fix(display): pin one text layout engine, and give the 5x7 BDF face a size (#539)

* fix(display): pin one text layout engine, and give the 5x7 face a size

Two ways a font could render differently on two machines running the same
code, both found while diagnosing four plugins whose golden images passed on
the machine that generated them and failed everywhere else.

**Layout engine.** `ImageFont.truetype` picks its engine at load time: Raqm
where the host Pillow was built with libraqm, Basic otherwise. The two round
fractional glyph advances differently. `PressStart2P-Regular.ttf` at 8px has
whole-pixel advances, so they agree — which is why most of the fleet matched
everywhere and hid this. `4x6-font.ttf` at 6px does not: glyph positions drift
cumulatively along a run, and the four plugins that draw body text in it
(geochron, of-the-day, christmas-countdown, ledmatrix-weather's almanac) are
exactly the four whose goldens travelled badly.

Every core font load now goes through `src/common/font_layout.load_truetype`,
which pins the Basic engine, so a render depends on the font file and the size
and nothing else. Basic gives up complex-script shaping and kerning pairs;
neither applies to bitmap-grid faces on an LED panel. Output is unchanged on a
host without libraqm.

**Zero font height.** `DisplayManager` built the 5x7 BDF face with
`freetype.Face(path)` and never called `set_char_size`, so `face.size.height`
stayed 0 and `get_font_height()` returned 0 for it — callers stacking rows by
`prev_y + prev_height + gap` drew two lines on top of each other. The
start-up line `Calendar font size: 0 pixels` has been printing the symptom all
along. `font_manager._load_bdf_font` already called `set_char_size`, so
whether measurement worked depended on which path loaded the face.

`DisplayManager` now sets it too, and `get_font_height()` falls back to the
strike the file declares rather than returning a zero line height.

Fixes ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins#397
Refs ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins#371, #375, #378, #391

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(display): give the startup banner a rung that fits a full address at 64px

CI caught what pinning the layout engine exposed rather than caused.
`_fitting_font` walks PressStart2P then 4x6 at 6px, and "255.255.255.255" --
the widest thing the startup banner ever shows -- measures 66px at 4x6/6px
against the 62 a 64x32 panel has to give. It used to squeak in only because
the measurement depended on which layout engine the host Pillow happened to
have; with the engine pinned it does not, so the rung the worst case actually
needs is now in the ladder instead of implied: 4x6 at 5px, which measures 51.

The fallback was wrong in the same place. When nothing in the ladder fit, it
returned `self.font` -- the *widest* option, and precisely how "Initializing"
came to run off the side of a 64px panel to begin with. It returns the
narrowest face that loaded now.

test/test_initializing_screen.py: 34 passed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(display): name the exceptions the BDF strike read can raise

Codacy flagged the try/except/pass. It was already narrow in intent -- a
malformed strike table on the measurement path must degrade to "size unknown"
rather than take the display down -- but a bare `except Exception: pass` says
neither of those things and hides a genuinely broken font behind a silent 8px
fallback. It now catches what reading `available_sizes` can actually raise and
logs which face failed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: drop logo PNGs the render harness downloaded into the worktree

These are fetched at runtime by the logo cache; they are not source, and they
rode in on a `git add -A` while I was running check_plugin.py against this
branch. Nothing in the change needs them.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

scripts/scroll_speeds.py

@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ def demo(hardware, target, seconds):
     """Scroll text at the crisp speed nearest `target`."""
     from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
 
+    from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
+
     hz = float(hardware.get("limit_refresh_rate_hz") or scroll_config.DEFAULT_REFRESH_HZ)
     choice = scroll_config.solve_crisp(target, hz)
     print("asked for {:.0f} px/s -> {}".format(target, choice.describe()))
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ def demo(hardware, target, seconds):
         ("/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSansMono-Bold.ttf", 26),
     ):
         try:
-            font = ImageFont.truetype(path, size)
+            font = load_truetype(path, size)
             break
         except OSError:
             continue

scripts/validate_skin.py

@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ sys.path.insert(0, str(PROJECT_ROOT))
 
