Release Note

Release v1.2.4 (September 2025)

Core and Library

• Adds new APIs: tile-fill-with-source-mask-and-opacity with the Helium acceleration and the implicit CCCA8888 conversions.
• Adds new APIs: tile-fill-with-opacit**y with Helium acceleration and the implicit CCCA8888 conversions.
• Improves the support for CCCA8888
• Renames **tile-copy–with-opacity to tile-copy-with-opacity-only. The old APIs are still available and marked deprecated.
• Allows using negative scaling ratios in transform operations. Negative ratios lead to X and/or Y mirroring in transformation.
• Slightly improves the performance of the tile-copy-with-colour-keying operations.
• Enhances the code quality
  • Fixes potential tail-prediction-related issues in the Helium implementation.
  • Improves the inline assembly compatibility for different compilers.
  • Fixes a potential shadow-variables issue in the blending intrinsics (macros).
• Fixes potential alpha-overflow issues found in transform operations.
• Other minor fixes

Helper Services

• Enhances the PFB and the Display Adapter services.
  • Prevents PFB from overflowing when dealing with 4K or 8L display system.
  • Improves the 3FB mode
  • Updates the Display Adapter Template
  • Improves the support for e-ink devices
    • Introduces a smart Full-Frame-Refresh mode for e-ink devices.
    • Introduces a macro option allowing the disp_adapterN_task() to return ARM_2D_RT_FRAME_SKIPPED when a frame is skipped.
    • Improves the Low-Level-Sync-Up scheme to allow drawing the next frame while e-ink devices is flushing (>300ms).
  • Adds an anti-noise-scanning mode as a countermeasure for the electromagnetic interference
  • Adds an macro option to the display adapter configuration header file for disabling the Dynamic PFB optimization.
  • Adds an experimental nano-drawing mode by introducing a macro DISP_ADAPTERn_NANO_DRAW().
• Enhances the Font service.
  • Introduces a new API to calculate the drawing boxes for multi-line strings.
  • Update the default fonts.
  • Fixes the support for kerning in the font scaling mode.
  • Improves the support for Virtual Resources.
• Adds a new time related helper function: arm_2d_helper_time_liner_slider_i64().
• Allows GUI developers to check user-defined attributes for target node candidates when calling arm_2d_helper_control_find_node_with_location()
• Reduce the memory footprint
  • Removes unnecessary dependencies between the Helper services and the example controls.
  • Adds a macro switch __ARM_2D_CFG_CALL_NON_OPACITY_VERSION_IMPLICITILY_FOR_255__ allowing the linker to remove unused functions further.
  • Adds a macro switch __ARM_2D_CFG_PFB_DISABLE_DIRTY_REGION_OPTIMIZATION__ for removing the Dirty Region Optimisation service thoroughly while keeping the APIs for compatibility.
• Enhance the Layout Assistant service
  • Add a new keyword: arm_2d_layout_with_align_mode() allowing users to update the layout alignment at runtime.

Examples and Templates

• Updates example projects.
  • Fixes RW initialisation issues caused by applying the (implicit) ABSOLUTE attribute in RAM-related execution regions.
• Adds new demos:
  • Music Player
  • Font
  • Pave
  • QRCode
  • Space Badge
• Adds new example controls:
  • The QRCode Box (qrcode_box_t): generate QRcode at runtime.
  • The Image Box (image_box_t): loads images and adjusts the size of the image to fit the size of the given target area.
  • The CRT Screen Simulation (crt_screen_t): inherits from the Image Box and shows white noise and the CRT scanning effect.
  • The Foldable Panel (foldable_panel_t): provides a container (arm_2d_tile_t *) as the target panel for further drawing, and allows folding and unfolding it with user-specified configurations.
• Improves the performance of the demo: balls
• Enhances example controls.
  • Reduces memory footprints
  • Improves the performance of the historgram.
  • Fixes and improves the text box
    • Fixes a divided-by-zero issue.
    • Fixes the clipping issues found in the alignment calculation.
    • Fixes the tail-seperator-treated-as-return issue.
    • Adds a new API to get line height.
    • Adds a new API to get the text line number.
    • Adds new APIs to set and get the font scaling ratio.
    • Adds the centre alignment mode.
    • Allows pix level scrolling.
    • Adds line caches and a context scheme
    • Introduces the inner margin.
    • Improves performance
• Update Loaders
  • Adds a new JPEG decoder: zjpgd. It has better ROI support and runs faster than TJpgDec for multiple small ROI blocks.
    • The scene template, including meter and histogram, and the demo rickrolling, were updated for zjpgd.
    • It allows users to specify the output colour format at runtime.
  • Fixes the cross-platform compilation issue found in the source code of the tjpgd library.
• Adds the missing libm in makefile of the PC template.
• Adds prefix arm_2d_asset_ to all assets.
• Updates documents

