NYDITOT® Virtual Display Help
Welcome
Frequently Asked Questions
Concepts
About NYDITOT Virtual Display
What is a Virtual Display
About Configurations and Schemes
How to
Use the Virtual Display Settings Applet
Work with a Virtual Display
Calibrate the Touch Screen
Use the Utility Programs
Assign Hot Keys
Save Power
Disable the Virtual Display
Uninstall Jimmy Landscape
Get Version and Registration Information
Welcome
Thank you for choosing NYDITOT® Virtual Display. NVD offers video
enhancement features that make using your Windows CE device more productive and
enjoyable and enables a whole new range of applications that would otherwise not
"fit" on a handheld device. When NVD is used with an external display
adapter and USB mouse and keyboard (certain devices only) your handheld device
can have the same ergonomics as a desktop computer.
This manual contains an overview of NVD's features as well as detailed
instructions for installing, configuring and using NVD. The manual
concludes with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section
that should address any questions you may have. Although NVD’s intuitive
design makes it very easy to use, you should take the time to thoroughly read
this manual to discover all of NVD's features. In particular, be sure to
read the sections titled Disabling the
Virtual Display and Calibrating the
Touch Screen. This information will prove vital should you encounter
any problems using NVD on your device.
For any questions, comments or bug reports concerning NVD, please visit the
NYDITOT website at www.nyditot.com.
[Contents]
About NYDITOT Virtual Display
NVD makes your Windows CE device more usable by enhancing its display
capabilities. These enhancements include:
Increased Display Size: NVD creates a customizable virtual
display that can be much larger than the physical display. The
physical display becomes a view window into this larger virtual display.
The user pans the view window over the virtual display using either the cursor
keys or NVD’s innovative, onscreen panning control. The dimensions
of the virtual display are limited only by the amount of available memory on
your device. NVD can easily support industry standard virtual display
sizes such as 1280 x 1024 or even custom sizes such as 900 x 600 or 2000 x 2000.
Enhanced Display Resolution: As an alternative to panning the view
window, the virtual display can be compressed to fit within the physical
display. The result is an effective increase in resolution. For
example, a 640 x 480 pixel application can be compressed into the Pocket PC’s
320 x 240 display. Although the finite size of the physical pixels makes the
compression of high resolutions impractical for viewing text, it can be used
quite effectively for graphics based applications. You can also
interactively zoom in and out allowing you to see the big picture and then zero
in on detail.
Display Rotation: NVD allows for any of four display
orientations. Most Windows CE devices operate in either a portrait
(e.g. Pocket PC) or landscape (i.e. Handheld PC) mode. Often applications
look better and are more usable in an orientation other than the default.
NVD allows the user to rotate the display output left or right (so as to
accommodate both left handed and right handed users) by 90º. NVD even
allows the display to be turned upside-down. This orientation is
particularly useful when connecting a cable to the bottom of your device thus
allowing you to rest your device on a surface without crunching the connector.
USB Mouse/Keyboard Support: NVD monitors the system for a USB mouse and
keyboard and adds a mouse pointer to the desktop. This greatly enhances
the usability of the device, particularly data entry.
External Monitor Support: NVD sends virtual display output to and
external monitor when used with display adapters including Toshiba's e740 and
e800 Expansion Packs, Colographic's Voyager CompactFlash, Margi's
Presenter-to-Go and LifeView's FlyPresenter. By creating a virtual display
that fully exploits the resolution capabilities of the adapter and attaching a
USB keyboard and mouse, your handheld device can be have the same ergonomics as
a desktop computer. A PDA may be the only computing device you will ever
need.
Color and Font Control: Unlike your desktop computer, the Pocket PC
does not contain a Control Panel applet which allows you to specify the various
system colors and fonts to suit your personal taste. NVD provides this
capability in an easy to use manner similar to your desktop.
Management: NVD's intuitive management tool appears on your device
as a Settings (a.k.a. Control Panel) applet. The
Virtual Display Settings Applet
can be used to quickly change virtual display properties via named
configurations or system color and font properties via named schemes.
