Understanding the status bar

The status bar provides additional information about the buttons and commands in Spectaculator as well as the status of the emulator.

image17

Shows how often the display is being updated compared to a real ZX Spectrum. 100% denotes the full 50 frames/second, 50% is 25 frames/second and so on. Larger window sizes normally result in lower refresh rates and hence a more "juddery" display.

image18

Shows how hard your PC is having to work to emulate the Spectrum. Faster PCs will show lower CPU usage.

image19

Shows when the cassette recorder is playing back an audio cassette file.

image20

Shows when the cassette recorder is in recording mode.

image21

Shows when the emulator has entered warp mode to fast load audio cassette files.

image22

Shows Spectaculator is recording or playing back an action replay. When recording, the icon will flash.

image23

Shows when the Spectrum +3 is accessing disks.

image24

Shows when the Interface 1 is accessing a Microdrive.

Note

  • If the display rate drops below 50%, try the smallest border by choosing Border->Small from the View menu.

  • Higher zoom levels require more computing resources. The best performance is achieved by using the preset zoom levels.

  • If the CPU usage reaches 100%, your computer is probably not fast enough to run Spectaculator at the current window size. Try reducing the window size or the border.

  • If the playback icon, image25 and/or Warp mode icon image26, are still visible once the program has loaded, click the stop button on the cassette recorder or press Ctrl+Space on the keyboard.