Release v1.2.3 (16th May 2025)

Core and Library

• Fixes transform tail-prediction issue in helium backend
• Fixes a typo in the implicit colour conversion from ccca8888 to cccn888 transform-only operation
• Adds a new API: arm_2d_create_region_from_corner_points()

Helper Services

• Moves circle_small.c from examples\common\assets folder to Helper\source folder.
• Improves the scene templates
• Improves the compatibility of the control helper service with 3rd party GUIs

Examples and Templates

• Adds a new Demo: balls
• Updates all scene templates and demos to improve the reliability

Release v1.2.2 (1st May 2025)

Core and Library

• Enhances the transform operations
  • Significantly improves the helium transform operations (~60%)
  • Adds implicit colour format conversion support for CCCA8888
  • Adds a new set of APIs that
    • Supports applying different scaling ratios on the X-axis and Y-axis, respectively
    • Supports using floating point numbers (arm_2d_point_float_t) to specify pivots
    • Implement the old APIs with the new APIs. The old APIs are marked as deprecated. Please use the new APIs in new designs.
  • Removes the floating-point based implementation and uses the fixed-point based acceleration only
  • Fixes the black-boarder artifact issue in the Helium transform-only operations
• Adds a new API arm_2d_sw_normal_root_tile_copy() to facilitate some low-level tile operations.
• Improves IIR Blur
  • Adds helium acceleration for the reverse paths
  • Fixes RGB565 ghost-shadow issue
  • Adds Blur mode control.

Helper Services

• Improve the Font Helper service
  • Fixes issues found in Font scaling
  • Adds a text-buffer centric APIs to improve the printf user experience
    • arm_lcd_print_to_buffer(), arm_lcd_print_buffer(), etc.
  • Adds support for specifying line-spacing and char-spacing
  • Treats arm_2d_helper_get_utf8_byte_valid_length() as a static inline function
  • Updates built-in fonts
• Improves the support for 3FP helper service
  • Fixes a frame-synchronization issue in the 3FP helper service
  • Implements 3FB mode in the PC project template
• Fixes a selection region calculation issue in the List helper service
• Improves the Display Adatper service
  • Updates the display adapter template for fixing navigation layer display issues
  • Updates the display adapter tempalte for fixing floating-console display issues
• Enhances the Layout Assistant
  • Improves the user application performance with a PFB optimization mode (Enabled by set macro __ARM_2D_CFG_OPTIMIZE_FOR_PFB_IN_LAYOUT_ASSISTANT__ to 1 in arm_2d_cfg.h).
    • Introduces a new hint __arm_2d_hint_optimize_for_pfb__()
    • Introduces a new set of keywords with postfix _open, which provide the same functionality as the one without the postfix but without PFB optimization.
• Improves the PFB Helper Service
  • Adds new prototypes to the existing API arm_2d_helper_pfb_is_region_active()
  • Fixes infinite-loop issue when invalid dirty region is added to the working list.
  • Adds veritical-first PFB scan policy for some special application scenarios.
• Updates the Dirty Region Transform helper serivce to support the new transform APIs
• Fixes stop-updating issues in dirty region helper service when any dynamic dirty region is out of visual area.

