Eclipse splash image looks bad on macOS

[kgibm]

I'm a committer on the Eclipse Memory Analyzer Tool project and we recently added a splash screen to our standalone builds. This works fine on Windows and Linux, but on macOS x64, it's very strange: first, it shows for a second with the right dimensions but very low quality and then it switches to an image with the right quality but it is patterned multiple times. Here is a GIF of the start-up sequence (it takes a few seconds to start):

The splash.bmp is under plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/splash.bmp:

1. git clone https://git.eclipse.org/r/mat/org.eclipse.mat.git
2. ls org.eclipse.mat/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/splash.bmp

Here is the original and it looks this good on Windows and Linux (converted to jpeg as GitHub doesn't support bmp uploads):

The image was created using Gimp on macOS and here is the Gimp file (in a zip for GitHub upload):

matsplash.zip

As per the Eclipse Splash Screen guidance, the bmp was created without color space information and in 24-bit format.

The product file that specifies the splash image is here: https://git.eclipse.org/c/mat/org.eclipse.mat.git/tree/org.eclipse.mat.product/mat-2022-03.product

   <splash
      location="org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp"
      startupProgressRect="5,275,445,15"
      startupMessageRect="7,252,445,20"
      startupForegroundColor="000000" />

That project has: https://git.eclipse.org/c/mat/org.eclipse.mat.git/tree/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/config.ini

osgi.splashPath=platform:/base/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp

If you are running on macOS, you can reproduce the problem like so:

1. Make sure Java 11 is on your PATH
2. git clone https://git.eclipse.org/r/mat/org.eclipse.mat.git
3. cd org.eclipse.mat/parent
4. find .. -type f -name "*mat*product" -not -name mat-2022-03.product -delete
5. mvn -DskipTests=true clean install
6. open -n ../org.eclipse.mat.product/target/products/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp.MemoryAnalyzer/macosx/cocoa/x86_64/mat.app
7. Observe the strange splash screen

[sravanlakkimsetti]

I have seen this kind of behavior in Windows with 125% scaling factor. By the way you can use png files as splash screens now. I am testing this one on Mac now. Will update results here

[kgibm]

Thanks for taking a look. I exported to splash.png in the same directory, added it to build.properties, deleted splash.bmp, and re-built and re-launched, but I still see the same issue:

$ git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
	deleted:    ../plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/splash.bmp

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	modified:   ../plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/build.properties

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)

	../plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/splash.png

diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/build.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/build.properties
index 4b4b6fb4..db89b0b8 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/build.properties
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.mat.ui.rcp/build.properties
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                about.ini,\
                about.mappings,\
                about.properties,\
-               splash.bmp
+               splash.png^M
 src.includes = icons/
 jars.compile.order = .
 source.. = src/

I know the PNG is being used because I drew some extra stuff on it which I do see after the re-build.

[sravanlakkimsetti]

The problem is the the splash screen image. The splash screen was designed with 53 dpi instead of 72 dpi which was required on Mac. I updated the splash to 72 dpi and the problem disappeared.

I used gimp for the conversion.

1. Load the image in gimp
2. use image scale and select dpi as 72.
3. export the image appropriately

here is the png image I converted

[kgibm]

Thanks, that worked!

GIMP } Image } Scale Image... } X resolution: 72; Y resolution: 72 } Scale } File } Export As... } splash.png

[kgibm]

I've added a note to the Eclipse wiki:

Note: If your image program offers a choice, such as GIMP does, it is important to save the BMP or PNG as 72 DPI for proper display on macOS: GIMP } Image } Scale Image... } X resolution: 72; Y resolution: 72 } Scale