Color LCD Monitor For Hobbiest

[Mechatrommer]

While ebaying, i came across this LCD Monitor, further led me to the company DisplayTech Hongkong and spec. Not really satisfied, i try to find more option but failed. Preferably Colored 320x240 LCD with spec so we can built something with it. touchscreen would be nice feature, but i believe $+. Any suggestion where to get or are there links to project example done before? Thanx.

[migsantiago]

I'm using a Sparkfun LCD Breakout Board.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8600

[GeoffS]

There's this one from Seeed.
320x240, touch screen.

[TopherTheME]

I'm using a Sparkfun LCD Breakout Board.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8600

Don't mean to hijack the thread but where did you get that PIC32 board development board? Is it difficult to use that LCD with the PIC32 compared to say a 16x2 alphanumeric LCD?

[Mechatrommer]

I'm using a Sparkfun LCD Breakout Board.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8600

Don't mean to hijack the thread but where did you get that PIC32 board development board? Is it difficult to use that LCD with the PIC32 compared to say a 16x2 alphanumeric LCD?

a hijack?! i got nothing to lose! yeah! saw that spark fun lcd, it said someone called "Sinister 7" made a project, but no detail on programming/pin side. seems interesting if that we can directly connect to mcu without much hassle of finding separate driver ic etc. will be better if a library is provided so we just can call in c function like DrawPixel, Line etc.

would like to hear more detail comment from migsantiago

[Mechatrommer]

There's this one from Seeed.
320x240, touch screen.

this is interesting too! it is said to have 2d and font drawing engine, touchscreen, smaller footprint vs lcd size. the sparkfun it got extra space for supporting circuitry beside the lcd, will be difficult if we want to build handphone or calculator like interface where user buttons just directly below the lcd. but the seeed one is 2.5X the cost of sparkfun, as i have expected. yet to see any seeed project example.

[FreeThinker]

Have you though about trying to mod a bottom screen of a nintendo DS.These can be bought cheap on ebay and info SHOULD be available on the forums, just a thought 

[Mechatrommer]

Have you though about trying to mod a bottom screen of a nintendo DS.These can be bought cheap on ebay and info SHOULD be available on the forums, just a thought  

well... thats a $171 device. but thanx for the idea, who knows, we can get parts for cheap. found this OLED Display might worth considering.

[FreeThinker]

Have you though about trying to mod a bottom screen of a nintendo DS.These can be bought cheap on ebay and info SHOULD be available on the forums, just a thought  

well... thats a $171 device. but thanx for the idea, who knows, we can get parts for cheap. found this OLED Display might worth considering.

You can buy just the bottom screen as a replacement item and also the touch screens

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-REPLACEMENT-BOTTOM-LCD-SCREEN-NDS-DS-LITE-NDSL-/250563096793?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameAccessories_VideoGameAccessories_JN&hash=item3a56b970d9

 is one of many .Sparkfun has a video tut on using the touch screen.

[Zad]

One word of caution. Not all displays are created equally. The small mobile phone derived displays almost always have their own graphics controller on board. You send a command to display text, or plot a pixel or whatever, and the onboard controller generates the video signal from onboard frame buffer memory. The larger RGB / greyscale ones usually just take an RGB video feed, with no onboard frame buffer.

[migsantiago]

I'm using a Sparkfun LCD Breakout Board.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8600

Don't mean to hijack the thread but where did you get that PIC32 board development board? Is it difficult to use that LCD with the PIC32 compared to say a 16x2 alphanumeric LCD?

The PIC32 dev board is sold by my friends at http://www.microingenia.com

I also wrote a tutorial on how to use this board and compile three little projects: a blinking LED, a dimming LED with PWM and a basic audio player without a DAC.
http://www.migsantiago.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21:review-mie32u-de-microingenia&catid=1:tutorial&Itemid=23

About the LCD... it's the most known color LCD out there. Everyone has code to write images and text on it. You can also buy a spare LCD without the charge-pump driver and without the board:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=569

In this link you will find 19 links with any kind of libraries to control this LCD. I migrated an LPC uC library to a PIC32 lib for C32. It has support for any controller: Epson S1D15G10 or Philips PCF8833.

I also bought the spare LCD and managed to solder the tiny SMD pines and build a 6V supply out of a 3.3V one.

