OSD flashes very slowly (Warning) when there are many OSD items added

[ligenxxxx]

My FC fw is 7.0.0-release
When there are few osd items added, the flashing is very fast.
When the added osd item exceeds a certain value, the flashing slows down visibly to the naked eye. At this time, more OSD items are added, and the flashing becomes slower and slower.
#9525 contains the data text I collected from the osd serial port.

[MartinHugh]

My normal OSD layout has typically a dozen or so items on it. When a condition alarms, it causes an item to hide for 3s and show for 3s. This is unworkable, and my workaround is to turn alarms off for everything, as currently they add no value for me.

Given that the reason for an alarm is to get the pilot's attention, when scanning the OSD during busy flying, the actual effect is often to find that a critical piece of information, far from being brought to the pilots attention.... is not even there on the display at the instant that it is viewed.

I think it is important from a usability point of view to realise that if the goal is to get a user's attention, alarms should be :

a) a much faster flash (perhaps sub second)
b) of a consistent frequency, independent of the number of items displayed

[rts18]

My FC fw is 7.0.0-release

This isn't new. Its been a problem since 6.0.0 on all my HD systems.
By the time you have 30 items on a single screen. You no longer have a flashing warning, but a blank space for literally half a minute.

[MartinHugh]

My FC fw is 7.0.0-release

This isn't new. Its been a problem since 6.0.0 on all my HD systems. By the time you have 30 items on a single screen. You no longer have a flashing warning, but a blank space for literally half a minute.

Agreed, but it is still a problem whether old or new and needs looking at.

[0crap]

My FC fw is 7.0.0-release

This isn't new. Its been a problem since 6.0.0 on all my HD systems. By the time you have 30 items on a single screen. You no longer have a flashing warning, but a blank space for literally half a minute.

Exactly what I see.
On analog I used the OSD to do some inflight tuning.
For example put the PIDS on the OSD and configure an AUX channel to choose which item you want to tune during flight.
The item of choice starts to blink, at which you know when tuning can begin.
Totally useless on digital. No blinking happens, selected item goes blank. So when tuning you have no idea what the value is at a given time.
I gave up OSD inflight tuning with digital OSD..... :-(

[Sibre3]

I went to report this bug, but I see it's already been raised.
It indeed makes it difficult to trust displayport OSD flash warnings, when a greater number of elements are used.
I do not see this problem when I place many elements on the OSD using betaflight. The flash warning is constant.

@ligenxxxx My guess is that blinking has its own timer. If there is some coupling between the OSD refresh rate and the blinking timer, an error will occur.

@MrD-RC @mmosca Is there a chance a repair could be made for this before 7.1.0?

[MrD-RC]

@MrD-RC @mmosca Is there a chance a repair could be made for this before 7.1.0?

Sure, if you want to submit a PR before the end of January.

[OptimusTi]

This is happening in analog too for some people

[mmosca]

This is happening in analog too for some people

Does it happen in analog when you set display_force_sw_blink = true ?

[OptimusTi]

This is happening in analog too for some people

Does it happen in analog when you set display_force_sw_blink = true ?

The FC I use requires display_force_sw_blink = true.

[mmosca]

Can someone test if #9625 with set display_force_sw_blink = true fixes it for msp displayport?

[mmosca]

This is happening in analog too for some people

Does it happen in analog when you set display_force_sw_blink = true ?

The FC I use requires display_force_sw_blink = true.

What kind of fc/osd are you using?

[Jetrell]

Can someone test if #9625 with set display_force_sw_blink = true fixes it for msp displayport?

@mmosca Test with MSP displayport using display_force_sw_blink = ON. And placed 34 OSD characters on the screen.
It now works great. With all items in a warning state, blinking at a constant rate. Just under 1Hz.

This was using Avatar. Of which I knew more than 20 previously caused a noticeable slowing of the warning blinking rate.

[OptimusTi]

This is happening in analog too for some people

Does it happen in analog when you set display_force_sw_blink = true ?

The FC I use requires display_force_sw_blink = true.

What kind of fc/osd are you using?

Matek F405-Wing, F411-Wing and F411

[mmosca]

Can someone test if #9625 with set display_force_sw_blink = true fixes it for msp displayport?

@mmosca Test with MSP displayport using display_force_sw_blink = ON. And placed 34 OSD characters on the screen. It now works great. With all items in a warning state, blinking at a constant rate. Just under 1Hz.

This was using Avatar. Of which I knew more than 20 previously caused a noticeable slowing of the warning blinking rate.

It should be 200ms on, 200ms off, so sounds right.