SUUNTO Plus Weather screen : Proposal of improvement

Mister PYC · 15 Aug 2021, 11:05

Hello, a small post on the Suunto plus weather screen which I like a lot but I feel could be even better.
The same problem that I feel in many many suunto screens … the fonts used are too small, the curve weight are too thin … it looks very nice on paper and in optimal conditions but when there are difficulties for reading, you are tired, then the screen becomes difficult to read.

First of all a small criticism of the current screen :

All the informations displayed are very interresting but …
A drawing is better than a lot of text, so let’s see :

Now let’s make an alternative proposal

Still, I’m not totally statisfied by this version, the graph is interresting (BTW I like a lot the drawings which are much more interresting than textual info – I will demonstrate it in another post) … but … I could have even better …

Here it is :

The advantage here is that the curve has only one color, where each bar of the the bar graph could have its own color, so allowing to see where the pressure is considered as anticyclonic or depression …

Now let’s do the following exercises …

…
…
…

Move back from your computer by 4 or 5 meters and observe the 3 screens …

this is the same as looking to your watch screen …

So …
What do you think ?

For me

informations is more easy to read even if bad eyes / poor visibility conditions
the graph scale being “fixed” when the graph is up I’m sure it is an anticyclonic situation and when it is down a depression
I even prefer the bar graph because the colors ease the brain to catch the trend … of course a graph is also making it but the brain react faster to colors and for people who do not see correctly colors the bar graph is still a graph …

Mister PYC · 15 Aug 2021, 11:26

@mister-pyc By the way, why this screen does not become a standard screen available both allways but also as an exercise screen ?

DMytro · 15 Aug 2021, 11:59

@mister-pyc because the watch can’t handle so much computations I think. The same reason we’re only getting one s+ screen at a time.

Mister PYC · 15 Aug 2021, 12:25

@dmytro Humm … I disagree … why thinking it is handling so many computations ?

Imagine by just a press on the bottom button you arrive to this screen, it does not differ from showing the graph of heart beat, or altitude … so we could have this screen available
most of the information should be stored and not computed (this is the case for al the graph info)
I have not added any computations or additional information to the classical suunto plus weather screen …
Should the computation done often ? … humm … even if the computation is done only once per minute it is largely enough
last but not least, I assume that when the screen is not visible there is no computation done for it (only the classical capture of information that the watch already does)

Brad_Olwin · 15 Aug 2021, 12:46

@mister-pyc I believe that @DMytro is correct as the S9b is near the limit the watch processor can handle with one SPlus screen. When testing SuuntoPlus there were a significant number of watch crashes that the developers fixed. The weather screen is computing when not shown, as the O2 for the elevation is shown, and the time of sunset as well as an ETA if you have a route loaded.

Mister PYC · 15 Aug 2021, 13:04

@brad_olwin Interresting !!!. now the questions is : Is this not the issue. why doing many computations for a weather screen which display instantaneous – that can be gathered when the screen pops up – or static informations – is not changing during the same day --, this is the case for the T°, the atmospheric pressure, the sunrise and sunset (is not changing during the same day) , the past pressures which most surely are buffered in memory.
For which purpose should there be some recurrent background computations ?

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos · 15 Aug 2021, 13:24

I think people might mean memory not cpu. Yes extra screen = extra memory. Computation it depends.

Mister PYC · 15 Aug 2021, 23:25

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos OK clear… humm … I was dreaming to of it as a replacement of the current weather screen …

By the way, just do this exercise. take a distance of 5 meters from your computer and look to the 3 screens … which is the one you can still best catch information ?

I’m sure you will agree with me that the current one you cannot read anything anymore at 5 meters, whereas with better use of space, which allow to increase fonts and a graph where the axis is now fixed and the bargraph colors give some indication, then you can stil read.

Being at 5 meters from a computer screen is not so different than being at 50 cm from a watch screen.

juhis70 · 16 Aug 2021, 03:56

@mister-pyc 5 meter test is great. I’ve seen also your other proposals in this forum, and I personally think you should redesign all screens Now in many screens a lot of space is wasted, there is empty space plus too small fonts and thin lines, sometimes bad contast, poor choice of colors (sometimes I dream of “high contrast theme” as an option). My eyesight varies throughout the day, and sometimes it is almost impossible to read some texts. I have Suunto 5 and it’s “conservative” backlight adds to the readability problem.

Mister PYC · 16 Aug 2021, 06:22

@juhis70 Hello juhis70 thanks a lot for this very gentle post.

