Reduce plot updates

src/python_spectrometer/_plot_manager.py

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ _styleT = Union[None, _styleT, List[_styleT]]
 
 
 class PlotManager:
+    # TODO: blit?
     PLOT_TYPES = ('main', 'cumulative', 'time')
     LINE_TYPES = ('processed', 'raw')
 
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ class PlotManager:
                  plot_negative_frequencies: bool = True, plot_absolute_frequencies: bool = True,
                  plot_amplitude: bool = True, plot_density: bool = True,
                  plot_cumulative_normalized: bool = False, plot_style: _styleT = 'fast',
-                 plot_update_mode: str = 'fast', plot_dB_scale: bool = False, prop_cycle=None,
+                 plot_update_mode: str = 'never', plot_dB_scale: bool = False, prop_cycle=None,
                  raw_unit: str = 'V', processed_unit: str = 'V',
                  uses_windowed_estimator: bool = True, figure_kw: Optional[Mapping] = None,
                  subplot_kw: Optional[Mapping] = None, gridspec_kw: Optional[Mapping] = None,

src/python_spectrometer/core.py

@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ class Spectrometer:
         are given by :attr:`matplotlib.style.available`. Set to None to
         disable styling and use default parameters. Note that line
         styles in ``prop_cycle`` override style settings.
-    plot_update_mode : {'fast', 'always', 'never'}, default 'fast'
+    plot_update_mode : {'fast', 'always', 'never'}
         Determines how often the event queue of the plot is flushed.
 
          - 'fast' : queue is only flushed after all plot calls are
@@ -166,6 +166,9 @@ class Spectrometer:
            done, but slows down the entire plotting by a factor of
            order unity.
          - 'never' : Queue is never flushed explicitly.
+
+        When `threaded_acquisition` is True, this should not need to be
+        changed and defaults to never. If not, defaults to 'fast'.
     plot_dB_scale : bool, default False
         Plot data in dB relative to a reference spectrum instead of
         in absolute units. The reference spectrum defaults to the first
@@ -257,7 +260,7 @@ class Spectrometer:
                  plot_absolute_frequencies: bool = True, plot_amplitude: bool = True,
                  plot_density: bool = True, plot_cumulative_normalized: bool = False,
                  plot_style: _styleT = 'fast',
-                 plot_update_mode: Literal['fast', 'always', 'never'] = 'fast',
+                 plot_update_mode: Literal['fast', 'always', 'never'] | None = None,
                  plot_dB_scale: bool = False, threaded_acquisition: bool = True,
                  purge_raw_data: bool = False, prop_cycle=None, savepath: _pathT = None,
                  compress: bool = True, raw_unit: str = 'V', processed_unit: str = 'V',
@@ -272,6 +275,8 @@ class Spectrometer:
         self.savepath = savepath or '~/python_spectrometer/' + datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
         self.compress = compress
         self.threaded_acquisition = threaded_acquisition
+        if plot_update_mode is None:
+            plot_update_mode = 'never' if self.threaded_acquisition else 'fast'
         if purge_raw_data:
             warnings.warn('Enabling purge raw data might break some plotting features!',
                           UserWarning, stacklevel=2)