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Text File | 1988-07-13 | 16KB | 295 lines

                   Test Pattern Generator.Help  - Version 1.06, 7/12/88

©1988 by Larry Pina
47 Meadow Road.
Westport, MA 02790

INTRODUCTION

Test Pattern Generator is an analytical tool for checking and fine tuning
the Macintosh video. Besides the cumulative effects of heat and old age,
it’s been my experience that upgrading any standard size Macintosh
invariably loads the power supply and downgrades the screen. Since the
problem is not usually addressed, a large number of older computers now
have shrunken video. If you noticed something “different” after getting a
memory upgrade for your Macintosh but couldn’t quite say what it was…
Running Test Pattern Generator will show you exactly what happened.

ENVIRONMENT

Test Pattern Generator runs fine on any standard Macintosh with at least
512K of RAM. Test Pattern Generator also works with Switcher and
MultiFinder, old ROMs and new ROMs and is fully compatible with the
Macintosh XL, the Macintosh SE and the Macintosh II.

USING TEST PATTERN GENERATOR

Test Pattern Generator can be used by anyone for casual screen evaluation
and also by qualified bench technicians in their service and repair work.
In practice, it should be copied to a System disk and configured as the
startup application. Test Pattern Generator can also be used to evaluate
and compare external monitors. Simply run the program and follow the
directions to see which monitor has the straightest and sharpest screen.

Once the program loads, it displays a startup screen showing memory and
ROM information. Locate the mouse pointer on top of the startup screen,
click and hold the mouse button down (or press the RETURN key), let
the button up when the startup screen disappears, and choose a screen size
from the Screen Sizes menu. The keyboard equivalent for Macintosh is
COMMAND M. The keyboard equivalent for Lisa/XL Screen Kit is COMMAND L.
Apple’s external moNochrome monitor is COMMAND N. Apple’s external RGB
Monitor is COMMAND B. Typing COMMAND U returns a dialog box where you
can enter alternate sizes for Unlisted monitors.

Once you’ve chosen a size, follow the on-screen directions to measure the
set’s vertical height and horizontal width. The dimensions contained in the
program (for Apple monitors) are accurate to one one-hundredth of an inch.
Calculations for unlisted monitors are also accurate to one one-hundredth
of an inch, but the sizes rely on whatever data you supply via the Unlisted
Mac Monitors… dialog box. Initially, the default values are read in from the
toolbox, so in most cases all you have to do is click the Ok button (or press
the RETURN key) to proceed.

When measuring the raster, take care to use a quality cloth ruler. Cheap
rulers have plastic end protectors haphazardly cemented to their first and
last inches. Not only can their sharp edges scratch the screen, but the first
and last inches are usually inaccurate. Where applicable, start from the ten
inch mark and drop the first digit (eleven inches would be one inch, twelve
inches would be two inches, thirteen inches would be three inches, etc.).

Once the raster is evaluated, choose 1x1 Linearity Grid (COMMAND G) from
the Test Patterns menu. The grid blocks should be exactly 1" square.

Next, choose 1÷8 Concentric Rings (COMMAND R). The circles should be
round, not oval. The perimeters should be exactly 1/8" apart.

You can move the rings around by pressing the cursor keys or, if you’re
working on an older Mac, by pressing the less < than (SHIFT COMMA) and
greater > than (SHIFT PERIOD) keys. In Test Pattern Generator these keys
work just like the Mac Plus’ cursor keys. It’s not necessary to hold down
the COMMAND key in order to use them. In fact, holding down the COMMAND
key actually prevents them from working. You can also move the pattern by
clicking in the screen borders. Clicking in the leftmost 1/4 inch moves the
pattern left, clicking in the rightmost 1/4 inch moves the pattern right.

With full page displays you can also move the rings up and down. Use the
up and down keyboard arrows, or if you’re working on an older Mac, use the
{ parentheses } (SHIFT [ and SHIFT ]) keys. Once again, in Test Pattern
Generator these keys work just like the Mac Plus’ cursor keys. It’s not
necessary to hold down the COMMAND key in order to use them. You can also
move the pattern up and down by clicking in the screen borders. Clicking in
the upper 1/4 inch moves the pattern up, clicking in the lower 1/4 inch
moves the pattern down.

NOTE:  Since only the upper left portion of the screen is visible when
simulating large screen sizes on a small Mac, two of the “hot borders”
(bottom and right) will always be off-screen. Under those circumstances,
clicking at the bottom and to the right of the screen will not accomplish
anything, but pressing the cursor keys will always work.

Once the linearity has been evaluated, run the Brightness & Contrast Test
(COMMAND T). This sets up a broadcast style test pattern with horizontal
and vertical “propellers.” The propellers should be well balanced. One set
should not be larger or brighter than the other; both sets should be the
same size, and most importantly, their fill patterns should have exactly
the same intensity.