For example, you may want to run your Web browser in landscape mode with a
resolution of 800 x 600. You might then want to run a corporate
thin-client application at a compressed 640 x 480.
You may also want to use different system colors to improve contrast when
working outdoors. Rather than forcing you do set all of the various
properties each time you change modes, the
Virtual Display Settings Applet
maintains a list of named configurations/schemes from which you can quickly
change all properties. During setup, a number of sample configurations and
schemes are created for you. You may modify or delete these configurations
and schemes or create entirely new ones of your own.
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
What is a Virtual Display
Working with a Virtual Display
[Contents]
What is a Virtual Display
Unlike your desktop computer most, if not all, Windows CE based devices are
designed to support only a single video mode. For example, the Pocket PC
specifications define a Pocket PC device as having a display which is 240 pixel
wide and 320 pixels high. This is sometimes referred to as Quarter-VGA or
QVGA since it is 1/4 of the full 640x480 VGA definition. Other device,
like Handheld PCs, may have a display that is 640x240 (Half-VGA) or
640x480 (VGA). Whatever the size, this is the physical resolution
of the device. It is generally determined by the actual number of
individual pixels elements that make up the display hardware and video chip that
control the display.
NVD fools the operating system, and hence all applications that run on the
device, into thinking that the physical display is of some size other than the
actual physical resolution. Although NVD cannot increase the actual number
of physical pixel it can dynamically compress the virtual pixels
to fit within the physical display. The compression can result in a loss
of clarity for the sake of seeing a larger display. Consider a virtual
display that is 480x640 pixels that must fit into a Pocket PCs 240x320 physical
display. In this case, each physical pixel is the result of compressing
four virtual pixels. NVD must dynamically calculate the physical pixel
color that results from mixing these four pixels. This obviously will
result in the loss of some information (i.e. clarity). NVD employs several
compression algorithms that attempt to minimize this loss.
See Also
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Working with a Virtual Display
[Contents]
About Configurations and
Schemes
The Virtual Display Settings Applet
allows you to create an unlimited number of named configurations and
schemes. A virtual display configuration consists of a set of
properties that define a virtual display. Properties include the virtual
width and height, orientation, zoom (e.g.. 100%, Fit to Display) and several
other characteristics. Likewise, appearance schemes consists of a set of
system color and font properties. By grouping property values under a
configuration/scheme name, it is possible to quickly change multiple properties
by simply selecting a configuration/scheme.
For example, you might like to use a simple landscape mode on your Pocket PC for
reading eBooks. You could create a configuration named "eBook Reading"
with default width and height and rotated into a landscape orientation.
Another example might be web browsing. Most web sites require a
minimum horizontal resolution of 640 pixels in order to display their content
properly. You could create a configuration named "Web Browsing" with a
width of 640, height of 480 and rotated into a landscape orientation. You
might then choose to compress the virtual display to fit the physical display
allowing you to view the entire 640x480 page on your 320x240 display without
panning.
The NVD setup program creates a number of sample configurations and schemes to
give you some ideas. You may modify, copy or delete any of these
configurations/schemes or you may create entirely new ones of your own.
There a two special virtual display configurations. The first, "(Disable
Virtual Display)" should be selected when you do not wish to use any of NVD's
features. This configuration restores your device's video properties to
their factory values. The second, "(Current Settings)" simply resets all
of the properties to those of the current virtual display mode, in case you
change you mind and what to get back where you started. The third,
"(Standard Settings)" sets the properties to mimic those of the nominal factory
settings. NVD is NOT disabled in this case. Similarly there are two
special appearance schemes. "(Current Appearance)" resets all of the
properties to the current values for the system. "(Standard Appearance)"
restores your device to its factory color and font properties.
See Also
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
[Contents]
Using the Virtual Display
Settings Applet
The Virtual Display Settings Applet is used to create, manage and apply virtual
display configurations and appearance schemes. The following topics
explain how to use this applet:
Starting Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Modifying Configuration
Properties
Modifying Appearance Properties
Saving Configurations and Schemes
Copying Configurations and Schemes
Deleting Configurations and
Schemes
Applying Configurations and
Schemes
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
[Contents]
Starting Virtual Display
Settings Applet
Virtual display and appearance properties are managed with the
Virtual Display Settings Applet.