Examples and Templates

• Updates spin_zoom_widget_t to use the new transform APIs.
• Improves example controls
  • Progressbar-flowing
  • Busy-wheel
• Improves the SDL2 driver in the PC project template
  • Adds different outlook styles for monochrome displaying, i.e. nixie-tube, untra-low-power LCD (gray), green (backlight) LCD and blue (backlight) LCD.
  • Applys the Blur filter to the monochrome display
• Improves the scene templates
  • Adds missing event handlers
• Adds a new example control: Text-Box (text_box_t)
  • Supports popular alignment modes: Left-Align, Right-Align and Justified-Align
  • Supports Extra-Large texts, Font-Scaling, Char-Spacing, Line-Spacing and Paragraph-Spacing.
  • Adds a built-in dirty region service.
  • Adds a new Demo, arm_2d_scene_text_reader, for Text-Box.
• Improves the console box (console_box_t)
  • Replaces the arm_lcd_putchar() with the newly introduces text-buffer-centric APIs, i.e. arm_lcd_printf_buffer() and arm_lcd_putchar_to_buffer().
• Use the Time-of-Compilation as the start time of the system timestamp
• Adds an new category of examples, Asset Loader, for loading GUI resources
  • Asset Loaders are derived from the virtual resource
  • Adds a dedicated asset loader for JPEG images based on TJpgDec
    • Implements Region of Interests mode that only decodes the areas addressed by dirty regions
    • Ultra-small memory footprint
      • 4K Heap for allocating working memory
      • No dedicated Framebuffer is required to store the decoded pixels when used together with tile-copy-only operations.
    • Adds a demo for showing how to decode JPEG images, i.e. arm_2d_scene_tjpgd.
    • Adds a demo for showing a GIF-like animation using JPEG image, i.e. arm_2d_scene_rickrolling.
    • Updates scene templates (i.e. meter and histogram) to use JPEG images as the background
• Updates benchmarks
• Adds a demo for the Matrix code-fall effect.
• Adds a demo for the IIR Blur.
• Adds an example control, progress-bar-round, with two different styles.

Documentation and Misc

• Adds a section in how_to_deploy_the_arm_2d_library.md to introduce how to synchronize with the low-level display driver
• Adds a section in how_to_use_layout_assistant.md for docking related keywords and syntaxs
• Improves the support for LVGL
• Improves the support for GCC
• Improves the support for Linux
• Updates ttf2c.py
  • Fixes the support for the Font scaling.
  • Adds an ASCII mode to ease the font generation of the ASCII character set.
• Update README.md and ReleaseNote.md

Release v1.2.1 (20 December 2024)

Core and Library

• Introduces a dedicated data type q16_t and corresponding operations for Q15.16 fix point number.
• Fixes a memory alignment issue in the scratch memory management.
• Improves the protoThread macro templates.
• Improves the log system
• Improves the GCC support for Armv8.1-M processors
• Adds a new set of filter operations that reverse the pixel colours of a user-specified region for the target tile
• Fixes a display issue in IIR-Helium implementation when the blur degree is zero.

Helper Services

• Adds a new User-Defined-OPCODE template for drawing on the target tile
• Fixes a dirty-region debug issue that keeps the old indication in skipped frames.
• Fixes a memory leaking issue in Dirty Region Helper Services.
• Improves dirty region helper services
  • During the dirty region item update, users can specify an extra region for minimal enclosure region calculation in addition to the standard Old-plus-New region calculation.
  • Improves the region clipping schema in the dirty-region-item-update.
• Improves layout assistant
  • Adds new prototypes for existing macro APIs
  • Some minor fixes
• Improves the support for monochrome devices in the display adapter service.
• Improves the PIHelper performance (using fixed point to replace floating point)
• Improves the Scene Player
  • Adds a new Before-Deposing event to each scene
• Enhance the List helper services.
  • Adds tracking mode for selected item indication
  • Adds PIHelper for selected item indication
  • Adds new region calculator for water-fall style of lists.
  • Fixes issues in region calculation
• Fixes some issues in the font helper service
• Improves the list helper service
  • Improves the support for non-ring mode
  • Adds new region calculators for water-fall style
  • Adds new APIs for selection indication, list status indication, redraw, etc.
  • Adds PIHelper for selection indication
  • Remove __arm_2d_list_core_move_offset()
  • Improves the list performance
• Improve __simple_list_t
  • Updates the built-in dirty region schema
  • Adds a scrolling bar for selection indication, which supports auto-fading
• Improves the shape helper services
  • Adds an API for drawing the glass-bar effect