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont  # noqa: E402
 
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype  # noqa: E402
+
 FIXTURES_DIR = PROJECT_ROOT / "src" / "skin_system" / "fixtures"
 MODES = ("live", "recent", "upcoming")
 SPORTS = ("baseball", "basketball", "football", "hockey")
@@ -52,12 +54,12 @@ class FixtureHost:
         try:
             press = str(PROJECT_ROOT / "assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf")
             small = str(PROJECT_ROOT / "assets/fonts/4x6-font.ttf")
-            fonts['score'] = ImageFont.truetype(press, 10)
+            fonts['score'] = load_truetype(press, 10)
-            fonts['time'] = ImageFont.truetype(press, 8)
+            fonts['time'] = load_truetype(press, 8)
-            fonts['team'] = ImageFont.truetype(press, 8)
+            fonts['team'] = load_truetype(press, 8)
-            fonts['status'] = ImageFont.truetype(small, 6)
+            fonts['status'] = load_truetype(small, 6)
-            fonts['detail'] = ImageFont.truetype(small, 6)
+            fonts['detail'] = load_truetype(small, 6)
-            fonts['rank'] = ImageFont.truetype(press, 10)
+            fonts['rank'] = load_truetype(press, 10)
         except IOError:
             default = ImageFont.load_default()
             for key in ('score', 'time', 'team', 'status', 'detail', 'rank'):

src/base_classes/sports/core.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 import pytz
 import requests
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
 
@@ -449,12 +450,12 @@ class SportsCore(ABC):
         press_start = self._resolve_font_path("PressStart2P-Regular.ttf")
         four_by_six = self._resolve_font_path("4x6-font.ttf")
         try:
-            fonts['score'] = ImageFont.truetype(press_start, 10)
+            fonts['score'] = load_truetype(press_start, 10)
-            fonts['time'] = ImageFont.truetype(press_start, 8)
+            fonts['time'] = load_truetype(press_start, 8)
-            fonts['team'] = ImageFont.truetype(press_start, 8)
+            fonts['team'] = load_truetype(press_start, 8)
-            fonts['status'] = ImageFont.truetype(four_by_six, 6) # Using 4x6 for status
+            fonts['status'] = load_truetype(four_by_six, 6) # Using 4x6 for status
-            fonts['detail'] = ImageFont.truetype(four_by_six, 6) # Added detail font
+            fonts['detail'] = load_truetype(four_by_six, 6) # Added detail font
-            fonts['rank'] = ImageFont.truetype(press_start, 10)
+            fonts['rank'] = load_truetype(press_start, 10)
             self.logger.info("Successfully loaded fonts")
         except OSError:
             # Name the directory we searched: the usual cause is an install
@@ -1031,7 +1032,7 @@ class SportsCore(ABC):
             if os.path.exists(font_path):
                 # Try loading as TTF first (works for both TTF and some BDF files with PIL)
                 if font_path.lower().endswith('.ttf'):
-                    font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, font_size)
+                    font = load_truetype(font_path, font_size)
                     self.logger.debug(f"Loaded font: {font_name} at size {font_size}")
                     self._font_cache[cache_key] = font
                     return font
@@ -1049,7 +1050,7 @@ class SportsCore(ABC):
                     # correct one: the newer copies call truetype() on a BDF at
                     # any size (which simply fails) or refuse BDF outright.
                     try:
-                        font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, font_size)
+                        font = load_truetype(font_path, font_size)
                         self.logger.debug(f"Loaded BDF font: {font_name} at size {font_size}")
                         self._font_cache[cache_key] = font
                         return font
@@ -1061,7 +1062,7 @@ class SportsCore(ABC):
                             self._bdf_native_size_cache[font_path] = native_size
                         if native_size and native_size != font_size:
                             try:
-                                font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, native_size)
+                                font = load_truetype(font_path, native_size)
                                 self.logger.debug(
                                     f"Loaded BDF font: {font_name} at its native size {native_size} "
                                     f"(requested {font_size} isn't a valid strike for this file)"
@@ -1089,7 +1090,7 @@ class SportsCore(ABC):
             _resolve_font_family_alias(base_default))
         try:
             if os.path.exists(default_font_path):
-                font = ImageFont.truetype(default_font_path, font_size)
+                font = load_truetype(default_font_path, font_size)
             else:
                 self.logger.warning("Default font not found, using PIL default")
                 font = ImageFont.load_default()

