LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA

Translate This Thread From English to

Threaded View
Mark Haase's Avatar (by Gravatar)Mark Haase posted on
April 25, 2005, 4:46 am
rate this thread
Hey All,

I'm interested in interfacing an LCD screen to a microcontroller, maybe
a PIC or AVR or even JStamp.

I just noticed today that Dell's 24" flat panel retails for $1200 and
can be had on ebay for $900. Why is that a 6-7" LCD display still costs
$400!? Thats around 1/3 the retail price for 10% of the pixels. Is it
because the support circuitry is expensive, or because we're buying from
a niche market?

Anyway, the above got me to thinking. Now that flat panels at large
sizes are so cheap, there must be old flat panels people are getting rid
of. So I want to experiment with interfacing to a VGA flat panel at
either 320x200 or 640x400. It appears that generating the timing signals
in software is difficult and an imperfect solution. Are there any cheapo
chipsets that will get the job done? Ideally I'd be able to write to a
video buffer with a PIC...fast drawing isn't a requirement, just a
reasonable resolution, 8-bit image.

--
|\/|  /|  |2  |<
mehaase(at)sas(dot)upenn(dot)edu

Other Related Threads
Mitch Berkson's Avatar (by Gravatar)Mitch Berkson posted on
April 25, 2005, 8:54 am
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA


Maybe you're looking for this which was four posts above yours:

"Micro-VGA Adapter. RS-232 DB-9 to VGA DB-15.
Released 20th April 2005

The MicroVGA is a graphics adaptor that allows the display of text
characters & an unlimited number of graphic patterns.
The MicroVGA can be interfaced to any host micro controller, embedded
device or a PC with a serial port. The 15 pin
connector is simply connected to any standard VGA monitor.

http://www.dontronics.com/micro-vga.html"

Mitch



Other Related Threads
Tim Polmear's Avatar (by Gravatar)Tim Polmear posted on
April 26, 2005, 11:51 am
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA

That is sooo cool :)

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 08:54:59 -0400, "Mitch Berkson"



Mark Haase's Avatar (by Gravatar)Mark Haase posted on
April 26, 2005, 1:59 pm
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA



Great pointer, thanks!

I did see the Dontronics post but I'm not interested in spending $105 on
a 128x64, 6 bit color adapter. I'm not knocking the product, but as a
hobbyist I would much rather build my own.

Thanks all--

--
|\/|  /|  |2  |<
mehaase(at)sas(dot)upenn(dot)edu

Alex Gibson's Avatar (by Gravatar)Alex Gibson posted on
April 27, 2005, 12:07 pm
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA



Small fpga + video dac or small fpga by itself
some quite good tutorials
http://www.xess.com/ho03000.html

Xess,     www.digilentinc.com and xilinx provide cheap starter kits

http://www.xilinx.com/products/spartan3/s3boards.htm   US$99
http://www.xilinx.com/products/spartan3e/s3eboards.htm   US$149 when
available
(made by digilentinc)

Latest digilentinc v2pro board can do xsga graphics.

Alex



Other Related Threads
Mark Haase's Avatar (by Gravatar)Mark Haase posted on
April 27, 2005, 3:04 pm
Permalink

FPGAs, what am I missing? Was: Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA

Hey Alex,

I've been scouring the web for information on building a VGA controller.
It seems like all the designs are FPGA based. I'm familiar with what an
FPGA is in principle, but I'm surprised that they are apparently the
most popular tool for designing a VGA controller. Is this because nobody
makes a VGA RAMDAC anymore?

If I do go the FPGA route, what other things are FPGAs useful for? I
mean, if I invest time and money on this project will it payoff in
future electronics projects?

Thanks for any tips,
Mark



--
|\/|  /|  |2  |<
mehaase(at)sas(dot)upenn(dot)edu

Don McKenzie's Avatar (by Gravatar)Don McKenzie posted on
April 27, 2005, 4:27 pm
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA



Just to point out, the $105 you mentioned is AUD, which is closer to $80USD
right now.

Don...


--
Don McKenzie
E-Mail Contact Page:       http://www.e-dotcom.com/ecp.php?un=Dontronics

RS-232 to VGA. Many resolutions http://www.dontronics.com/micro-vga.html
USB to RS232 Converter that works http://www.dontronics.com/usb_232.html



cadcoke3's Avatar (by Gravatar)cadcoke3 posted on
April 26, 2005, 10:34 pm
Permalink

Re: LCD screen prices and microcontrollers with VGA

   I know this is off the wall, but since LCD's haven't really dropped,
perhaps you can consider making a different kind of display.

  Several people on the net have written about making spinning LED
clocks.  These use a single row of LEDs which are rapidly spun around
so they seem to form a solid image.  The LEDs are switched on and off
rapidly using a PIC to control whether a particular pixel is on or off.

  I also came across a web page for a guy who used LED lights bounced
off of a rotating mirror to project an image. (like the early
mechanical scan TV's)

Joe Dunfee


Other Related Threads

Site Timeline