If you are experiencing a slow user interface (UI), this article helps you check your system has the latest graphics drivers and OpticsViewer settings that can help. 

Authored By Akil Bhagat

Introduction

If you are experiencing a slow user interface (UI), there are a number of settings that can be changed that may help you see increased speed inside OpticsViewer. This article will walk you through how to:

• Check for graphics driver updates from your computer's manufacturer
• Enable the Express View option for the editors
• Change the Project Preferences

System Requirements

First, check that your system meets the minimum system requirements and that your graphics driver is up to date. Windows often will not find the latest graphics drivers through the Device Manager, even though the manufacturer may have released many updates. If you have a laptop with a built-in graphics card, visit the support site for the manufacturer of the laptop. If you have an add-in card get the drivers directly from NVIDIA or AMD, depending on the manufacturer of your graphics card.

Editor Express View

OpticsViewer has an Express View option in all of its data editors. It greatly improves the speed and responsiveness in exchange for dynamic functionality. When using the Express View, scrolling editors with many rows is significantly faster compared to the normal view, so you won’t experience any lag for buffering row data.

This view is available for all main editors, including the Lens Data Editor and the Tolerance Data Editor. While Normal View enables all the editor features, Express View enables only the essential features to maximize speed. The Express View is therefore recommended for navigating files with large numbers of surfaces or operands, as these systems will demonstrate the most noticeable increase in speed.

You can easily switch between the two views, either by clicking the Toggle Express View button in the editor toolbar or typing the shortcut key <Ctrl + `>.

A global default preference for the editors can also be set in Setup...Project Preferences...Editors. Set the Default Editor View to Express View. 

Project Preferences

If your graphics driver is up to date, but you're still experiencing a slow UI, you may need to change some settings in the Project Preferences. To do this, open the Project Preferences in the Setup drop-down; then select Editors.  

The first setting to adjust is Auto Update. By default, this is set to "Update All," meaning that any time you make a change to your system, all windows, analyses, and layouts will recalculate and redraw. If you have a complex file or many analyses or windows open, this can put a lot of demands on computer resources. Try changing this setting to “Update” or “None”. "Update" will update only the current analysis or layout in which you are working, and "None" will require you to manually update by clicking the refresh button on the analysis or layout.

Additionally, try changing your Undo settings from "Disk Multi Step" to "None" or "Memory 1 Step." Disk Multi Step makes a copy of your system and stores it in memory every time you make a change. If you are working on a complicated system, this can take a lot of resources. Memory 1 Step instead stores the last version of your file, so you can always go back one step.

If either of the above options do not improve your UI speed, check the Folders settings, located under Setup...Project Preferences...Folders. Ensure that your folders are pointing to your local machine under Folders in Project Preferences. Folders that are on a network drive or synced on the cloud can dramatically slow down the UI.

Another setting that can drastically affect UI speed is Auto Apply, located under Project Preferences...General. If this setting checked, each time you make a change to one of your analysis settings, the analysis will recalculate. If you have a complex file or many analyses or windows open, it can take a long time to update them every time you change a setting. Try unchecking Auto Apply.

Getting additional help

If none of these settings improves the issues with the speed you are experiencing, please ask your license administrator to contact the support team at Support@Zemax.com

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