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u8g2optimization

Paul Melnikov edited this page Sep 1, 2021 · 13 revisions

RAM Optimization

On AVR systems, use the Arduino F() macro. U8g2 supports the Arduino print function, which accepts the F() macro.

A simple example for the F() macro is available as an example:

https://github.com/olikraus/u8g2/blob/master/sys/arduino/u8g2_page_buffer/PrintHelloWorld/PrintHelloWorld.ino

A more complex example is here:

https://github.com/olikraus/u8g2/blob/master/sys/arduino/u8g2_page_buffer/PrintProgmem/PrintProgmem.ino

Flash Memory Optimization

Font Optimization

Usually U8g2 fonts are available in different sizes (number of glyphs included in the font). The last letter of the font name indicates the character set (and the size) of the fonts.

Font Name Character Set
u8g2_xxx_xe Extended: Glyphs with unicode 32 to 701 are included in the font (v2.16.x will also include big ß)
u8g2_xxx_xf Full: Glyphs with unicode 32 to 255 are included in the font
u8g2_xxx_xr Restricted: Only characters from 32 to 127 are included
u8g2_xxx_xu Uppercase: Numbers and uppercase letters
u8g2_xxx_xn Numbers and some extra glyphs for date and time printing are included
u8g2_xxx_x_something Special selection of glyphs. See the font picture for details.

For example if only a number needs to be displayed with a font, then the font should contain only numbers. In such a case, it is better to select a n font to avoid the allocation of unneeded chars in the flash memory.

Each font picture also includes the number of bytes, occupied by the font in flash memory (upper part of the picture, third line):

fntpic/u8g2_font_4x6_tr.png

These pictures are available on the font group pages for each font.

If there is no proper set, you can always create your own custom font with exactly those characters, which are required for your project (see FAQ)

See also: setFont

U8g2 Feature Selection

U8g2 includes many features and includes several speed optimization procedures. Sometimes speed is not critical or some features are not required. In those cases, the user can disable such features in u8g2.h:

Search for u8g2.h on your local drive. For the Arduino Environment, u8g2.h should be in the subfolder libraries/U8g2_Arduino/src/clib of your Arduino custom library folder.

The location of this custom library folder might be different on operating system and Arduino IDE. It might be C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\ on Windows OS or ~/Arduino/Libraries for Unix based systems. Some other pathes are mentioned on the Arduino library hacking page.

All features names start with U8G2_WITH_. A feature is enabled with a #define of the feature name. It is disabled if the #define is put into comments.

Feature Name Description
U8G2_WITH_HVLINE_SPEED_OPTIMIZATION Enables speed optimization for pixel buffer writes.
U8G2_WITH_INTERSECTION Enables speed optimization by early intersection tests for high level graphics primitives.
U8G2_WITH_CLIP_WINDOW_SUPPORT Enables support for a custom clip window. If disabled, clipping will happen only against the display boundaries.
U8G2_WITH_FONT_ROTATION Enables string output to all four directions. If disabled, strings can be written only from left to right.
U8G2_WITH_UNICODE Enables support for Unicode Basic Multilingual Plane.

By default all the above features are enabled. The following table gives an idea on the flash memory reduction, if one or more features are disabled:

Flash Reduction Disabled Feature
8732 default, all features active
8500 -2.65% no U8G2_WITH_CLIP_WINDOW_SUPPORT
8316 -4.76% no U8G2_WITH_FONT_ROTATION
8606 -1.44% no U8G2_WITH_UNICODE
8692 -0.45% no U8G2_WITH_INTERSECTION
8328 -4.62% no U8G2_WITH_INTERSECTION no U8G2_WITH_CLIP_WINDOW_SUPPORT
8718 -4.86% no U8G2_WITH_HVLINE_SPEED_OPTIMIZATION
8026 -8.08% no U8G2_WITH_FONT_ROTATION no U8G2_WITH_INTERSECTION no U8G2_WITH_CLIP_WINDOW_SUPPORT

Numbers are derived from:

  • Arduino 1.84, U8g2 2.23, Arduino Uno
  • U8G2_SSD1306_128X64_NONAME_1_4W_HW_SPI