On Pocket PC devices this applet can be found under:
Start > Settings > System Tab > Virtual Display
On Handheld PC devices select:
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Virtual Display
Alternatively you may click the program shortcut to access this same Control
Panel applet. The shortcut can be found under:
\Start\\Programs\Virtual Display\VD Settings
If you wish, you may assign this shortcut to a hardware button (hot key) using
the Buttons Control Panel applet . You will find several other shortcuts
in this folder that can also be assigned to hardware buttons as well.
These purpose of each of these shortcuts is discussed in
Assigning Hot Keys.
See Also
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Modifying Virtual
Display Properties
The various settings for the virtual display are organized into five
separate tabs. To modify and apply virtual display properties, follow the
steps below. Although it is not required, if you use the same property
values repeatedly you should save
them to a named configuration.
Notes:
1. Width and Height units are in pixels. Pick lists are provided
as a convenience but you may click in the edit area to enter your own values.
Although these dimensions could hypothetically be any value, keep in mind that
large virtual displays will require significant memory and may reduce system
performance. If NVD cannot accommodate the desired size upon startup, it
will disable itself and reset the system.
2. Some Physical Resolutions will require the installation of a DPI
Resource Pack.. Although some devices support more that one dots-per-inch
(DPI) setting they are not distributed with all of the necessary files that some
of the built in applications require. The DPI Resource Pack adds these
files to the operation system.
3. The Resize Desktop option can be very useful when toggling
between compressed and panned states or when changing orientation on-the-fly.
For example, when a large virtual display is not compressed the task bar and/or
the menu bar can be off screen. You must pan up or down to get at these
items. With Resize Desktop turned on these items will always be
within the current view window. In addition, all other windows will be
resized to fit within the current view window.
4. WARNING: PRESERVE AFTER RESET SHOULD BE USED WITH GREAT CAUTION.
If you choose virtual display settings that render your device unusable, you
will need to perform a HARD-RESET resulting in a LOSS OF ALL DATA
on your device. You should test the configuration thoroughly before
checking this option.
5. Selecting the "(Current}" configuration will restore all virtual display
property values to those currently in use.
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Saving Configurations and Schemes
[Contents]
Modifying Appearance
Properties
To modify and apply appearance properties, follow the steps below.
Although it is not required, if you use the same property values repeatedly you
should save them to a named scheme.
Notes:
1. Many Windows CE applications do not use the system font settings, hence you
may not notice any difference in these application even though you have modified
the font settings.
2. Be cautious with your selection of font sizes. Selecting large fonts
can render your device unusable and may require a HARD-RESET. First select
a font only slightly larger than the current setting and test the effect..
3. Selecting the "(Current}" configuration will restore all appearance property
values to those currently in use.
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Saving Configurations and
Schemes
[Contents]
Saving Configurations and
Schemes
You can create an unlimited number of virtual display configurations or
appearance schemes. To save a configuration/scheme follow these steps:
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
[Contents]
Copying Configurations
and Schemes
You can quickly create new virtual display configuration or appearance scheme
based on an existing one. To copy a configuration/scheme, follow these
steps:
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
[Contents]
Deleting Configurations
and Schemes
You may delete any virtual display configuration except for "(Disable Virtual
Display)" and "(Current Settings)" and "(Standard Settings)" or any appearance
scheme except for "(Standard Appearance)" and "(Current Appearance)". To
delete a configuration/scheme, follow these steps:
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
[Contents]
Applying Configurations
and Schemes
Once you have defined a virtual display configuration or appearance scheme you
can change all the property values at once by selecting the named item.
See Also
About Configurations and Schemes
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
[Contents]
Working with a Virtual
Display
Aside from the following added features, your device behaves the same as always
when used with NVD. The following topics discuss those features unique to
a virtual display:
Onscreen Panning Control
Cursor Key and Edge Panning
Popup Menu
Using the Utility Programs
Assigning Hot Keys
Calibrating the Touch Screen
Disabling the Virtual Display
[Contents]
OnsceenPanning Control
When a virtual is active the onscreen panning control will appear.