src/common/font_layout.py

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+"""One text layout engine, everywhere.
+
+``PIL.ImageFont.truetype`` picks its layout engine at load time: Raqm when the
+host Pillow was built with libraqm, Basic otherwise. The two disagree about
+fractional glyph advances, so the *same* Pillow version renders the *same*
+string differently depending on a build option of the host.
+
+That is invisible for ``PressStart2P-Regular.ttf`` at 8px, whose advances are
+whole pixels either way — which is why most of the fleet's golden images
+matched on every machine. It is not invisible for ``4x6-font.ttf`` at 6px,
+where the advances are fractional: glyph positions drift cumulatively along a
+run, and the committed goldens for geochron, of-the-day, christmas-countdown
+and ledmatrix-weather's almanac passed on the machine that generated them and
+failed everywhere else (ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins#371, #375, #378, #391).
+
+Pinning the Basic engine makes a render depend on the font file and the size,
+and nothing else. Basic gives up complex-script shaping (Arabic, Indic) and
+kerning pairs; neither applies to the bitmap-grid faces this project draws
+with on an LED panel.
+
+Use :func:`load_truetype` in place of ``ImageFont.truetype`` anywhere the
+result is drawn to a panel or compared against a golden image.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Any, Union
+
+from PIL import ImageFont
+
+#: The engine every core font load pins. Named once so the reason above has a
+#: single referent, and so a future change is one line.
+LAYOUT_ENGINE = ImageFont.Layout.BASIC
+
+
+def load_truetype(font: Union[str, Any], size: int, **kwargs: Any) -> ImageFont.FreeTypeFont:
+    """``ImageFont.truetype`` with the layout engine pinned.
+
+    Same signature and same exceptions as the PIL call it replaces, so it is a
+    drop-in at every call site.
+    """
+    kwargs.setdefault("layout_engine", LAYOUT_ENGINE)
+    return ImageFont.truetype(font, size, **kwargs)

src/common/sports_shared.py

@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ from typing import Any, ClassVar, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 import pytz
 import requests
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -712,11 +713,11 @@ class SportsCoreSharedMixin:
                 while size > grid:
                     if probe.textlength(
                             self._SCORE_PROBE_TEXT,
-                            font=ImageFont.truetype(path, size)) <= budget:
+                            font=load_truetype(path, size)) <= budget:
                         break
                     size -= grid
                 if size != getattr(fonts['score'], 'size', size):
-                    fonts['score'] = ImageFont.truetype(path, size)
+                    fonts['score'] = load_truetype(path, size)
                     self._score_grew = True
 
             if not self._score_grew and not self._user_chose_size('score_text') \
@@ -736,7 +737,7 @@ class SportsCoreSharedMixin:
                     if _size <= current:
                         continue
                     _path = _resolve_font_path(f"assets/fonts/{_name}")
-                    _candidate = ImageFont.truetype(_path, _size)
+                    _candidate = load_truetype(_path, _size)
                     if probe.textlength(self._SCORE_PROBE_TEXT,
                                         font=_candidate) <= budget:
                         fonts['score'] = _candidate
@@ -751,7 +752,7 @@ class SportsCoreSharedMixin:
                 if ceiling and size >= ceiling:
                     size = max(grid, ceiling - grid)
                 if size != getattr(fonts['time'], 'size', size):
-                    fonts['time'] = ImageFont.truetype(path, size)
+                    fonts['time'] = load_truetype(path, size)
         except Exception:
             self.logger.debug("Headline font scaling skipped", exc_info=True)
         return fonts

src/common/text_helper.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 
 # Shared throwaway draw surface for measuring text without a target canvas.
 _measure_draw = ImageDraw.Draw(Image.new("RGB", (1, 1)))
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ class TextHelper:
                 size = config['size']
                 
                 if font_path.exists():
-                    font = ImageFont.truetype(str(font_path), size)
+                    font = load_truetype(str(font_path), size)
                     fonts[font_name] = font
                     self.logger.debug(f"Loaded font: {font_name} ({font_path}, size {size})")
                 else:

src/display_manager.py

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ else:
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 import threading
 import time
 from collections import OrderedDict
@@ -55,6 +56,31 @@ from src.common.permission_utils import (
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)  # Set to INFO level
 
