Liquid Multitouch Test

[Guest m106]

Hey Guys,

the first thing I did, after the update to the new leak, was to test the Multitouch ability of the Liquid with a App called "Multitouch Visible Test". Just as I expected, the Liquid has just a "self capacitance" Sensor like Nexus One and not a "mutual capacitance" like Droid or Milestone. I put a Video to Youtube where you can see the Multitouch Issue of the Liquid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE459aeUktA <-Acer Liquid Multitouch Test

And here is a Video, where you can the Multitouch ability of Nexus One and Droid:

<- YouTube - Motorola Droid vs Nexus One: Multitouch Test

If you want more Informations of the difference between "self capacitance" and "mutual capacitance" please read the pdf document file the Attachments.

self_vs_mutual_capacitance.pdf

[Guest bais]

That's sad yes, but I didn't even expect this phone to have Multi Touch, so I won't complain.

And anyway, the only app now that I had difficulty to use because of this MT problem is Pong Multitouch.

Gameboid works great and if there are like gameloft games it still will be playable because of the controls position on screen.

[Guest Borkata]

Sad news indeed :P Well I think this issue can be solved with additional software layer to recalculate coordinates and since N1 has same problem and many devs there will be fix maybe, which we can use for our liquids.

[Guest 7G HK]

Since Nexus one also got this problem, so someone think that the problem is about the tester.

btw, it's an additional function to Liquid, I don't ave any complain, too.

Edited April 5, 2010 by 7G HK

[Guest Mr.r9]

We all knew when we bought our Liquids that they weren't made from the best materials. But yeah I get what you are saying , I wish the same thing too :P

[Guest D.Rosendahl]

It can never be fully solved by a software layer (if you look at how the hardware works). It can however be improved a lot. I was tracking some robots at our university using some sensors in the walls and we implemented a solution that should work here. With the driver code available (and a compile/test environment setup) such a solution could be implemented in a few hours. We just have to wait and see if they actually release the real code this time.

(We were continuously tracking the movement of the robots while using some adaptive filters)

While investigating the sensor input I also realize that the single touch accuracy could probably be improved as well (especially around the borders). But I'm a little afraid that it in that case can be a trade off between accuracy and responsiveness.

[Guest three_pineapples]

"Interestingly, there is a hack in the framework (which is enabled on the Droid, but not on the N1) that can be enabled by setting config_filterTouchEvents. With it disabled (the default), I get the axis-flipping problem. Enabling it fixes this, but there are still issues with the points “sticking” when they cross." --Cyanogen

One would assume that the same thing can be applied with custom 2.1 ROM's for the acer liquid. Hell if we annoy acer about it enough before the officially release 2.1, they might even include the change for us...

While it won't be as good as the droid/milestone touchscreen, it should at least help!

Plus, it is only a problem IF the multitouch gesture has a non-symmetric orientation. Pinch to zoom is always fine since it just depends on the distance between the fingers. While it will be an issue in some games, Lifting a finger off briefly corrects the issue. And the issue only comes into effect when the touch points have a common axis.

It seems a case of, if you do this, and this, and then this, and it's been programmed like this, then you MAY have a problem. Note the bug does not always manifest itself on the N1 when you bring the touch points to a common axis and then move apart.

[Guest ahsid]

"Interestingly, there is a hack in the framework (which is enabled on the Droid, but not on the N1) that can be enabled by setting config_filterTouchEvents. With it disabled (the default), I get the axis-flipping problem. Enabling it fixes this, but there are still issues with the points “sticking” when they cross." --Cyanogen

Do we need the kernel sources to be able to acheive that ?

[Guest linuxluver]

That's sad yes, but I didn't even expect this phone to have Multi Touch, so I won't complain.

And anyway, the only app now that I had difficulty to use because of this MT problem is Pong Multitouch.

Gameboid works great and if there are like gameloft games it still will be playable because of the controls position on screen.

It is difficult to use Google Earth on the Acer Liquid.

