Java, how to draw constantly changing graphics

Question

Have not done this before, so obviously I suck at it. Here 64 pixels around current mouse position get drawn little bigger on a form. Problem is, that it's 'kind of' to slow, and I have no idea where to start fixing.

Besides that, I made a thread, that constantly calls update graphics when it's finished and a little fps like text, to show really how fast things are drawn.

Image example: (Image is from letter 'a' in Eclipse)

Code example :

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public static class AwtZoom extends Frame {
    private BufferedImage image;
    private long timeRef = new Date().getTime();
    Robot robot = null;

    public AwtZoom() {
        super("Image zoom");
        setLocation(new Point(640, 0));
        setSize(400, 400);
        setVisible(true);
        final Ticker t = new Ticker();

        this.image = (BufferedImage) (this.createImage(320, 330));
        addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
            public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we) {
                t.done();
                dispose();
            }
        });
        try {
            robot = new Robot();
        } catch (AWTException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        t.start();
    }

    private class Ticker extends Thread {
        public boolean update = true;
        public void done() {
            update = false;
        }
        public void run() {
            try {

                while (update == true) {
                    update(getGraphics());
                    // try {
                    // Thread.sleep(200);
                    // } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    // e.printStackTrace();
                    // return;
                    // }
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {

                update=false;
            }
        }
    }

    public void update(Graphics g) {
        paint(g);
    }

    boolean isdone = true;
    public void paint(Graphics g) {
        if (isdone) {
            isdone=false;
            int step = 40;
            Point p = MouseInfo.getPointerInfo().getLocation();

            Graphics2D gc = this.image.createGraphics();

            try {

                for (int x = 0; x < 8; x++) {
                    for (int y = 0; y < 8; y++) {
                        gc.setColor(robot.getPixelColor(p.x - 4 + x, p.y
                                - 4 + y));
                        gc.fillOval(x * step, y * step, step - 3, step - 3);
                        gc.setColor(Color.GRAY);
                        gc.drawOval(x * step, y * step, step - 3, step - 3);
                    }
                }

            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            gc.dispose();
            isdone = true;
            iter++;
        }
        g.drawImage(image, 40, 45, this);
        g.setColor(Color.black);
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append(iter)
                .append(" frames in ")
                .append((double) (new Date().getTime() - this.timeRef) / 1000)
                .append("s.");
        g.drawString(sb.toString(), 50, 375);
    }

    int iter = 0;
}

Changes made:
* added "gc.dispose();"
* added "isdone", so redraw could not be called faster, then it should.
* added this link to thrashgod source rewrite
* added this link to thrashgod source rewrite 2

Answer 1

Here's my major rewrite with the following noteworthy changes:

• I've separated the task of detecting pixel colours from the task of drawing
• I've replaced robot.getPixelColor(...) with robot.createScreenCapture(...) to fetch all 64 pixels at once, rather than one at a time
• I've introduced smart clipping - only what needs to be redrawn is redrawn.
• I've fixed up threading so all updates to the model and view happen on the Event Dispatch Thread

The ticker runs constantly. When it detects a change in pixel colour (either due to the mouse moving to a different region or the pixels under the mouse changing) it detects exactly what changed, updates the model, then requests the view to repaint. This approach updates instantly to the human eye. 289 screen updates took cumulatively 1 second.

It was an enjoyable challenge for a quiet Saturday evening.

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import java.awt.geom.Ellipse2D;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;

public class ZoomPanel extends JPanel {

    private static final int STEP = 40;
    private int iter = 0;
    private long cumulativeTimeTaken = 0;


    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final JFrame frame = new JFrame("Image zoom");

        final ZoomPanel zoomPanel = new ZoomPanel();
        frame.getContentPane().add(zoomPanel);
        final Ticker t = new Ticker(zoomPanel);

        frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
            public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we) {
                t.done();
                frame.dispose();
            }
        });
        t.start();

        frame.setLocation(new Point(640, 0));
        frame.pack();
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    private final Color[][] model = new Color[8][8];

    public ZoomPanel() {
        setSize(new Dimension(400, 400));
        setMinimumSize(new Dimension(400, 400));
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400));
        setOpaque(true);
    }

    private void setColorAt(int x, int y, Color pixelColor) {
        model[x][y] = pixelColor;
        repaint(40 + x * STEP, 45 + y * STEP, 40 + (x * STEP) - 3, 45 + (y * STEP) - 3);
    }

    private Color getColorAt(int x, int y) {
        return model[x][y];
    }

    public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
        if (!SwingUtilities.isEventDispatchThread()) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Repaint attempt is not on event dispatch thread");
        }
        final Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
        g2.setColor(getBackground());
        try {

            for (int x = 0; x < 8; x++) {
                for (int y = 0; y < 8; y++) {
                    g2.setColor(model[x][y]);
                    Ellipse2D e = new Ellipse2D.Double(40 + x * STEP, 45 + y * STEP, STEP - 3, STEP - 3);
                    g2.fill(e);
                    g2.setColor(Color.GRAY);
                    g2.draw(e);
                }
            }

        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        iter++;
        g2.setColor(Color.black);
        long stop = System.currentTimeMillis();
        cumulativeTimeTaken += stop - start;
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append(iter)
                .append(" frames in ")
                .append((double) (cumulativeTimeTaken) / 1000)
                .append("s.");

        System.out.println(sb);
    }

    private static class Ticker extends Thread {

        private final Robot robot;

        public boolean update = true;
        private final ZoomPanel view;

        public Ticker(ZoomPanel zoomPanel) {
            view = zoomPanel;
            try {
                robot = new Robot();
            } catch (AWTException e) {
                throw new RuntimeException(e);
            }
        }

        public void done() {
            update = false;
        }

        public void run() {
            int runCount = 0;
            while (update) {
                runCount++;
                if (runCount % 100 == 0) {
                    System.out.println("Ran ticker " + runCount + " times");
                }
                final Point p = MouseInfo.getPointerInfo().getLocation();

                Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(p.x - 4, p.y - 4, 8, 8);
                final BufferedImage capture = robot.createScreenCapture(rect);

                for (int x = 0; x < 8; x++) {
                    for (int y = 0; y < 8; y++) {
                        final Color pixelColor = new Color(capture.getRGB(x, y));

                        if (!pixelColor.equals(view.getColorAt(x, y))) {
                            final int finalX = x;
                            final int finalY = y;
                            SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
                                public void run() {
                                    view.setColorAt(finalX, finalY, pixelColor);
                                }
                            });
                        }
                    }
                }

            }
        }

    }

}