This control has several functions packed within it:
| Pan Arrows | The four single arrows are used to pan the view window either up and down or right and left. Holding down any one of the arrows causes the view window to pan continuously in the indicated direction. Clicking one of the arrows will nudge the view window. These arrows will not be present when the virtual display fits within the physical display. | |
| Jump Arrows | The four double-arrows are used to move the view window to one of the four corners of the virtual display. These arrows will not be present when the virtual display fits within the physical display. | |
| Drag / Menu | The dot in the center of the control has three functions. First it is used to move the panning control. This might be desired when the panning control is obscuring some part of the virtual display that you wish to see. Simply press down and drag the panning control to the desired location. Secondly, it can be used to pan the view window by holding it down and dragging the panning control to one of the one of the edges of the physical display. Holding the panning control at the edge will cause the view window to pan continuously. Finally, double-click (or or click-and-hold on CE 3.0 devices) the dot to display the popup menu. The menu can be cancelled by clicking anywhere else on the screen. |
See Also
Cursor Key and Edge Panning
Popup Menu
Using the Utility Programs
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Cursor Key and Edge Panning
In addition to using the onscreen panning control, the view window can also be
panned by pressing a cursor key or by moving the pen to one of the edges of the
physical display. If the pen is held at an edge, the view window will pan
continuously in very small increments until it reaches the edge of the virtual
display.
To use the cursor keys for panning you must check the Pan with Arrow Keys
property as described in
Modifying Configuration Properties.
See Also
Onscreen Panning Control
Using the Utility Programs
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Popup Menu
The NVD Popup Menu is activated by either double-clicking or click-and-holding
the dot in the center of the onscreen panning control or by running VD Menu (If
used often, you might want to assign VD Menu to a
hot key).
The popup menu has the following options:
| Configuration | A sub-menu will appear allowing you to select a named or one of the predefined configurations. This allows you to change multiple settings with one click1. | ||
| Disable Virtual Display | When clicked, the virtual display will be disabled1. | ||
| Previous Settings | When clicked, the most recent settings will prior to the current settings will be restored1. | ||
| Standard Settings | When clicked, the Standard Settings ill be applied1. | ||
| Named Configuration | The settings for the named configuration will be applied1. | ||
| Orientation | A sub-menu will appear allowing you to select the display orientation. | ||
| Zoom | A sub-menu will appear allowing you to select the amount of compression or magnification. Selecting "100% at Next Touch" will set the display to normal (100%) magnification centered around the next location that is touched with the stylus. "Fit Display" will compress or stretch the virtual display to fit exactly within the physical display. The horizontal and vertical magnifications may be different if the virtual display does not have the same aspect ratio as the physical display. | ||
| Darken | A sub-menu will appear allowing you to select the amount of darkening of black-on-white, the color scheme of most text, areas of the display by the specified percentage. This can improve text legibility. | ||
| Miscellaneous | A sub-menu will appear with the following options: | ||
| Show Onscreen Control | When checked, displays the onscreen panning control. | ||
| Use Arrow Key for Panning | When checked, allows panning the virtual display using arrow keys. Note: Arrow key presses will NOT be sent to applications when this option is checked. | ||
| Swap Width and Height on Rotate | When checked, the virtual display width and height to be swapped whenever the display is rotated by 90 degrees. | ||
| Settings... | Runs the Virtual Display Settings Applet. | ||
| Help | Displays this manual. | ||
Notes:
1. The system may need to perform a soft reset in order to apply the settings.
If so you will be given a chance to cancel the operation.
See Also
Using the Utility Programs
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Using the Utility Programs
NVD provides several small programs that make NVD functionality more accessible.
