What's new in this release 1.1.1

• Fixed issues: 4, 16, 17, 19 and 20
• Complete online help
• Java runtime 1.5 update 3 included
• Possibility to use the OpenGL acceleration
• Improved navigation for small or very high images
• Error messages when the project is not saved or loaded properly
• Resolve image paths in the project
• Read float, double and 16 bits per channel images (converted in 8 b/channel)
• Fixed some minors bugs

Installation instructions of JMicroVision 1.1.1

Uninstall the version 1.1.0 before installing the new version.

Windows Instructions:

1. Right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..."
2. After downloading, double-click JMicroVision-v111-win32.exe
3. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard to complete the installation.

Note: Sometimes, on win 9x/Me system, the installer stops with a "null" installation message (fails to create folder). Workarounds: choose an existing folder or run the installer a second time with the same destination folder.

Uninstall: Start > Program Files > JMicroVision 1.1 > Uninstall JMicroVision 1.1

Start in console mode: Start > Program Files > JMicroVision 1.1 > Start with MS-DOS

Linux Instructions:

1. Right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..."
2. After downloading, set the execute permissions: type chmod u+x JMicroVision-v111-linux.bin in a Terminal screen
3. Double-click JMicroVision-v111-linux.bin or type ./JMicroVision-v111-linux.bin in a Terminal screen
4. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard to complete the installation.

Note: JMicroVision cannot be launched if the installed directory structure contains space characters. On machines with Linux Mandrake, if the "bc" utility is not installed, the installer will not work.

Uninstall: In the "All Applications" menu JMicroVision 1.1 > Uninstall JMicroVision 1.1 or in the install directory of JMicroVision 1.1, enter in the directory _uninst and type ./uninstaller.bin in a Terminal screen.

Start in console mode: In the install directory of JMicroVision 1.1, type ./JMVision.bin -is:javaconsole in a Terminal screen.

Solaris X86 Instructions:

1. Right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..."
2. After downloading, set the execute permissions: type chmod u+x JMicroVision-v111-solarisx86.bin in a Terminal screen
3. Double-click JMicroVision-v111-solarisx86.bin or type ./JMicroVision-v111-solarisx86.bin in a Terminal screen

Uninstall: Use the "Uninstall JMicroVision 1.1" shortcut or in the install directory of JMicroVision 1.1, enter in the directory _uninst and double-click uninstaller.bin file or type ./uninstaller.bin in a Terminal screen.

Start in console mode: In the install directory of JMicroVision 1.1, type ./JMVision.bin -is:javaconsole in a Terminal screen

Mac OS X Instructions:

1. Requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later and J2SE 5.0 must be installed
2. Click on the link to save "JMicroVision-v111-mac.zip"
3. Extract the application from the archive and use it as a common OS X application

Uninstall: Delete the application.

Generic or Other Platforms Instructions:

1. Right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..."
2. After downloading, extract the archive with an unzip application or use the java command jar xf. Example: <jdk>/bin/jar xf JMicroVision-v111-generic.jar

Note: You need to install a Java 1.5.0 (or later) virtual machine (JRE) and JAI 1.2 (for JRE) before lauching JMicroVision.

Launch JMicrovision: Start a console, go to the directory which contains all the extracted files and type the java command (refer to the java documentation for the platform specific use of the java command).

System Requirements

• Any platforms supporting Java 1.5 and JAI (Java Advanced Imaging), but Windows, Linux, Solaris and Mac OS X (partially) have a native acceleration that improves the performance.
• 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended for handling large images)
• 60-90 MB available disk space (includes Java Virtual Machine)

Optimize Performance

Memory Management

The initial Java heap size sets the amount of memory that is initially reserved for the application, while the maximum Java heap size determines the largest amount of memory the application will be allowed to consume. Optimal settings for these options are dependent on several issues such as the Java runtime you are using and the actual physical configuration of your machine.

Open the JMVision.ja file located in the install directory with a text editor and change the values of the heap size. Default values (64 for initial and 384 for maximum) are suitable for a machine with 512 MB of RAM. For instance, if you have a computer with 256 MB of RAM, the values must be changed to 32 MB (initial) and 128 (maximum) to avoid memory swapping. But with 128 MB of maximum heap size, some operations like converting or saving images may result in a "out of memory" message of the Java runtime.

Note: These changes take effect when you restart JMicroVision. Before editing the JMVision.ja file, it is safer to make a backup. In Generic or Other Platforms distribution, the JMVision.ja does not have any effect, only the command parameters (-Xms and -Xmx) define the heap size values.

Note: On Mac OS X, the JMVision.ja does not have any effect too. Control-click on JMicroVision in the Finder and choose “Show Package Contents”. This will open a folder that contains a folder called “Contents”. Open the Info.pList file in a text editor and change the heap size values (-Xms and -Xmx).

The cache memory for tiles is the memory used to store the image tiles for future requests. Each tile can be processed and stored separately. Previously allocated tiles may also be re-used to save memory. Tiling improves the performance and facilitates the use of multiple threads for computation.

When loading an image, JMicroVision asks to convert the image to a tiled TIFF format, which is a format with a tiled data structure. As a result, each tile can be loaded separately in memory (without a tiled format, the whole image would be loaded).

The value of the cache memory for tiles essentially depends on the maximum Java heap size. The best value is the maximum Java heap size minus the memory required by the application (generally 20 to 100 MB, it can be more when converting very large images; cache memory used by images is not included). The used memory is the total memory used by the application.

Using OpenGL for Java 2D

J2SE 5.0 includes a new OpenGL-based pipeline for Java 2D. This pipeline provides hardware acceleration for simple rendering operations (text, images, lines and filled primitives) as well as those that involve complex transforms, paints, composites and clips. This pipeline is available on Solaris, Linux and Windows platforms (not yet on Mac OS X) and is currently disabled by default (-Dsun.java2d.opengl=false).

To enable the OpenGL acceleration, open the JMVision.ja file located in the install directory with a text editor and change the values "false" by "true" (-Dsun.java2d.opengl=true).

Note: These changes take effect when you restart JMicroVision. Before editing the JMVision.ja file, it is safer to make a backup. In Generic or Other Platforms distribution, the JMVision.ja does not have any effect, use the VM option command "-Dsun.java2d.opengl=true".

Note: Some graphics drivers might cause rendering artifacts or very slow rendering in JMicroVision. Try to install the latest OpenGL drivers provided by your graphics hardware manufacturer. If it doesn't work, set back the option to "-Dsun.java2d.opengl=false".