FullScreen

Display image in fullscreen for the projector-camera system.

Python has some GUI tools, but only a few of them are suitable for fullscreen display. In this repository, Tkinter or OpenCV or PyQt5 can be used as the backend. The best backend depends on the environment (i.e., OS, monitor, version of the software), so choose the best one for you.

Note

Recently, I released a new fullscreen program using OpenGL/GLFW in Python. I confirmed it could run at 60 fps, which achieves much faster pro-cam synchronization. You can check it out at https://github.com/elerac/pyglimshow.

Requirement

Tkinter backend (default)

Pillow (PIL)

OpenCV backend (optional)

OpenCV
screeninfo (from https://github.com/rr-/screeninfo)

PyQt5 backend (optional)

Pillow (PIL) or OpenCV
PyQt5

Usage

Basic imshow

import time
import cv2
from fullscreen import FullScreen

screen = FullScreen()

image = cv2.imread("image/himeji_castle.jpg", 1)

screen.imshow(image)

time.sleep(3)

Get the size of the screen

height, width, ch = screen.shape

Choosing backend

screen = FullScreen(backend="tkinter") # default

screen = FullScreen(backend="cv2")

screen = FullScreen(backend="PyQt5")

Testing environment

	OS	Hardware	Python	Backend
✅	macOS Catalina	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.8	Tkinter 8.6.11
✅	macOS Catalina	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.4
❌	macOS Catalina	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.5
✅	macOS Catalina	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.8	PyQt5 5.15
❌	macOS BigSur	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.7	Tkinter 8.5.9
✅	macOS BigSur	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.9	Tkinter 8.6.11
❌	macOS BigSur	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.9	OpenCV-Python 4.4
❌	macOS BigSur	MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017)	3.9	OpenCV-Python 4.5
❌	macOS BigSur	Mac Pro (2019)	3.9	Tkinter 8.5.9
✅	macOS BigSur	Mac Pro (2019)	3.9	Tkinter 8.6.11
✅	macOS BigSur	Mac Pro (2019)	3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.4
❌	macOS BigSur	Mac Pro (2019)	3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.5
✅	Windows 10	ThinkPad (L580)	3.9	Tkinter 8.6.9
✅	Windows 10	ThinkPad (L580)	3.9	OpenCV-Python 4.4
✅	Windows 10	ThinkPad (L580)	3.9	OpenCV-Python 4.5
✅	Ubuntu 20 (GNOME)		3.8	Tkinter 8.6.10
✅	Ubuntu 20 (GNOME)		3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.5
🤔	Ubuntu 20 (KDE)		3.8	Tkinter 8.8.10
✅	Ubuntu 20 (KDE)		3.8	OpenCV-Python 4.4

Although I have mainly tested on Mac, it should also work on Windows and Ubuntu as the software is cross-platform.

To summarize the above table, the following cases do not seem to work well ❌,

Tkinter 8.5.9 does not work well on macOS. I think it is related to that the Apple-supplied Tcl/Tk 8.5 has serious bugs.
OpenCV-Python 4.5 does not work well on macOS. I think it is related to that Qt support has been dropped.

In some cases, it works but may not be perfect 🤔,

On Ubuntu, Tkinter could not display the first image, but the second and later images work well.

elerac/fullscreen