These programs can be assigned to hot keys for
even greater control.
| VD Settings | Runs the Virtual Display Settings Applet. | |
| VD Menu | Shows the virtual display popup menu. This is the same menu that is accessed via the Onscreen Panning Control. | |
| VD Power | Toggles the display power between on and off. NOTE: This feature is not available on all devices. | |
| VD Restore | Restores your device to its factory display settings including appearance settings. | |
| VD Previous | Toggles between the last two configuration settings. For example, this might be used to toggle between two configurations as you go back and forth between two applications. |
See Also
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Assigning Hot Keys
NVD provides several small programs that make NVD functionality more accessible.
These programs can be assigned to hot keys for even greater control.
On Pocket PC devices these program shortcuts are located in:
\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Virtual Display
On Handheld PC devices these program shortcuts are located in:
\Windows\Programs\Virtual Display
These shortcuts can be assigned to hardware buttons using your devices Buttons
Control Panel applet. Please consult your device's user manual for
instructions on assigning hardware buttons.
See Also
Using the Utility Programs
[Contents]
Calibrating the Touch Screen
You do not need to recalibrate your pen when switching between virtual display
configurations. NVD automatically adjusts the pen’s physical location to
virtual display coordinates. The only consideration when calibrating is
that CALIBRATION CAN ONLY BE PERFORMED WHEN NVD IS DISABLED. If you
attempt to calibrate in any other mode, you will receive a warning and
calibration will abort.
Additionally, when using compressed configurations it is even more important
that the pen be precisely calibrated since each element on the screen becomes
smaller. Uncompressed configurations are more forgiving of sloppy
calibration.
See Also
Disabling the Virtual Display
[Contents]
Saving Power
NVD allows you to turn off the video display thereby saving precious power.
This might be useful when listening to audio files or when using a remote
display application.
The NVD installation program creates several application icons under the Start >
Programs > Virtual Display. The VD Power toggles the display power
between on and off each time it is executed.
Assigning Hot Keys explains how to assign this icon to a hardware button.
NOTE: This feature is not available on some devices.
See Also
Assigning Hot Keys
[Contents]
Disabling the Virtual Display
Choosing the configuration named "(Disable Virtual Display)" restores your
device's display settings to their factory default values.
Alternatively, if your device should behave abnormally or become unusable after
switching to a new virtual display configuration, simply press the device’s
RESET button. This will return the device to the factory default display
settings. This action will not harm your device but you may loose unsaved
data in any running programs. Note that this behavior can be overridden by
checking the Preserve after Reset when
Modifying Configuration
Properties. This option should be used with great caution.
If you still experience problems you may need to perform a hard reset as a last
resort. This will restore your device to its factory setting. Note:
This will result in a loss of transient AND stored data. Consult your
device’s owner’s manual for instruction for performing a hard reset.
See Also
Using the Virtual Display Settings
Applet
Applying Configurations
[Contents]
Getting Version and Registration
Information
When requesting technical assistance, you should always supply the version
number of NVD.
[Contents]
Uninstalling Jimmy Landscape
If you have Jimmy Landscape (JSL) on your device and wish to migrate to NVD, you
may find it difficult to uninstall JSL. The JSL uninstaller can fail to
restore several critical registry keys and leaves a program in the
\Windows\StartUp folder that will result in a "File in Use" error when you try
to remove it.
You will find a program name VD Restore under Start > Programs > Virtual
Display. This small program does not remove JSL but it will fix the
problems caused by the JSL uninstaller thereby allowing you to remove it.
[Contents]
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: After choosing a new configuration, why am I sometimes required to reset my
device and other times not?
A: The key to creating a virtual display is in "tricking" the Windows CE
operating system into "thinking" the display is larger than it really is.
At start up, Windows asks the display driver (NVD in this case) for a list of
video modes (i.e. display resolutions, number of colors, etc.) that it supports.
Typically, there is only one video mode on a CE device. Windows then
remembers this information and passes it on to other programs as they are
started. Since the operating system only asks this question once at start
up, it is necessary to reset the device (Note: This may not be the case in
future versions of CE). Note that you can change the orientation or
compression setting without resetting the device as long as you do not change
the virtual width or height values. Try switching between 640x480 Portrait
and 640x480 Landscape. The only exception to this rule is when switching
to the "(Disable Virtual Display)" mode. This always requires a reset
because the NVD driver needs to be unloaded.
