Hello there, I am using Gphoto2 with a Theta X and I would like to turn off the LCD.
Does anyone have any experience of this or better still know the command in Gphoto2 to switch off the LCD?
Many Thanks
Drew
@drewgardner1 This may not be what you want, but posting just in case it’s useful. You can control the LCD on a THETA X with the THETA WebAPI. It’s an option called _cameraControlSource. It needs to be set to “app”.
https://api.ricoh/docs/theta-web-api-v2.1/options/_camera_control_source/
Hi Jesse,
thank you for the suggestion. I had seen Craig’s post about this in May. I am running the set up so the Wi-Fi api is not applicable? I have tried the command (and variations of it) in Gphoto2 but have had no luck. I would be most interested to know if anyone has a steer on this.
Best wishes
Drew
There doesn’t appear to be a way to run the command with the USB API. We could add the question again to the agenda with your contact at RICOH.
Hi Craig
Thank you again
I am a bit stuck then for the time being
If you hear anything from Ricoh let me know as it would be a tremendous help
Best wishes
Drew
Are you stuck because you need the LCD off due to power use?
Or, are you stuck because you need the LCD off because the light from the screen is messing up your picture?
Hi Craig
Old territory but here we go.
It’s all about power, or the lack of.
I can’t get the Theta X to consistently and reliably keep its charge.
Running latest firmware
USB setting on camera set to charge
Wi-Fi off
Bluetooth off
LCD set to minimum brightness
Firstly, I have ordered a voltage/amp checker which arrives tomorrow
My set up is SO close to yours yet somehow I am not getting sufficient power to the X
My set up is a Pi4 B
With a 4g wireless dongle
Belkin power strip powers PI and externals
I am guessing things will be clearer when running the current/amp test but it is quite frustrating.
I don’t think you can turn off the LCD backlight with the USB API right now. I think you can turn it off with a plug-in.
How to control the brightness of LCD panel and LEDs (theta360.hardware.Camera)
-
After executing setBrightnessMode(1), the brightness will be controlled by camera AE automatically.
/** * @brief set the brightness controll mode of LCD panel and LED1/2 * @param int mode : 0=manual, 1=auto (default) */ public final void setBrightnessMode(int mode) -
After executing setBrightnessMode(0), the brightness can be controlled by following APIs. These APIs can be used regardless of openning camera resource.
/** * @brief set the brightness value of LCD panel * @param int brightness : 0 ~ 4095 */ public final void ctrlLcdBrightness(int brightness) /** * @brief get the brightness value of LCD panel */ public int getLcdBrightness() /** * @brief set the brightness value of LED1/2 * @param int ledId : 1=RED, 2=BLUE, 3=GREEN * @param int brightness : 0 ~ 255 */ public final void ctrlLedPowerBrightness(int ledId, int brightness) public final void ctrlLedStatusBrightness(int ledId, int brightness) /** * @brief get the brightness value of LED1/2 * @param int ledId : 1=RED, 2=BLUE, 3=GREEN */ public final int getLedPowerBrightness(int ledId) public final int getLedStatusBrightness(int ledId)
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Hi Craig
Thank you for that, I will be straight into it next week and let you know how I get on
I bought the voltage/current meter you kindly suggested have found something interesting out about the Pi/X combo.
It seems the current starts off really strongly(enough to charge the x from zero to 100pc) however over time the current drops so it no longer is enough to maintain charge and over 2 days charge falls to 3pc.
I am clueless as to what might be causing this problem but will let you know what I find out.
Warm Regards
Drew
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on the USB current meter, is the current sent to the THETA X dropping as the battery charge drops?
current sent to camera
I have not tested this for continuous use over two days.
Yes, indisputably
Starts strong, no lower than 33A
In the long run though it falls to to 23A which means a long, slow decline.
Now sitting at 3pc
Culprits for this? Pi, X ?
I have no clue but turning off the LCD will be a great help.
Hopefully.
Loving the X but in terms of usb API etc not as mature as the Z1, hopefully in time though…
Warm Regards
Drew
If you place a powered hub between the Raspberry Pi and the RICOH THETA, you can see if the culprit is the Pi. Ideally, you can borrow a powered USB hub with a separate BC 1.2 capability. Or, consider buying equipment from a place with a good return policy =n
Hi Craig
Will check it out
I am devoting time this week to work it out
Many thanks
Drew
This only works from a plug-in at the moment.
does switching off the lcd also turn off the compute driving the ui? I reckon the realtime rectilinear transform to generate the preview on the screen requires some compute as well
I also tried switching off the lcd via webapi, but when I proceed to trigger a capture using gphoto2 the ui get revived, with fancy animations and all.
I have been stress testing the thetax with captures back to back. with brightness set to lowest.
I can only capture(download and delete)(via gphoto2) a maximum of 100 times before the device thermal shutsdown(with plenty of charge). I have been able to do so up to 300 times on the SC2.
Hello there
I have had an interesting journey with the Theta X. Initially I encountered issues with supplying sufficient power via Pi USB ports (a known issue with the Pi)
With a few common sense work arounds I overcame this problem.
However, I still have one problem which I have yet to overcome.
My X, no matter what the low energy setting, will randomly turn off after a few days.
I am sure with perseverance this will be possible to overcome but for the time being the Z1 is a more tried and tested route for me.
I’m not sure, but I believe the compute of the preview frame is still running.