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# Adaptive Layout & Font Scaling
`src/adaptive_layout.py` lets a plugin render legibly on **any ** panel size
(64x32, 128x32, 96x48, 128x64, 256x64, ...) without hand-tuned per-display
layouts. It is **opt-in ** : nothing changes for plugins that don't use it.
It generalizes three patterns proven in the plugin ecosystem:
| Pattern | Origin | Core API |
|---|---|---|
| Geometry scale factor vs. a design size | f1-scoreboard | `ctx.px(base)` / `ctx.scale` |
| Breakpoint tiers | masters-tournament | `ctx.tier` / `ctx.by_tier({...})` |
| "Largest crisp font that fits" ladder | baseball-scoreboard | `ctx.fit_text(...)` and friends |
## Quick start
Every `BasePlugin` has a lazy `self.layout` (a `LayoutContext` for the
current logical display size, rebuilt automatically if the size changes)
and a one-liner `self.draw_fit(...)` :
``` python
def display ( self , force_clear = False ) :
from src . adaptive_layout import LADDER_ARCADE
b = self . layout . bounds . inset ( 1 ) # Region(0,0,W,H) minus 1px margin
rows = b . split_v ( 3 , 1 , 1 , gap = 1 ) # 3/5 for time, 1/5 each for the rest
self . draw_fit ( self . time_str , rows [ 0 ] , ladder = LADDER_ARCADE )
self . draw_fit ( self . weekday , rows [ 1 ] ) # default LADDER_GRID
self . draw_fit ( self . date_str , rows [ 2 ] )
self . display_manager . update_display ( )
```
On 128x64 the time renders at press_start 24px; on 64x32 it steps down to
8px. The rows partition the height, so bands can never overlap — no more
`y = height - 7` magic numbers.
## Region — rect algebra
`Region(x, y, w, h)` is a frozen dataclass. All carving clamps to
non-negative dimensions, so degenerate panels behave.
- Carving: `inset(dx, dy)` , `top_band(h)` , `bottom_band(h)` ,
`middle(top_h, bottom_h)` , `left_col(w)` , `right_col(w)` ,
`split_h(*weights, gap=0)` , `split_v(*weights, gap=0)`
- Placement: `align_xy(w, h, align, valign)` , `center_xy(w, h)` ,
`contains(w, h)` , `.center` , `.right` , `.bottom`
Scoreboard-style layout:
``` python
b = self . layout . bounds
status = b . top_band ( self . layout . px ( 7 ) )
detail = b . bottom_band ( self . layout . px ( 7 ) )
score_area = b . middle ( status . h , detail . h )
away_slot , home_slot = b . left_col ( b . h ) , b . right_col ( b . h )
```
## Font ladders — discrete, never fractional
Pixel fonts (BDF, PressStart2P) only look right at native/integer sizes, so
fonts are never scaled continuously. A `FontLadder` is an ordered tuple of
`FontStep(family, size_px)` rungs, largest first; fitting walks down until
the measured text fits.
- `LADDER_GRID` (default): X11 BDFs at native sizes — 10x20 → 9x18 → 9x15 →
8x13 → 7x13 → 6x13 → 6x12 → 6x10 → 6x9 → 5x8 → 5x7 → 4x6 → tom-thumb.
Body text, labels, multi-row content.
- `LADDER_ARCADE` : PressStart2P at 32/24/16/8 (integer multiples of its 8px
grid). Headline text: clocks, scores.
Custom ladders are just tuples — e.g. to add your plugin's registered font
on top: `(FontStep("myplugin::digits", 16),) + LADDER_GRID` .
## LayoutContext
Built per (width, height); exposes facts and fit queries:
- `bounds` , `width` , `height` , `aspect`
- `tier` by height (`xs` ≤16, `sm` ≤32, `md` ≤48, `lg` ≤64, `xl` ) and
`width_tier` (`narrow` ≤64, `normal` ≤128, `wide` ≤256, `ultrawide` )
- `is_wide_short` — aspect ≥ 2.5 and height ≤ 32 (the classic 128x32 shape)
- `scale` — `min(w/design_w, h/design_h)` vs. your manifest's
`display.design_size` (default 128x32). **Geometry only ** — gaps, icon
and logo sizes via `px(base, minimum, maximum)` ; fonts use ladders.
- `by_tier({"sm": 10, "lg": 18})` — value for the nearest defined tier
at-or-below the panel's tier.
- `fit_text(text, box, ladder, ellipsis=True)` → `FitResult` — largest rung
that fits; ellipsizes as a last resort. Cached per (text, box, ladder).
- `fit_text_proportional(text, box, base_size_px, ladder, ellipsis=True, scale=None)` —
rung closest to (not exceeding) `base_size_px * scale` , still capped to
what fits the box. Use this instead of `fit_text` when several
independently-fitted elements need to stay visually harmonious as the
panel grows — `fit_text` maximizes * each one * within its own region,
which can make one element (e.g. a score with a generous box) balloon
out of proportion to a neighbor that scales by geometry (e.g. logos
sized via `px()` ), even though each individual pick is "correct" in
isolation. `base_size_px` is normally the element's existing classic/
fixed font size. `scale` defaults to `self.scale` (the conservative
min-of-both-axes factor `px()` uses); pass an axis-specific value when
the surrounding composition already scales that way — e.g. a scoreboard
whose logo slots track height alone (`min(height, width // 2)` ) should
size its text by `height / design_height` too, or the text reads as
under-scaled next to bigger logos on a panel that only grew taller.
- `fit_lines(lines, box, ladder, spacing)` — every line fits the width and
the stack fits the height (measures the actual strings).