Examples and Templates

• Removes a deprecated header file: arm_2d_extra_controls.h. Please use arm_2d_example_controls.h instead.
• Introduces a new scene-loading schema for demonstration.
• Improves the ACI example and allows MDK to use the ACI plugin during Fast Model Debugging.
  • Accelerate rgb565 tile copy with source mask
• Implement arm_irq_safe for the PC platform using the SDL2 mutex.
• Adds PC project template to cmsis-pack.
• Allows users to resize the SDL2 window in the PC project.
• Adds a dedicated project template for OLED monochrome devices using Raspberry Pi Pico as the hardware platform.
• Adds new demos
  • A demo for compass
  • A set of demos for monochrome display devices showing the typical application scenarios.
    • Line progress bar
    • histogram
    • Text List
    • Tracking List
    • Icon List
    • Clock
  • A demo for User-Defined-OPCODEs (i.e. drawing lines and circles)
  • A demo for filters
• Improves virtual resource-related demos.
• Adds new scene templates
  • A scene template for knobs.
• Fixes a typo in spin_zoom_widgets
• Improves the example control Progress-Wheel and adds new features
  • Improves the built-in dirty region calculation algorithm
  • Allows users to specify the Progress-Wheel orientation (the starting and ending point), i.e. Top, Bottom, Left or Right.
• Adds new example controls
  • Icon List (icon_list_t)
• Fixes some minor issues found in the font helper service.
• Adds demos for User-Defined-OPCODE
  • A demo OPCODE for drawing lines.
  • A demo OPCODE for drawing circles.
  • A demo for how to use those User-Defined-OPCODE.

Documentation and Misc

• Fixes the __REV16 in arm_2d_user_arch_port.h
• Improves Python scripts in the tools folder.
• rename getting_started_as_a_professional_user.md to getting_started_as_a_gui_stack_developer.md

Release v1.2.0 (9 September 2024)

Core and Library

• Adds Helium implementations for IIR-Blur operations
• Adds Canary to the scratch memory management
• Improves the porting user experience
• Adds a new API for colour-filling-with-A1-mask with/without opacity
• Fixes a potential issue found in the pixel-pipeline
  • In some rare cases when the target region pointer is NULL, the operation behaviour is UNDEFINED
• Adds new series APIs for colour-filling-with-alpha-gradient
  • Adds variants for defining alpha gradient with 4-sample-points, 3-sample-points, vertical mode and horizontal mode
  • Adds variants for specifying a source mask
  • Adds variants for specifying an optional opacity
• Significantly improves the performance of transform operations.
  • ~80% performance uplift for non-Helium powered Cortex-M processors
  • ~20% performance uplift for the helium version of colour-filling-with-mask-opacity-and-transform
  • Introduces an assumption that ALL masks and pictures should contain a 1-pixel width border when applied to the transform operations. The border's colour should be the same as the picture's background, or the corresponding alpha should always be zero.
• Adds an experimental 2x Super-Sampling-Anti-Alias (2xSSAA) transform implementation
• Introduces new OOPC decorations ARM_PRIVATE_METHOD(), ARM_PROTECTED_METHOD() and ARM_PUBLIC_METHOD()

Helper Services

• Improves the Layout Assistant
  • Updates the layout assistant to improve the performance of user applications
  • Allows users to specify the layout alignment
• Adds a helper service for fonts and LCD display
  • Simplifies the support for user-defined fonts.
  • Adds the scaling support to A1, A2 and A4 fonts
  • Improves the font display performance
  • Fixes some char size calculation issues
  • Adds a new API arm_lcd_puts_label to display a label with a user-specified alignment requirement.
• Updates the scene player service
  • Adds a manual switching mode and allows users to cancel an on-going switching
  • Adds new switching mode, Fly-In, and adds an optional background blur effects to Fly-In mode
• Adds a helper service for user-defined controls (user-defined element tree)
  • Adds traversal algorithms: pre-order traversal, post-order traversal and bottom-up traversal
  • Adds a dedicated API for finding the top-most control with the coordinate of an user touch event
• Improves the list helper service
  • Fixes some list-item-selection-related issues
  • Adds the Non-Ring mode
• Improves the accuracy and behaviour of the PIHelper

