BackCountry Navigator Forum

Since about 2.1, BackCountry Navigator has used multiresolution views in displaying map data. 

This was something we thought might be a handy feature when navigating. When you wander off the edge of your hires data while navigating BackCountry Navigator, it will show whatever lowres data you have at that spot, instead of blank white space.   

But we don't know if they are necessarily appreciated by the customer. We do get questions, some in the discussions in the forum now, about why these low res images show up with the higher res ones. There may be other people who will just consider the application buggy and give up.

Does anyone like this? If it doesn't provide customer benefit and just looks silly, we can pull it out in our next version. 

There is a tradeoff. Without this, a downloaded map will have clean edges at all resolutions, but change in shape as you zoom in. Because of the nature of tiles, each layer will have a slightly different shape. If you zoom in from the edges of the larger tiles, you might find a white screen (instead of a blurry screen as you would with multiresolution views).

Dummie question.  Are you talking about both Topo and Aerials? :-\

Yes.

I like them.  I think the confusion is people not knowing what is going on.  I use this forum as a tutorial to help me understand as the program continues to improve.  Because it is new to a lot of folks they may not be sure if it is them or the program or what to expect with both low and high res.  Just my opinion. ::)

I'm trying to make sure I understand whats happening correctly. If I download my typical 5x5 at regular resolution, then within that map, download a 1x1 at high res, there will be blurred edges around the 1x1 area ONLY if I zoom way in, or all the time ?

AND, if there is no increase in quality for topo's, why would it end up with a blurry region ?

I'm like L.P., I use these discussions for learning to better utilize BCN.

You are correct about the 1:1 aerial example.

There are three other scales we use from TerraServer:

• 4:1
• 16:1
• 64:1

Topo is available up to the 4:1. So you will always have some of the 16:1 and 64:1 layers, and will generally have a bit extra of them at the edges of the map, because the tiles are so big.   


 

Then its possible to download areas just far enough apart to have complete coverage at 64:1 level, but then zoom down to 4:1, there could be a gap, correct ? That could appear to be a corrupted map !

I'm learning, YAY !!   ;D

Yes.

But, the good thing is....when you find one of these areas......you can mark a waypoint.....and when you get to where you can download....go ahead and get your higher res downloads.....A LOT FASTER than normal.  Because you already have the 1:64......and in a lot of cases, you'll already have some of the 1:16 data also.  Making the whole process faster.

I SAY KEEP IT, NATHAN.

Great program.....don't go backwards.....press on!
Steve

  Does it actually make the download faster, or simply faster to find where you need to fill in ?

  I would assume it simply "re-writes" the same data again as it adds the missing portion.

Oh yea, and I vote for not changing it ... at least not yet. I want to try a few things out and see what develops.

BackCountry Navigator checks the tile ID on any tiles to download and will skip downloading them if they are already in the database.

I had bumped into this problem with BCN 1.1.x... and BCN 2.2 solution is something I really like.  In my opinion, it is a whole lot more disconcerting to be hiking along and the map suddenly go blank.  So I like the new way a bunch.  Don't go backwards unless you can put a checkbox someplace that says "disable coverage fill-in" or something.

Love the progress that BCN 2.2 has made.  Don't go backwards.

I vote for keep it.  Now that there are a few threads here for people to read and understand, I don't see it as a problem.  I think its more amusing to watch static than a blank screen!  Keep up the good work!

Yes, definitely keep it!  It helps in deciding which areas to download next.
I love BCN.  Are there release notes included with each version?

The versions link above will have some concise notes for each version.

Another vote for keeping it. I do like having the low-res areas instead of blank white, now that I know what they are, and I have played with it for a while.