Edit: I forgot to say that controlling this LCD is a piece of cake. It uses a 9 bit SPI which can be easily implemented via bit-bang. You only require 4 pins from your uC: RESET, CS, SCK and SDO. No SDI required.

[FreeThinker]

Looking at the ribbon cable it appears to be serial and have some sort of on board decoder, only a guess from just looking.The DS schematics were availible on the net but I've not seen them in a while.Someone will have them for sure.Isn't making something work 'outside the box' half the fun?
PS You may find the top screens to be cheaper for some reason would still work the same i would of thought, just a different ribbon cable.

[squeezee]

well... thats a $171 device. but thanx for the idea, who knows, we can get parts for cheap. found this OLED Display might worth considering.

A DS replacement screen costs ~$11, but they are controllerless. As you have to generate the RGB waveform, controllerless displays are impractical for most MCUs which lack an integrated controller.

Some suggestions are Displays off ebay, E'Go china has a bunch of resonably priced TFT LCDs /w touchscreens such as that one, most of them are QVGA and have an onboard controller. (they also have ones with PCB adaptors)

And here is an identical OLED to the crystalfontz one.

[FreeThinker]

well... thats a $171 device. but thanx for the idea, who knows, we can get parts for cheap. found this OLED Display might worth considering.

A DS replacement screen costs ~$11, but they are controllerless. As you have to generate the RGB waveform, controllerless displays are impractical for most MCUs which lack an integrated controller.

Some suggestions are Displays off ebay, E'Go china has a bunch of resonably priced TFT LCDs /w touchscreens such as that one, most of them are QVGA and have an onboard controller. (they also have ones with PCB adaptors)

And here is an identical OLED to the crystalfontz one.

They look fantastic! Unbelievable price......Bookmarked

[Mechatrommer]

great! i should have typed "LCD Module" in ebay. here i have 2 working lcd from nokia 6260 and samsung sgh-x430 that have been retired due to flexicable and battery/charger damage. but cant put to good use as there is no documentation for it can anybody tell whats the circuitry in the picture? the driver? or power supply?

[sonicj]

cheap. easily interfaced lcds. link

the ITDB02-2.4 looks a great deal at $20usd. 320x240, breakout board, touchscreen & sd card reader
-sj

[migsantiago]

Touring the available Nokia LCD screens at Hackaday

http://hackaday.com/2010/10/14/touring-the-available-nokia-lcd-screens/

[Mechatrommer]

Touring the available Nokia LCD screens at Hackaday
http://hackaday.com/2010/10/14/touring-the-available-nokia-lcd-screens/

great hack! sure they got plenty of time for it. alot of wires coming out of my nokia screen made me scared away, but... 3 line spi only? hmmm, wondering what the other wires are for.

[squeezee]

Some of the screens have both parallel and SPI. He has more info (including the pinout) on his blog.

Definitely have to pick up a few screens to tinker with; The 1600/6060/2760 are all around $5 on ebay/DX.

[thakidd]

cheap. easily interfaced lcds. link

the ITDB02-2.4 looks a great deal at $20usd. 320x240, breakout board, touchscreen & sd card reader
-sj

Ordered one of the ITDB02-3.2 models along with the Arduino shield for a quick test. Just got it in yesterday. Paid $4 for the shield and 27 for the 3.2" screen. I had to fight with ITead's code a bit on the arduino but am happy to report that the products works great. They also have decent email support. I sent them around 7-10 emails and have received a response back within 24 hours everytime (even weekends). It also appears that the customs fees (US) are included as I did not pay any additional cash to the USPS during pickup.

All in all, great find and great vendor. Thx!

[Mechatrommer]

great! but if you can report back your finished project with the source code will be greater!
i'm planning something big for this LCD thing, but... later
there are lot more things to consider.

[thakidd]

Sure, Electronics is currently a hobby for me. I was thinking of using the LCD in the ST or Renesas design contest. Haven't made up my mind on whether I will do this or not but I will definitely keep you and EEVBlog posted on the LCD.

[Zad]

I think this guy has one of those working on his universal breakout board: (at approx 1 minute in)

Lots and lots of invo about his adventures here http://rossum.posterous.com/

It seems they do both serial and parallel, so you should be able to solder some Kynar wire on to the back of the connector if you cant get an appropriate breakout board.

[Mechatrommer]

i'm not sure he published the 3d engine, i think i saw that vidz b4/earlier.