This is exactly what I’m trying to explain to Suunto team in many posts, you should not challenge the watch with your young super very good eyes but with the one of the normal users.

I’m exactly facing these situations either where my eyes are not totally good at certain moment of the day (generally in the early morning or at end of day when I’m more tired), or the conditions are not optimal and in any case I have 10/10 for far distance as I went to eyes surgery 10 years ago … but … for near distance my age is playing against me .

Exactly like you I’m not able to read many times the texts and very often I navigate inside the watch and click just because I start to know this watch by heart, so by guessing I’m at the right place.

I will suggest or may be develop a watch simulator in which I will put all my proposals for better using the space, also propose some alternatives navigation (in any case based on / just taking advantage of the already excellent navigation logic of Suunto which is far better that what I observed on a Garmin watch)

I do not know if you saw all my other posts.
In case you like some of them, please vote for them and also just leave a small msg with what you think. by mutualizing our ideas we can propose always better

Here a list of them, if you have some time go to see them :

Some much more interresting screens from main default clock screen when we pressing the middle button
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88330
A New configuration “large fonts” to improve readibility (or for visually impaired people)
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88448
A additional screen in personalized view targetting mountain activities
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88248
Having the capacity to order differently the screens + a COMPASS screen immediately available
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88662
Better display to select POIS … why not having LIBRARIES of POIS to group them ???
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88716
ANGEL MODE… When your watch detect you are lost and are out of route
https://forum.suunto.com/post/89777
One Field view in exercise
https://forum.suunto.com/post/90431
Watch face improvement - synthesis PYC
https://forum.suunto.com/post/89300
A full LIGTH theme that can easily switch to the DARK one
https://forum.suunto.com/post/89090
Proposals to add 2 types of POIs in the APP + 1 ALERT ME behavior on type DANGER
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88919
Screens around Altitude - having the approximative snow altitude - regrouping compass and altimeter
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88605
My 103’s year old great mother’s barometer
https://forum.suunto.com/post/88580
SUUNTO Plus Weather screen : Proposal of improvement
https://forum.suunto.com/post/91615

PS : I’m an old IT engineer, developping applications since now 1993 so with a good expertise n graphical user interface.

juhis70 · 16 Aug 2021, 07:07

@mister-pyc I just recently learned that posts can be voted here… I’ll look at your topics and vote around. I’m IT engineer/programmer, too, started in the 90s also. Windows 3.1, 95, Nokia mobile phones, etc. I was also a teacher of programming. Retired 10 years ago (got multiple sclerosis).

Mister PYC · 16 Aug 2021, 08:44

@juhis70 wahouuu excellent !!! by the way it seems the population of IT guys having a Suunto is super big … many people who talk here are IT
I started also in the 90th on windows 3.0, then 3.1 my nickname at that time was TRAP13 as I was the guy with the biggest number of core dump due memory faults due to C pointers which was causing the display of a trap 13 error … I promise I made a lot of progresses since then.

Let’s talk a little bit …

I love so much my Suunto 9 Baro !!!
Some people may think I’m very criticizing Suunto but in fact I do all of this exactly for the reverse, it’s precisely because I like this watch and it has a huge potential that I love to suggest them some possible improvements.

I’m not a runner, neither competitor but I’m a mountainer since now 40 years, leaving in Annecy in the Alps where I’m practicing mountain climbing and skiing (classical but also cross country ? ??) since that time.
This is why all my posts are very oriented to mountain activities and thinking around them.

What I like in this forum : it is one of the rare where all the people are exchanging ideas with a lot of good thinking and positive attitude and the moderators are replying a lot, challenging your ideas which is a very good sign that they are interested by what you may suggest.

What I dream … one day to have a Suunto where the screen is fully occupiing all the size of the watch (there is 30% of space to win => see my post here : https://forum.suunto.com/post/88787)
and which is very military oriented.
Why military ??? Absolutelly not for the camo colors, I rather prefer the black but because when you think military, then you think super reliable, super efficient and super easy to use in hard conditions, easy read whatever condition you are, totally able to allow you to localise yourself on a map, allowing you to navigate even with no visibility, being able to be alerted on obstacles … etc etc …
BE TACTICAL !!!

I’m currently learning Angular, when I will be enough trained I will try to create a watchface demonstrator with all my ideas in which you may have the feeling to have a suunto and play with it …
It will take some times, may be for no results as I’m not a Suunto leader … but may be it could federate the ideas of myultiple people and help the Suunto people for their future release

Why I’m doing this … for free … for the pleasure of challenging myself … for the idea that tomorrow I will have even better