The phone doesn't do multit-touch and also doesn't have a trackball or D-pad....so once you have zoomed in, there is no way to zoom out again!

If anyone know how to zoom out in Google Earth on Acer Liquid.....please let me know.

[Guest ahsid]

It is difficult to use Google Earth on the Acer Liquid.

The phone doesn't do multit-touch and also doesn't have a trackball or D-pad....so once you have zoomed in, there is no way to zoom out again!

If anyone know how to zoom out in Google Earth on Acer Liquid.....please let me know.

Sorry mate, but you do realize your a bit off topic here ?

(anyways, to get multitouch enabled in google earth, install the new bin, works like a charm :P )

[Guest Auxx]

This issue can be resolved in software for 99% of MT usage. Proper motion tracking will do the trick.

[Guest three_pineapples]

Do we need the kernel sources to be able to acheive that ?

I would imagine so, but there is a chance it could be done by hacking an existing ROM rather than compiling a new kernel. To be honest, i don't really know :P

[Guest ahsid]

I would imagine so, but there is a chance it could be done by hacking an existing ROM rather than compiling a new kernel. To be honest, i don't really know :P

Alright then, we have to keep this post alive until a dev comes and decides to do something about it :(

I just made the test with a Motorola Milestone, and yep, no problem there...

[Guest hailylin]

I think Acer Liquid use different MT panel then Milestone.

So use two point to control scaling, maybe the best they can do.

But better then no Multi-Touch, right!?

Compare with donut 1.6, the éclair officially support MT.

It is enough for me to update to 2.1. And enjoy by two finger scale the photo and browser.

[Guest ahsid]

Never said I was disappointed with my phone's touch capabilities, just a tiny bit frustrated... real multi-touch would be a nice plus (I don't especially like the pinching zoom thing). Anyways, I don't see any reason not to try to motivate a dev in trying to make that a real thing.

[Guest Auxx]

real multi-touch would be a nice plus (I don't especially like the pinching zoom thing).

What do you mean by real? You will be able to comfortably play and to type text. So what's more real?

[Guest alcap]

I don't get this... I have multitouch enabled on my device and it's working just great. Pinch zooming works like a charm, I can type really fast and I've typed long posts on my acer liquid.

What else do you want to do with your device?

[Guest Andy__P]

Have you watched the videos in the first post?

[Guest alcap]

Have you watched the videos in the first post?

Yeah, and? It works, doesn't it? What else can you ask??

You bought a smartphone for 300€ (at least I did). Of course it has cheaper materials that aren't as precise as other phones... But as long as it works, I'm not complaining!

Edited April 11, 2010 by alcap

[Guest ahsid]

Yeah, and? It works, doesn't it? What else can you ask??

You bought a smartphone for 300€ (at least I did). Of course it has cheaper materials that aren't as precise as other phones... But as long as it works, I'm not complaining!

Did you see anyone complaining ? We're just stating that the multi-touch capabilities of our phones are a bit limited, what's wrong with that ?

And to answer your questions, full multi-touch would be a plus for lost of applications (music, piano, pads, games...).

[Guest Andy__P]

Well your question sounded like you thought this thread was about multitouch not working at all so i pointed you to the videos. and yes i know this phone is relatively cheap and i'm happy about that. but it would be nice if it'd work properly.

[Guest ahsid]

Apparently an update is going to be pushed to the Nexus One and will solve the multitouch problem !!! Maybe someone will be able to port the mod to the liquid ;)

[Guest Borkata]

Apparently an update is going to be pushed to the Nexus One and will solve the multitouch problem !!! Maybe someone will be able to port the mod to the liquid ;)

Where have you read about this?

[Guest ahsid]

It's on the french website Frandroid.com

A guy called HTC's hotline about a screen problem, and they told him to wait for a imminent update that would :

-Unlock more ram

-Resolve "crazy screen" problems

-Correct multi-touch

-Activate color trackball

-Activate FM radio

[Guest Borkata]

It seems too good to be true ;) But let's hope it is not fake.