Choosing A-Z Focusing Text (COMMAND F) fills the screen with 9 point
Monaco text. Individual characters, regardless of screen location, should
be uniformly sharp and well focused. Text at the corners of the screen
should be just as sharp as text in the center of the screen.

In certain situations (especially when setting up the raster), you might
find it easier to work in Reverse (white on black) Video (COMMAND
OPTION R). Once you select Reverse, it remains in effect until you restore
normal (black on white) video by typing COMMAND OPTION R a second time.

NOTE:  The reference and help screens are not reversible. Printing in
Reverse Video is generally not recommended.

AUDIO TESTS

Test Pattern Generator allows you to test the frequency response of all
four Macintosh voices. This version cycles a standard sequence of test
tones (100, 300, 1000, 3000, 10000) on a simulated oscilloscope display.
Each audio test takes about one minute. All four Macintosh voices should be
relatively flat. Lisas and Macintosh XLs have only one voice (although you
can run all four tests), and it tends to drop off rapidly after 3000 cycles.
On a standard Macintosh you should hear all of the tones (on all of the
tests), and they should all be strong. On a Lisa (or a Mac XL) you may not
hear the 10000 cycle tone and the 3000 cycle tone may warble. Mac II
sound is presently unsupported - all four menu choices will be dimmed.

NOTE: If you get a waveform but don’t hear anything, the Control Panel
volume setting may be too low. Check the volume setting by choosing
Control Panel from the desk accessory menu. If the current setting is less
than 3, raise the Speaker Volume (to at least 3) and try running Test
Pattern Generator again. If there is no Control Panel under the desk
accessory menu, shut down and restart with an official System Disk.
Every official System Disk has a Control Panel.

PRINTER TESTS

Test Pattern Generator runs three important printer tests. The first test,
ImageWriter Grid, allows you to check for vertical distortion in the
bidirectional print mode. The printed test pattern should look just like a
window screen. The vertical lines should be straight, not skewed.

The second test, ImageWriter Fonts, tests for built-in NLQ character sets.
This test is designed primarily for use with ImageWriter compatible
printers. Text printing on many non-Apple printers is font specific. If the
document’s screen fonts don’t match the printer’s internal character sets
exactly, DP (Draft) may default to Ultra Condensed; NLQ may not work at all.
The test will show you what the printer’s built-in character sets look like.

NOTE: Both of these tests bypass the ImageWriter driver and print directly
to the printer port (COM 2 on the Lisa). If your printer is connected to the
modem port (COM1 on the Lisa), nothing will happen, even if you redirect
output with the Chooser desk accessory.

The third test checks the ImageWriter’s horizontal and vertical printing
resolution. To run the test, choose Page Setup… from the File menu and
select Tall Adjusted (72 dpi x 72 dpi). Next, choose 9 inch Std. Macintosh
from the Screen Sizes menu. Finally choose Print… from the File menu and
select either Faster or Best quality printing. The printed T-Squares should
measure 7.11 (512÷72) inches by 4.47 (322÷72) inches, exactly the same
as the screen display. In Tall Adjusted, what you see is supposed to be
exactly what you get.

To check printer resolution in the Tall mode, follow the same steps but
select Tall (80 dpi x 72 dpi) instead of Tall Adjusted from the Page Setup…
dialog box. At 80 dpi horizontally (Tall) the printed T-Squares should
measure 6.40 (512÷80) inches by 4.47 (322÷72) inches, exactly .71 inches
shorter than the screen display. With Tall selected, what you see is
supposed to be 11% (80÷72) wider than what you get.

GENERATOR OPTIONS

Holding down the Option key while choosing Open… from the File menu
(COMMAND O OPTION) will result in smoother and slower scrolling. Try it!

Holding down the Option key while choosing 1x1 Linearity Grid from the
Test Patterns menu (COMMAND G OPTION) brings up an alternate grid
pattern - which displays best in Reverse Video.

Holding down the Option key while choosing 1÷8 Concentric Rings from
the Test Patterns menu (COMMAND R OPTION) brings up an alternate
linearity pattern. Please note that the alternate pattern was designed
to be stationary. It can’t be scrolled!

Holding down the Option key while choosing A-Z Focusing Text (COMMAND
F OPTION) fills the screen with 12 point Monaco text. On a large monitor,
12 point text fills in much faster than 9 point text. Choose 9 point text
for greater detail. Choose 12 point text for a faster fill in.

Holding down the Option key while choosing Brightness and Contrast Test
sets up four additional test patterns, one in each corner of the screen.

Holding down the Option key while choosing ImageWriter Grid or Image-
Writer Fonts skips the screen display and goes directly to the print routine.

Holding down the COMMAND and PERIOD keys allows you to break out of an
audio test or cancel printing in progress - provided the keys stay down
long enough. Hold them down until the current dialog box disappears.

