Choosing a screen.

[ShiftPlusOne]

Hello,

I am looking for a screen for my project.

The most important requirements are:
-Outside visibility: Should be very easily viewable outside. Direct sunlight visibility would be great, but is that asking too much?
-Low cost: The entire budget for the device is $250. Considering all the spending on miscellaneous components, bluetooth and hand-held enclosure, it would be good if the screen didn't take a large chunk out of the budget.
-Decent size and resolution: 2-3 inches at about 180ppi (can be much lower)?
-Obviously alphanumeric/segment displays won't do.


Things I can compromise on:
-Low power usage: The whole device should be powered by 2 AAs and will have a constant bluetooth connection to multiple devices.
-Grayscale or colour: colour would be good, but grayscale is acceptable.

Keeping in mind I am a beginner, so avoiding SMT would be good and a relatively simple interface is another plus.

I understand that all the criteria cannot be met in this case, I just want to know exactly what I am getting into, what's available and whether I can use it.

Thank in advance! =)

[charliex]

for colour  sunlight readable you're looking around 1000 nits, which isn't going to be cheap or low power. At 180 PPI you're talking 320x480 ish


A grey LCD is probably the best thing to go with, its what most race dashes use, its a lot cheaper too. You can find stuff even cheaper than this, like the nokia lcd ripoffs.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=710

320x480 colour
http://www.good-lcd.com/upfile/product/2010118145630150.pdf

I've been trying to find a 1000 nits+ colour 6 - 7" LCD widescreen that isn't priced like apple made it for ages now.

[Simon]

I think most people will want to know a little more about the project before suggesting something as to be honest in my opinion your about to bite off more than you can chew but then I have no idea what your doing

[ShiftPlusOne]

for colour  sunlight readable you're looking around 1000 nits, which isn't going to be cheap or low power. At 180 PPI you're talking 320x480 ish


A grey LCD is probably the best thing to go with, its what most race dashes use, its a lot cheaper too. You can find stuff even cheaper than this, like the nokia lcd ripoffs.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=710

320x480 colour
http://www.good-lcd.com/upfile/product/2010118145630150.pdf

I've been trying to find a 1000 nits+ colour 6 - 7" LCD widescreen that isn't priced like apple made it for ages now.

Thanks, that was very helpful.
Ok, so I can cross colour off the list now and settle with monochrome.
Resolution will have to be much lower than ideal as well.
That's still ok.

I think most people will want to know a little more about the project before suggesting something as to be honest in my opinion your about to bite off more than you can chew but then I have no idea what your doing

Yeah, I am being a bit cryptic. That's because there is no project yet, we're throwing around ideas and I want to know what's available and what's practical so that we can base the project around that, rather than write up specifications and find that what we want will not work. This is just a third year uni project, btw. I'll have a separate post for the project in a couple of weeks.

As for biting off more than I can chew, that's ok. The project will be split between a team of 5 (not including 2 slackers). We'll also have about half a year to develop it... so chewing shouldn't be too much of an issue.



I have another question. How do those dark blue LCDs (http://www.littlebirdelectronics.com/products/graphic-lcd-160x128-huge) perform outdoors? They look cooler, but seems like it won't perform too well outdoors.

[charliex]

They're not awful, some of the race dashes use them, but the lcd looks a little crisper than the one posted. I do like the blue glow, but it strains the eyes if you're using it long term i find. The orange backlit ones seem to be better, people do still seem to favour blue as its still a relatively new colour.

Sun light readable is one of those really difficult things, lots of people define it differently, included the makers. Direct sunlight readable generally means you can read it in almost full sun, sunlight readable means it'll be just about visible, also finding the better viewing angles.

VFD's work well, but lots of power and limited in size.

I'm hoping for samsungs amoled 2 to be all its promised to be. It's been incredibly frustrating to find a colour LCD thats off the beaten path, unless you're a massive manufacturer, though feel free to correct me and point me at a widescreen direct sun light readable 6-7" LCD with 600 horizontal lines or better and doesn't cost the same as a laptop !

[ShiftPlusOne]

I ordered the smaller 128x64 green/yellow one. Now to wait for it to arrive and figure out how to use it.

Thanks again for your help.

[EEVblog]

Start by checking out some easy to get and deal with manufacturers like:
http://www.newhavendisplay.com/
http://www.lcd-module.com/
http://www.crystalfontz.com/

Dave.

[ArtemisGoldfish]

Start by checking out some easy to get and deal with manufacturers like:
http://www.newhavendisplay.com/
http://www.lcd-module.com/
http://www.crystalfontz.com/

Dave.

Tiny bit off-topic:
I actually had an interview at CrystalFontz, lots of really nice people there, and they're working on an e-ink development system with ethernet and USB host.

[charliex]

I also like this guys stuff, http://www.shop-en.display3000.com/color-tft-only-no-c/21-tft-only/21-color-tft-with-displaycontroller-and-booster.html i've got the 2.1 +can works great, but its not the fastest update rate!

[ShiftPlusOne]

Start by checking out some easy to get and deal with manufacturers like:
http://www.newhavendisplay.com/
http://www.lcd-module.com/
http://www.crystalfontz.com/

Dave.

Some of those screens seem really nice. Bookmarked for future needs.
Thanks.