U8x8 Fonts !!top!! Review

Though packed into an 8x8 container, the actual glyphs are tiny. This allows you to space characters manually or embed micro-indicators.

Unlike the standard U8g2 library, which renders fonts pixel-by-pixel using a memory-intensive RAM frame buffer, the U8x8 library tile-renders text directly to the display controller.

Studying the bitmap data from existing working fonts (located in the u8x8_fonts.c file) is an excellent way to understand how the pixel arrangement should be structured. Seeing how pixels are drawn on a working font helps you understand the correct data representation.

Standard graphics libraries require a frame buffer in RAM to render shapes and text before pushing them to the screen. U8x8 requires almost no RAM because it writes directly to the display hardware. u8x8 fonts

Every character fits into an 8-pixel wide by 8-pixel tall block (or multiples thereof, like 8x16). Why Use U8x8 Fonts Instead of U8g2?

Use drawString(column, row, text) to place text on the screen. The display is divided into columns (0-15) and rows (0-7 for a 128x64 display).

The U8x8 font format originated in the early days of computer graphics, when memory and processing power were scarce. The 8x8 pixel grid was chosen as a compromise between font size, readability, and memory usage. Over the years, U8x8 fonts have been widely used in various applications, including video games, calculators, and other embedded systems. Though packed into an 8x8 container, the actual

There are legitimate use cases where a project might need both the graphics capabilities of U8g2 and the lightweight text rendering of U8x8. For instance, one might want to display sensor data using U8x8 for speed and memory efficiency while also showing simple graphical elements such as frames or progress bars using U8g2.

// Example for SSD1306 128x64 I2C OLED U8X8_SSD1306_128X64_NONAME_HW_I2C u8x8(/* reset=*/ U8X8_PIN_NONE);

Draw your font characters using a pixel editor or a spreadsheet grid. Studying the bitmap data from existing working fonts

// Define the font data const uint8_t font_data[] = // Font data for character 'A' 0b00000000, 0b00000000, 0b00000000, 0b00000000, 0b00000000, 0b00001110, 0b00001110, 0b00001110, 0b00000000, 0b00010001, 0b00010001, 0b00010001, 0b00000000, 0b00001110, 0b00001110, 0b00001110, ;

// 1. Set the font u8x8.setFont(u8x8_font_pressstart2p_r);