docs(scroll): explain the tear across the middle on fast scrolls (#620)

* docs(scroll): explain the tear across the middle on fast scrolls

A 1:32-multiplexed 64-row panel lights row 31 almost a whole refresh after
row 32, so fast scrolls show a sideways offset at mid-height of about
speed x refresh period. Documents the cause, how to read the real refresh
rate (show_refresh_rate prints with a carriage return), what was measured on
a single-chain 2x128x64 Pi 4 (pwm_bits, gpio_slowdown and an uncapped
refresh barely help; gpio_slowdown 2 glitches), and the fix that does help:
fewer pixels per output via parallel chains.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(scroll): limit the 1:32 row-pair explanation to panels that scan that way

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Chuck
2026-09-24 15:50:33 -04:00
committed by GitHub
co-authored by Claude Opus 5.5
parent 82f3a3a3e4
commit 5baf983fe0
+70
View File
@@ -303,6 +303,76 @@ journalctl -u ledmatrix --since "-5min" --no-pager | grep -iE "px/s|px/frame"
If a plugin logs its scroll config **twice** with different modes, the second
line is what is running.
---
## A tear across the middle on fast scrolls
**Symptom:** while text scrolls, the top and bottom halves of the panel look
shifted sideways against each other along a horizontal line at mid-height, and
the shift grows with scroll speed. It shows most in Vegas mode at high speed.
**It is the panel's scan, not the software.** The measured panel, like most
64-row panels, is multiplexed 1:32 (some panels of the same size scan
differently, so check yours): it lights two rows at a time, one from each half
(row 0 with row 32, row 1 with row 33, …), stepping down both halves together
once per refresh. So row 31,
the last row of the top half, lights almost a whole refresh period after row 32
right below it. Your eye follows moving text, and moving content that lights at
different times lands in different places, so the two rows meet with an offset
of roughly
```
offset ≈ scroll speed × refresh period
```
Each frame already reaches the panel whole (`SwapOnVSync` swaps complete frames
between refreshes), so there is nothing to fix in the render path; the shift is
created inside a single refresh. Other panel heights show it too, at the point
where their two scan halves meet.
On the 2×128×64 chain above, which refreshes at about 130 Hz flat out
(7.7 ms per pass):
| scroll speed | offset at the midline |
|---|---|
| 50 px/s (Vegas default) | ~0.4 px |
| 100 px/s | ~0.8 px |
| 150 px/s | ~1.2 px, plainly visible |
### What changes it
Only a shorter scan period (a faster refresh) or a slower scroll. Measure what
the panel actually achieves first. The library prints the rate with a carriage
return and no newline, so read it from the raw journal:
```bash
# set display.hardware.show_refresh_rate to true (web UI, Display tab), restart, then:
journalctl -u ledmatrix --since "-1min" --no-pager -o cat --all | grep -a -oE "[0-9.]+Hz" | tail -5
```
Turn it off again afterwards. Measured on that panel (Pi 4, single chain),
changing one setting at a time from `pwm_bits: 7`, `gpio_slowdown: 3`:
| change | refresh, uncapped | notes |
|---|---|---|
| none | ~130 Hz | the ceiling for this wiring |
| `pwm_bits: 6` | ~138 Hz | barely faster, and half the colour depth |
| `gpio_slowdown: 2` | ~130 Hz | no faster, **and visible glitching**; keep 3 |
| `limit_refresh_rate_hz: 0` | ~130 Hz | Vegas dropped from 100 to 72–95 fps as the refresh thread took more CPU |
None of these helps much, because the time goes into shifting each row's pixels
out: a 2×128 chain pushes 256 pixels per row down one output. What does help is
**fewer pixels per output**. On a bonnet with more than one output (the
`regular` and `classic` mappings have 3; `adafruit-hat` has 1), put each panel
on its own output and set `parallel` to the number of outputs used and
`chain_length` to the panels per output, for example `parallel: 2`,
`chain_length: 1` for two panels. Each refresh then shifts half the data, which
should roughly double the refresh rate and halve the offset. That is a cable
change, so measure again afterwards.
Short of rewiring, keep fast scrolls moderate: at the default 50 px/s the
offset is under half a pixel.
## Rebuilding the binding
```bash