Interphase Twinscope Operation Manual page 21

Pre-Programmed Screen Displays
Rather than ask you to "build" different screen displays
Interphase Twinscope
while operating the unit, the Twinscope has seven of the
most valuable LCD screen displays pre-programmed into its
operating system memory. Thanks to the Multi-Tasking
operating system, each of these pre-programmed displays
(known as Views) are always being updated, regardless of
Control
which screen display is presently being used. This means,
Knob
for example, that the two Track Plotter's will continue to
plot and update your vessel's position - even while you're
looking at a Zoomed picture of the bottom! Similarly, even
while viewing your vessel's position on one of the Track
Plot displays, the digital and graphic depth screens are
simultaneously being updated in the background - ready for
immediate access. And, thanks to the lithium battery
memory backup, as described in the next section; ranges,
gain, zoom and other settings are remembered as you go
from View to View and are even remembered when you turn
the unit off.
Internal System Memory
There is nothing so frustrating as having your fishfinder re-
start when you start your boat's engine and having to
completely re-set the range, gain, contrast and all your other
settings. Because the Twinscope contains an internal
lithium memory battery, it remembers all system settings
with the power removed. When you turn your Twinscope
on, it will immediately start in the last View that you used,
complete with the proper range, zoom, gain and other
important settings. Instead of using a non-volatile RAM, a
lithium battery was used to ensure a long error-free memory
life. Most non-volatile RAM's exhibit increasing errors
with time and can become a serious problem after only
100,000 operations.
Cold Cathode Backlight
Pre-Programmed Screen Displays
The Twinscope has the best LCD backlight system
available. It uses a Cold Cathode Fluorescent lamp (CFL)
with exceptionally long life characteristics which greatly
exceed the more common electro-luminescent and
incandescent bulb backlights. In addition to its exceptional
reliability, the cold cathode lamp provides a much more
visible display than other backlight systems. Screen clarity
and contrast are greatly enhanced. The typical half-life
(when output brightness diminishes to 1/2 its original value)
of the cold cathode backlight is in excess of 20,000 hours.
A typical electro-luminescent panel, for comparison, has a
half life of only 2,000 hours!
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