+#: The strike 5x7.bdf is drawn at. FreeType renders a BDF at its own fixed
+#: size regardless, but a Face needs an active size before its metrics --
+#: and therefore get_font_height() -- report anything but 0.
+_CALENDAR_FONT_PX = 7
+
+
+def _bdf_native_size(face) -> int:
+    """The pixel height a BDF Face declares, or 0 if it does not say.
+
+    Used only to rescue a Face that was built without ``set_char_size``, so a
+    zero line height never reaches layout code.
+    """
+    try:
+        sizes = getattr(face, "available_sizes", None) or []
+        if sizes:
+            return int(getattr(sizes[0], "height", 0) or 0)
+    except (AttributeError, IndexError, TypeError, ValueError) as exc:
+        # This runs on the measurement path for a face the caller already
+        # holds, so a malformed strike table must degrade to "unknown" rather
+        # than take the display down. Say which face, so a font that is
+        # actually broken is diagnosable rather than silently 8px.
+        logger.debug("Could not read BDF strike size from %r: %s", face, exc)
+    return 0
+
+
 
 class _LogicalMatrix:
     """Proxy that reports a logical (per-screen) size for a physical matrix.
@@ -377,7 +403,7 @@ class DisplayManager:
             
             # Initialize font with Press Start 2P
             try:
-                self.font = ImageFont.truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
+                self.font = load_truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
                 logger.info("Initial Press Start 2P font loaded successfully")
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.error(f"Failed to load initial font: {e}")
@@ -557,19 +583,33 @@ class DisplayManager:
                     pass
 
     def _fitting_font(self, lines, width):
-        """The largest font from the usual ladder that fits every line."""
+        """The largest font from the usual ladder that fits every line.
+
+        The ladder ends at 4x6 at 5px because a full dotted-quad address --
+        "255.255.255.255", the widest this screen ever shows -- is 66px at
+        6px and a 64px panel has 62 to give it. That used to squeak in only
+        because the measurement depended on which text layout engine the host
+        Pillow had; with the engine pinned it does not, so the rung the
+        worst case actually needs is here rather than implied.
+        """
         candidates = [self.font,
-                      ("assets/fonts/4x6-font.ttf", 6)]
+                      ("assets/fonts/4x6-font.ttf", 6),
+                      ("assets/fonts/4x6-font.ttf", 5)]
+        narrowest = None
         for candidate in candidates:
             try:
                 font = candidate
                 if isinstance(candidate, tuple):
-                    font = ImageFont.truetype(candidate[0], candidate[1])
+                    font = load_truetype(candidate[0], candidate[1])
+                narrowest = font
                 if all(self.draw.textlength(t, font=font) <= width for t in lines):
                     return font
             except (OSError, ValueError, AttributeError):
                 continue
-        return self.font
+        # Nothing fit. Return the smallest face that loaded, not self.font --
+        # falling back to the widest option is how "Initializing" ran off the
+        # side of a 64px panel in the first place.
+        return narrowest or self.font
 
     def _draw_startup_banner(self, lines, width: int, height: int) -> None:
         """Centre `lines` over whatever the test pattern already drew.
@@ -933,11 +973,11 @@ class DisplayManager:
         self._text_width_cache.clear()
         try:
             # Load Press Start 2P font
-            self.regular_font = ImageFont.truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
+            self.regular_font = load_truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
             logger.info("Press Start 2P font loaded successfully")
             
             # Use the same font for small text (currently same size; adjust size here if needed)
-            self.small_font = ImageFont.truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
+            self.small_font = load_truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 8)
             logger.info("Press Start 2P small font loaded successfully")
 
             # Load 5x7 BDF font for calendar events
@@ -950,6 +990,17 @@ class DisplayManager:
                 
                 # Load with freetype for proper BDF handling
                 face = freetype.Face(self.calendar_font_path)
+                # A freshly constructed Face has no active size, so
+                # face.size.height is 0 until set_char_size is called -- and
+                # get_font_height() reads exactly that. Without this, every
+                # caller measuring the 5x7 face got 0 and stacked rows on top
+                # of one another; the "Calendar font size: 0 pixels" line
+                # below has been printing the symptom on every start-up.
+                # font_manager._load_bdf_font already does this; the two paths
+                # disagreed about whether a Face was usable for measurement.
+                # 5x7.bdf is a fixed strike, so FreeType renders 7px whatever
+                # is asked for -- this sets the metrics, not the raster.
+                face.set_char_size(_CALENDAR_FONT_PX * 64, _CALENDAR_FONT_PX * 64, 72, 72)
                 logger.info(f"5x7 calendar font loaded successfully from {self.calendar_font_path}")
                 logger.info(f"Calendar font size: {face.size.height >> 6} pixels")
                 
