their white neighbors.
http://s7.postimage.org/uth43b0vf/Visulizer_Detail2.jpg (http://s7.postimage.org/uth43b0vf/Visulizer_Detail2.jpg)
http://s7.postimage.org/uth43b0vf/Visulizer_Detail2.jpg (http://s7.postimage.org/uth43b0vf/Visulizer_Detail2.jpg)
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: arupbsk on August 26, 2012, 07:03:49 am
Post by: arupbsk on August 26, 2012, 07:03:49 am
Came here lately! But it looks nice, far better than my anime outline. :)
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: jaromir on August 26, 2012, 08:12:07 pm
Post by: jaromir on August 26, 2012, 08:12:07 pm
matseng, could you tell us more about that KIM-1 emulator? I think I'm not the only one curious.
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: jbeale on August 29, 2012, 11:14:26 pm
Post by: jbeale on August 29, 2012, 11:14:26 pm
[quote author="matseng"]Maybe some specialized filter can do 6 mil whites but also ensure that single blacks are at least 10 or 12 mils to make the image look even better.[/quote]
Impressive results! I think the ink dot spreading (making image too dark with black ink, or too light with white ink) is known as "dot gain" in the offset-printing business. You can compensate for it with the right dithering software. See for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_gain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_gain)
I guess the first step would be to submit a grey-scale step pattern or wedge to calibrate the process, to find out what correction to apply. Of course the silkscreen process parameters are likely to change over time...
Impressive results! I think the ink dot spreading (making image too dark with black ink, or too light with white ink) is known as "dot gain" in the offset-printing business. You can compensate for it with the right dithering software. See for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_gain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_gain)
I guess the first step would be to submit a grey-scale step pattern or wedge to calibrate the process, to find out what correction to apply. Of course the silkscreen process parameters are likely to change over time...
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: SA_Penguin on August 30, 2012, 03:31:21 am
Post by: SA_Penguin on August 30, 2012, 03:31:21 am
[quote author="matseng"] It seems like a single "on" (white) 6 mil pixel is ok, but having a single "off" (black) pixel among many whites can't be properly silkscreened, they are overwritten by their white neighbors. Damn those racist pixels :-) [/quote]
If it's a metter of pixel size, the next thing to consider is: halftone http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halftone
The question being: can you implement halftone in the PCB silkscreen file format?
If it's a metter of pixel size, the next thing to consider is: halftone http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halftone
The question being: can you implement halftone in the PCB silkscreen file format?
Title: Re: Latest PCB batch of 11 designs just arrived from Seeedst
Post by: voidptr on August 31, 2012, 10:03:24 am
Post by: voidptr on August 31, 2012, 10:03:24 am
all look pretty cool :-)
I will like to a working clock :-)
I didn't know that Curious-C thing ... it looks fun and handy !
I will like to a working clock :-)
I didn't know that Curious-C thing ... it looks fun and handy !