POI Brand Icons question

[damianinpa]

All,
i just got my 740 Live. I notice that when I drive and pass restaurants and gas stations, most of the time I just get the generic symbol (plate/fork or gas pump) instead of the Brand name icon. I've read you can D/L these and have been to some sites, but, I am still confused. I think you need both the .bmp and .ov2 file, but, would I need a new POI Category for this or if I use the generic Restaurants/gas stations listed in POI will they show up properly. Basically, my goal is..whenever I pass any Hess Station or Denny's, ect..I want that symbol to always appear on the map. Is there a step by step for this or can someone explain? I know how to navigate to the map folder and I do see the brands folder, but, wasn't sure how it all comes together.
Damian

 

[dhn]

Go to a site with pois, for example here:
The United States - GPS POI Files for the United States - GPS POI Data

Make your selection of appropriate ov2 file and associated .bmp file

Download both and place both files directly in your specific map folder. Both file names must be EXACTLY the same (except for extension) so that dennys.ov2 is NOT the same as Dennys.bmp for example.

Then in manage pois, you'll see the new category to check to show on the map.

The way the brand stuff works is as follows:

If the application detects that a specific location IS one that has an associated bmp in the brands folder, the generic icon will change to the specific one automatically.

 

[damianinpa]

O.k..I will try that. But, let me ask this. Let's say I D/L the Denny's files as you mentioned. I presume this will have all the Denny's in the US. Now, if I show the new POI for Denny's on the map, then when driving by one will I see 2 icons..one with the Denny's symbol and one with the generic fork/knife? I would assume so since the Restaurants POI is also checked to show on map.
One last question...why wouldn't the files for D/L be put in the Brands folder instead of the map folder? I am still fuzzy on what the Brands folder is for since I do see some brand icons in there. But, new ones don't go there..??

 

[dhn]

Custom downloaded ov2 files go directly into the map folder, not the brand subfolder. That's used only for the built in poi.dat file.

and yes, you may see double icons in some locations as a consequence of downloading the file.

 

[canderson]

One last question...why wouldn't the files for D/L be put in the Brands folder instead of the map folder? I am still fuzzy on what the Brands folder is for since I do see some brand icons in there. But, new ones don't go there..??

That folder is used ONLY for icons related to the main POI list that is supplied by TomTom with their maps. When you install your own custom OV2 files and associated BMP icons, they do NOT go into that folder. Both go into the map folder together. It's just how they do it...

 

[damianinpa]

So it seems then that the TomTom POI's supplied with the unit are quite limited! I guess my best option is to turn off the default POI's (Restaurants, gas stations) and just add those that I D/L so I don't get the duplicate icons. Tomtom should have a way to just add the icon for say Denny's if they don't have it and have it appear on the map for all Denny's it finds. Instead, there has to be a whole POI category for Denny's. That seems very stupid.
Does TomTom ever put out any POI update to their devices?

 

[dhn]

Newer maps presumably come with a newer poi data set but, at best, most items in the categories tend to be rather useless.............

 

[mvl]

The North_America_2gb map that is installed on the 740 has a reduced POI set. The full "North America" and the "Usa/Can/Mex" maps have way more POIs.

If you want the full POI set, you have to buy the USA-only map, as a full-POI USA&Canada map, along with 740 speech recognition files, won't fit on a 740's 2gb of memory.

Tomtom probably didn't worry about the limited POI, because the Google POI feature on the 740 has every POI from google maps, with far more detailed information.