@@ -970,7 +1021,7 @@ class DisplayManager:
             try:
                 font_path = "assets/fonts/4x6-font.ttf"
                 logger.info(f"Attempting to load 4x6 TTF font from: {font_path} at size 6")
-                self.extra_small_font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, 6)
+                self.extra_small_font = load_truetype(font_path, 6)
                 logger.info(f"4x6 TTF extra small font loaded successfully from {font_path}")
             except Exception as font_err:
                 logger.error(f"Failed to load 4x6 TTF font: {font_err}. Falling back.")
@@ -1028,7 +1079,13 @@ class DisplayManager:
         try:
             if isinstance(font, freetype.Face):
                 # For FreeType faces (BDF), the 'height' metric gives the recommended line spacing.
-                return font.size.height >> 6
+                height = font.size.height >> 6
+                if height:
+                    return height
+                # A Face constructed without set_char_size reports 0, and a
+                # zero line height collapses every stacked row onto one line.
+                # Fall back to the strike the file declares.
+                return _bdf_native_size(font) or 8
             else:
                 # For PIL TTF fonts, getmetrics() provides ascent and descent.
                 # The line height is the sum of ascent and descent.

src/element_style.py

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 from PIL import ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 
 try:
     import freetype
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ def load_font(font_name: str, size: int) -> Any:
             face.set_char_size(size * 64, size * 64, 72, 72)
             font: Any = face
         else:
-            font = ImageFont.truetype(path, size)
+            font = load_truetype(path, size)
     except Exception as e:
         logger.warning("Error loading font %s at %spx: %s, using fallback",
                        path, size, e)
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ def _load_fallback_font(size: int) -> Any:
         if cached is not None:
             return cached
         try:
-            font = ImageFont.truetype(path, size)
+            font = load_truetype(path, size)
             _font_cache[cache_key] = font
             return font
         except Exception as e:

src/font_manager.py

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import time
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 from typing import Dict, Tuple, Optional, Union, Any, List
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -479,7 +480,7 @@ class FontManager:
                 if font_path.endswith('.bdf'):
                     font = self._load_bdf_font(font_path, size_px)
                 else:
-                    font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, size_px)
+                    font = load_truetype(font_path, size_px)
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.error(f"Error loading font {font_path}: {e}")
                 self.performance_stats["failed_loads"] += 1
@@ -859,7 +860,7 @@ class FontManager:
                 return {"valid": True, "type": "bdf", "family": "unknown"}
             elif font_path.endswith('.ttf'):
                 # Try to load TTF font
-                ImageFont.truetype(font_path, 12)
+                load_truetype(font_path, 12)
                 return {"valid": True, "type": "ttf", "family": "unknown"}
             else:
                 return {"valid": False, "error": "Unsupported font format"}

src/logo_downloader.py

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import json
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 from PIL.PngImagePlugin import PngInfo
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
@@ -747,7 +748,7 @@ class LogoDownloader:
             
             # Try to load a font, fallback to default
             try:
-                font = ImageFont.truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 12)
+                font = load_truetype("assets/fonts/PressStart2P-Regular.ttf", 12)
             except (OSError, IOError):
                 try:
                     font = ImageFont.load_default()

src/plugin_system/testing/visual_display_manager.py

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, List, Optional, Tuple
 
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+from src.common.font_layout import load_truetype
 
 from src.logging_config import get_logger
 
@@ -141,8 +142,8 @@ class VisualTestDisplayManager:
 
             # Press Start 2P — regular and small (both 8px)
             ttf_path = str(fonts_dir / 'PressStart2P-Regular.ttf')
-            self.regular_font = ImageFont.truetype(ttf_path, 8)
+            self.regular_font = load_truetype(ttf_path, 8)
-            self.small_font = ImageFont.truetype(ttf_path, 8)
+            self.small_font = load_truetype(ttf_path, 8)
             self.font = self.regular_font  # alias used by some code paths
 
             # 5x7 BDF font via freetype
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ class VisualTestDisplayManager:
             # 4x6 extra small TTF
             try:
                 xs_path = str(fonts_dir / '4x6-font.ttf')
-                self.extra_small_font = ImageFont.truetype(xs_path, 6)
+                self.extra_small_font = load_truetype(xs_path, 6)
             except (FileNotFoundError, OSError) as e:
                 logger.debug("Extra small font not available, using fallback: %s", e)
                 self.extra_small_font = self.small_font