Q: I just chose a new setting and I my device isn't working properly (i.e. blank
screen, tiny text, etc.). What do I do now?
A: Simply press your device's soft reset button. NVD will disable itself
and your device will return to it's factory default display settings. You
will not loose data when you perform a soft reset.
Q: What is the benefit of creating a large virtual display and then compressing
it down to the physical display size? Isn't this right back where I
started?
A: The result is actually an apparent increase in resolution. Everything
on the screen becomes smaller thereby allowing more information to fit on the
physical display. For example, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet can display nearly
four times as many cells at a compressed 640 x 480 than at standard 320 x 240.
Q: Do I have to use virtual display dimensions from the drop down pick list?
A: No. You may enter any value you like. Simply click on the number
(not the down arrow) and the soft keyboard will appear allowing you to enter
your own custom value.
Q: How big of a virtual display can I create using NVD?
A: The size of the virtual display is only limited by the amount of memory (RAM)
on your device. Larger virtual display require more memory.
Additionally, when compressing to fit the physical display, there may be a
significant performance hit when using very large virtual displays. If you
specify a very large resolution and your device fails to start up correctly,
simply press the reset button to return to the factory default display settings.
As a matter of practicality, Virtual
Display Settings Applet limits the size of a virtual display dimension to
four digits or 9999 pixels.
Q: Why does compressing cause my screen to look "chunky"?
A: Compressing always involves a tradeoff between content and clarity. The
actual physical display is made up of a finite number of pixels of fixed size.
When compressing, some number of virtual pixels must be compressed into one
physical pixel. For example, compressing 640 x 480 into 320 x 240 squeezes
4 pixels into 1, 1280 x 1024 compresses 16 pixels into 1! In the latter
case, if a text character where normally displayed in a 4 x 4 pixel box it would
be compressed down to a single dot. Clearly, some clarity must be
sacrificed.
Q: Why does NVD use a panning control instead of scroll bars to move the view
window?
A: The issue is one of real estate. Unlike the panning control, scroll
bars consume a high percentage of the precious physical screen space are awkward
to reposition. The panning control is a less obtrusive compromise.
Q: Why do some programs, like Solitaire, look the same in the landscape
orientation? Aren’t they supposed to use the full width of the display?
A: When the authors of some programs, like Solitaire, wrote a version for the
Pocket PC, they didn’t anticipate display dimensions other than the factory
default (240 x 320 pixels) so they “hard-coded” their programs to fit this
display. Other programs, like Pocket Word and Pocket Excel, don’t assume
fixed display dimensions and scale themselves appropriately. This can
sometime be a problem when using landscape orientations. For example, if a
program is designed to use 320 pixels of height, it will get cut off at 240
pixels, which is the landscape height. You’ll notice that
Virtual Display Settings Applet
changes its layout in landscape mode, allowing you to see all the buttons, etc.
that would otherwise be cut off.
Q: Some programs, like the password protection screen get "cut off" in landscape
mode. How do I get to the cut off buttons, etc?
A: The is the same problem as in the previous question. These programs are
not aware of the new resolution, they have been hard-code to 240 x 360. In
the case of the password screen (the "0" and "CLR" keys are cut off) you may
need to reset your device. One solution is to choose a virtual display
size that accommodates the program you are trying to use. For example, a
landscape mode that is 320 x 320 pixels will accommodate anything written for
the Pocket PC. You can either pan or compress the display.
Q: What is thin-client computing and how does NVD
help?
A: Thin-client computing refers to applications that are executed on an
application server with only their display output going to a client computer,
such as a Windows CE device. The benefit is that low-end thin-client
computers can run very large complex applications that require the resources of
a server computer. Since most legacy applications are designed for
higher-resolution desktop computers they simply won’t fit on a handheld Windows
CE device. Some applications will even terminate when they detect an
insufficient display size. NVD remedies this situation by creating a
high-resolution virtual display. The thin-client applications “think” they
are being displayed on a much larger screen. To learn more about
thin-client technology visit the
Microsoft Terminal Services Home Page or the
Citrix Web Site.
[Contents]