Examples and Templates

• Adds a new scene template animate background for the new virtual resource background-image-loading mode
• Update the Benchmarks
  • Adds a 4-sample-point alpha gradient to the Generic Benchmark
  • Replaces the clock-pointer rotation transform operation from tile-transform-with-source-mask to colour-filling-with-mask-opacity-and-transform.
  • Updates the benchmark table
• Improves the overall performance and reduces the memory footprint
• Adds an background-only mode to the bubble charging scene template
• Updates the demo scene arm_2d_scene_basics to demonstrate the colour-filling-with-alpha-gradient operations.
• Improves the progress_bar_flowing, progress_bar_drill and progress_bar_simple
• Update list-related controls
  • Adds a base class __simple_list_t
    
  • Re-factories the number_list_t to inherit from the __simple_list_t
  • Adds a new control text_list_t which is derived from __simple_list_t
  • Allows users to customise a number_list_t instance.
  • Adds new demos for list: Ruler and Hallow-Out List
  • Updates the scene template Fan to demonstrate the use of the text_list_t.
• Adds a new demo scene for testing transform operations
• Updates the example control: nebula
  • Improves the performance
  • Adds support for the inside-out movement
• Improves the performance of the example Helium-ACI library
• Adds built-in fonts for a subset of the ASCII: ARM_2D_FONT_LiberationSansRegular14_A8, ARM_2D_FONT_LiberationSansRegular14_A4, ARM_2D_FONT_Arial14_A2 and ARM_2D_FONT_LiberationSansRegular14_A1
• Updates the asset c_tileSpinWheelMask to fulfil the requirement of the updated transform operations.
• Adds a new example control: spin_zoom_widget_t
  • Updates arm_2d_scene_fan and arm_2d_scene_watch to demonstrate the usage of spin_zoom_widget_t
• Adds a new example control: meter_pointer_t
  • Updates arm_2d_scene_meter to demonstrate the usage of meter_pointer_t
• Adds a new example control: cloudy_glass_t
• Adds a new demo: watch face 01

Documentation and Misc

• Improves Python scripts in the tools folder.
  • Adds support for FT_PIXEL_MODE_MONO, FT_PIXEL_MODE_GRAY2 and FT_PIXEL_MODE_GRAY4 font in ttf2c.py
  • Allows adding a user-defined header file in arm_2d_cfg.h by defining the macro __ARM_2D_USER_APP_CFG_H__.
  • Adds support for generating A1 mask to img2c.py
• Updates README.md and the Doxygen script
• Updates the copy-right
• Improves the support for IAR

Release v1.1.6 (23 May 2024)

Core and Library

• Improves the compatibility with IAR and GCC
• Various fixes in the Helium library
• Adds new APIs for fill-colour-with-mirroring (with/without opacity)
• Adds new APIs for fill-colour-with-horizontal/vertical-line-masks (with/without opacity)
• Adds new APIs for tile-copy-with-source-mask-and-opacity
• Adds implicit conversion for ARGB8888 (ccca8888) in tile-copy APIs
  • Copy with Opacity
  • Copy with Source Masks (with/without Opacity)
• Adds experimental APIs for IIR blur
• Adds a Helium-ACI example library.
• Uses jinja scripts for generating source files
• Improves pixel-pipeline for processing masks

Helper Services

• Improves performance statistics
  • Allows frame-skipping when no valid dirty region
• Improves log services
  • Adds a dedicated channel for statistics
  • Adds a dedicated channel for example controls
  • Adds line number
• Improves scratch memory management
• Improves the layout assistant
  • Adds macro helpers for docking
  • Allows arm_2d_canvas to skip running when it is out of the partial-framebuffer valid region.
  • Improves the capability of the layout nesting.
  • Adds a layout assistant debug mode
• Improves the lcd printf service
  • Improves the scaling service
• Improves the Display Adapter service
  • Adds the support for screen rotation (90, 180 and 270 degrees) in the Display Adapter service
  • Adds colour information
  • Allows retargeting printf to LCD
  • Improves user application performance
  • Improves the support for UTF8
  • Adds arm_2d_helper_pfb_is_region_being_drawing
  • Adds a Tiny Mode for navigation layer
• Improves the Scene Player service
  • Adds the canvas colour to arm_2d_scene_t.
  • Adds an onLoad event to arm_2d_scene_t.
  • Adds a built-in dirty region helper service
  • Improves the scene switching effects
• Adds a helper service for byte FIFO: arm_2d_byte_fifo_t
• Adds __arm_2d_helper_time_elapsed
• Adds helper services for dirty regions
• Adds a code template for adding user defined OPCODE