- `font_for_rows(rows, box_h, ladder)` — largest rung whose line height
fits `rows` rows.
`FitResult` carries the ready-to-use `font` (drops straight into
`display_manager.draw_text(font=...)` ), the possibly-ellipsized `text` ,
ink `width` /`height` , `baseline` , `y_offset` , `line_height` , and `fits` .
## Adaptive images
`src/adaptive_images.py` is the image counterpart to `fit_text` , exposed as
`self.layout.fit_image(...)` (cached per panel size) and the one-liner
`self.draw_image(...)` :
``` python
# Team logo: trim its transparent padding, fill the slot height (the
# football/hockey pattern), cached across frames by a stable key
self . draw_image ( logo , regs . away_slot , mode = " fill_height " ,
crop_to_ink = True , cache_key = f " logo: { abbr } " )
# Album art: cover-crop a square, faces kept by the top anchor
self . draw_image ( art , row . art , mode = " cover " , anchor = " top " )
# Pixel flags / sprite icons: NEAREST keeps hard edges
from src . adaptive_images import RESAMPLE_NEAREST
self . draw_image ( flag , box , resample = RESAMPLE_NEAREST )
```
Modes: `contain` (letterbox, default), `cover` (crop-to-fill),
`fill_height` (logo-style), `stretch` . Unlike PIL's `thumbnail()`
(downscale-only — why imagery stays tiny on big panels) fitting **upscales
by default**; pass `upscale=False` for the legacy behavior. Results are
cached per (image, box size, options) with a bounded LRU — always pass a
stable `cache_key` (e.g. `"logo:KC"` ) for images you reload. The module
also exports the Pillow-compat `RESAMPLE_LANCZOS` /`RESAMPLE_NEAREST`
constants so plugins can drop their local shims.
## Composite layouts
Pre-carved Region arrangements for the layouts plugins keep rebuilding:
``` python
from src . adaptive_layout import scoreboard_regions , media_row
regs = scoreboard_regions ( self . layout . bounds , ctx = self . layout )
# regs.away_slot / home_slot — logo slots (logo_slot = min(H, W // 2),
# capped so a center reserve always exists —
# see below)
# regs.status_band — top band (replaces the magic y = 1)
# regs.score_area — center gap, plus a controlled bleed into
# each logo slot (replaces y = H//2 - 3)
# regs.detail_band — bottom band (replaces y = H - 7)
# regs.bottom_left / bottom_right — record/timeout corners
row = media_row ( self . layout . bounds , ctx = self . layout ) # art left, text right
```
Both work on the full panel or on a scroll-mode card Region. They return
Regions and never draw — compose them with `draw_fit` /`draw_image` .
* * `scoreboard_regions` 's center reserve.** The raw `logo_slot = min(H, W//2)`
formula has a blind spot: at exactly 2:1 aspect ratio (width = 2×
two, four, or more square modules stacked into a taller panel, e.g.
96x48, 128x64, 256x128) the two logo slots mathematically claim the
* entire * width, leaving zero pixels for a center column no matter how
big the panel gets. Wide panels (the 128x32 design baseline, 192x48,
256x32) never hit this, since height is already the tighter constraint
there. Two parameters fix it without any plugin-side code:
`min_center_fraction` /`min_center_design_px` guarantee a real minimum
center reserve at any aspect ratio, and `score_bleed_fraction` lets the
score's * fit box * extend a controlled amount into each logo slot — the
same way a real broadcast scoreboard's numbers cross slightly into the
team marks flanking them — so a short score string never has to truncate
even on the tightest aspect ratios. All three have sane defaults; override
them per call if a plugin's card proportions genuinely differ.
## Preserving user customization
Adaptive layout supplies * defaults * ; explicit user configuration wins:
- **User-set fonts win.** If the plugin's config has an explicit
`font` /`font_size` for an element, load it as before and skip the ladder —
fit only when the user hasn't overridden (see the football-scoreboard
`_resolve_element_fit` pattern).
- **Offsets apply on top.** `customization.layout.<element>.{x_offset,y_offset}`
style knobs translate the * computed * region as a final step:
`region.offset(user_dx, user_dy)` . `draw_image(..., offset=(dx, dy))`
does the same for images.
- **Colors pass through.** `draw_fit` /`draw_fitted_text` take explicit
`color=` params; adaptive mode never repaints semantic or user-chosen
colors.
## Manifest declaration
Declare the size your layout was authored against so `ctx.scale` means
something:
``` json
"display" : { "design_size" : { "width" : 128 , "height" : 32 } }
```
Also available under `requires.display_size` : `min_width` , `min_height` ,
`max_width` , `max_height` .
## Performance notes (Pi)
Fit queries are cached, so cost is O(unique strings). For per-second text
(clocks, live scores), fit on a **shape placeholder ** and reuse the font:
``` python
fit = self . layout . fit_text ( " 00:00 " , box , ladder = LADDER_ARCADE ) # cached once
self . display_manager . draw_text ( current_time , font = fit . font , . . . )
```
## Testing across sizes
The harness already renders every plugin at a spread of sizes (now
including 96x48):
``` bash
python scripts/check_plugin.py <plugin-dir> --sizes 64x32,128x32,96x48,128x64,256x64
python scripts/render_plugin.py <plugin-dir> --width 96 --height 48
```
`BoundsCheckingDisplayManager` flags right/bottom overflow and now records
mediated draw calls with negative coordinates in
`negative_coordinate_calls` (raw-PIL draws remain uncovered).
Reference migration: the **text-display ** plugin's `font_mode: "auto"` .
ChuckBuilds