Choosing Transfer… from the File menu allows you to bypass the Finder
and run another application directly from Test Pattern Generator. This
command works the same as other Transfer commands (ie. ResEdit, RMaker)
and should only be used under the Finder. If chosen under MultiFinder or
Switcher, a System Error will result.

Choosing Set Startup… from the Special menu allows you to configure
Test Pattern Generator for your personal needs. Clicking Ok creates a
TPat.Prefs… file in the current directory. If there is no TPat.Prefs… file
in the current directory, TPat Generator displays General Instructions
by default.

Choosing Shut Down (COMMAND E) from the Special menu Ends the
program, Ejects all disks and Restarts the Mac safely, the same as if
you’d chosen Restart in the Finder. If there’s no room for a mouse on
the work bench, or if you find the cord tangles in your tools, there’s
no compelling reason to connect one.

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

By choosing Unlisted Mac Monitors… from the Screen Sizes menu and
entering new dpi values you can change the grid size. For example, on a
9" Mac (normally 72 x 72) entering 36 x 36 results in a 1/2" grid, entering
18 x 18 results in a 1/4" grid, etc. Changing these values also affects the
space between concentric circles. Entering 36 x 36 dpi results in 1÷16
linearity rings, entering 18 x 18 results in 1÷32 linearity rings, etc.

For use with disproportional monitors, all four linearity tests now consider
aspect ratio. The other eight tests do not. For example, the original monitor
built into an unmodified Lisa (or Mac XL) displays 90 dots horizontally by
60 lines vertically. Because 90 dots/60 lines = distorted images,1.5 times
taller than on a standard Mac (where 72 dots/72 lines = 1), proportional
images are distorted by a factor of 150%. In Test Pattern Generator,
however, all four linearity tests “compensate” for disproportional screen
values. Entering 90 x 60 on an unmodified Lisa does return a true 1x1 grid
and also returns reasonably “round” 1÷8 circles. As a result, technicians
can now rely on the linearity tests to set up even the most unusual Mac II
color monitors, and casual users can still rely the Brightness and Contrast
tests (which do not compensate for disproportional screen values) to
evaluate overall performance with Macintosh graphics software.

NOTE: Initially, the Unlisted Mac Monitors… dialog box displays default
values obtained from the toolbox. You can change them, and restore the
toolbox defaults at any time by clicking the Reset button. If you click the
Reset button and get a beep, it means the current values already are the
toolbox defaults (indicating there was nothing to Reset).

OBTAINING HELP

Test Pattern Generator presently has three levels of help. The Open…
command (COMMAND O) under the File menu allows you to open, read and
print ordinary text files (like this one). In addition, the Reference Menu
contains a monitor list and six technical diagrams which pertain to
“secret” take-apart procedures. These diagrams have been included for
reference purposes and should be viewed by qualified technicians only.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE NO USER ADJUSTABLE VIDEO CIRCUITS ON
THE MACINTOSH COMPUTER. WORKING ON HIGH VOLTAGE VIDEO COMPONENTS
IS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE NO USER ADJUSTABLE
CIRCUITS ON THE IMAGEWRITER PRINTER. WORKING ON THE IMAGEWRITER
PRINTER IS ALSO EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. RUN TEST PATTERN GENERATOR
LIKE ANY OTHER PROGRAM. LEAVE SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.

Finally, choosing Get Info… from the File menu allows you to obtain
screen size confirmation from the operating system.

SERVICE BULLETINS

To write a commercial help file for use with Test Pattern Generator, use
any word processor and save the file as TEXT with carriage returns at the
end of every line (TEXT with line breaks). This feature allows licensed
commercial users to update service bulletins at any time, without having
to order a whole new version of the program.

PRINTING

You can print this or any other TEXT file from Test Pattern Generator by
choosing Open… (if necessary) and then Print… (COMMAND P) from the File
menu. Laser printing requires that there be a LaserWriter driver in the
System folder. ImageWriter printing requires that there be an ImageWriter
driver in the System folder. These are both standard Macintosh
requirements. Assuming the requirements have been met (and that there is
a printer connected), you can print this file right now by turning on the
printer and choosing Print… (COMMAND P) from the File menu.

To adjust the page size before printing, choose Page Setup…, first. The
keyboard short cut for Page Setup…  is ∏ (COMMAND OPTION P).

DISTRIBUTION

All Macintosh User Groups are given carte blanche to distribute Test
Pattern Generator in the normal fashion. Other than that, Test Pattern
Generator may be freely distributed, but it may not be sold for profit nor
included with any peripherals sold for profit without the express written
consent of the author. This version is released under the Honor System and
carries a suggested registration fee of 10.00.

Please address all TPat correspondence to:
TPat Generator, c/o Larry Pina, 47 Meadow Rd., Westport, MA 02790.