Examples and Templates

• Improves the compatibility with CMSIS6
• Improves the complexity of the generic benchmark
• Adds an example control for drawing rounded corner images
• Allows changing the masks when
  • drawing rounded corner boxes
  • drawing rounded corner border
  • drawing progress wheel
• Adds built-in dirty region support to example controls
• Adds example project for csolution: [template][csolution]
• Improves code templates of the scene, the display adapter and the example control
• Adds demos
• Marks arm_extra_controls.h as deprecated. Please use arm_2d_example_controls.h instead.
• Adds new example controls:
  • console box
  • histogram
• Adds new scene templates:
  • alarm clock
  • bubble charging
  • fan
• Adds new assets
• Adds an onDrawParticles event handler to the dynamic nebular
• Fixes small issues in example controls
• Improve the PC template
• Reduces the memory footprint of example controls.
• Improves the performance of example controls

Documentation and Misc

• Improves python scripts in the tools folder.
• Adds a document for how-to-use-jinja-script-for-code-generation

Release v1.1.5 (01 Dec 2023)

Core and Library

• Improves the support for masks in the pixel-pipeline.
• Updates transform operations
  • Always generating a child tile for the target tile in transform operations.
  • Adds optimization for hollow out masks in C implementations
• Adds the support for adding Asynchronous acceleration, Synchronous acceleration and ACI acceleration.
• Adds the support for trace log
• Adds a new API: arm_2d_is_region_inside_target()

Helper Services

• Updates ttf2c.py for generating A1, A2 and A4 fonts.
• Updates the Display Adapter Service (the PFB Helper Service)
  • Introduces a Dry-Run mode in the PFB helper service.
  • Introduces the Dynamic Dirty Region, a new type of dirty region items that allows users to update its area during drawing and interact with the PFB. helper service.
  • Introduces the concept of virtual screen which is used to anchor the virtual screen in the PFB helper service.
  • Introduces the Dirty Region Optimization in the PFB Helper service.
  • Updates the performance statistic service in the Display Adapter service.
    • Introduces the CPU Usage info calculation.
    • Places the performance statistic to the Display Adapter class.
  • Simplifies the way of navigation layer customization.
  • Improves the robustness of the Asynchronous Flushing helper.
  • Improves the dirty region debug mode.
  • Updates the disp_adapter_task() to support Framerate-Locking in the bare-metal environment.
• Introduces helper macros for docking.
• Adds the char scaling support to A8 fonts.
• Updates the transform helper service.
  • Fixes an issue in region calculation.
  • Improves the performance.

Examples and Templates

• Adds a new example scene to demonstrate a curve-list-view.
• Adds a new example scene (arm_2d_scene_audiomark) to demonstrate the dirty region optimization
• Adds a new service, 3FB helper service for supporting the so-called Direct Mode.
• Updates example controls and scene templates.
  • Adds dirty regions to the Progress Wheel.
  • Adds a new API for drawing round corner image.
  • Updates the APIs for drawing round corner boxes and allows specifying user defined resources.
  • Updates the progress bars.
  • Adds a new scene template for fitness trackers.
• Updates benchmarks
  • Reduces the SRAM footprint of the tiny mode for the generic benchmark.
• Improve PC template

Documentation and Misc

• Adds an initial support for CMake.
• Introduces a header template arm_2d_user_arch_port.h and makes it easier to port arm-2d to a different architecture other than Cortex-M.
• Improves the support for C++ compilation.
• Fixes the support for the Arm Compiler 5.
• Improve the support for Arm Compiler 6.21.
• Adds a new document How To Accelerate Arm-2D
• Updates the document How To Deploy Arm-2D to introduce the supports for Asynchronous Flushing Mode and Direct Mode.
• Updates the benchmark generic result.
• Updates README.md.
• Adds ReleaseNote.md