Author Topic: Generic LCD display - suggestions  (Read 1026 times)

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Offline Ice-TeaTopic starter

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Generic LCD display - suggestions
« on: August 18, 2019, 08:26:13 pm »
Hey folks,

I'm contemplating a project for which I would need a range of displays. Preferably, I'd like to make the infterface so that it would work with the same interface/connectors/power for anything from, say, 5" to about 10-11".

I was thinking about single channel LVDS because it's easy and I know it well. I'll be interfacing with an FPGA and I don't want any higher level stuff that needs or likes a uC (like MIPI or whatever). KISS, you know. I'd rather have an RGB interface than MIPI or whatever.

I don't need Retina-like resolutions, but I wouldn't mind if the same display size would have different resolutions available (say a 7" screen with 800x600 and 640*480 or something) so scaling might be a bit more straighforward depending on the application. Doesn't have to be super bright, doesnt have to be super fast, doesn't have to be super-awesome viewing angles, insanely low power requirements,.. "Good" is good enough for me.

I'd rather not go through far-east vendors or channels (Ali, DX, ...), I'd prefer direct sales through a manufucaturer or a decent distributor in the EU. In other words: I want to be able to order the exact same display next year and not receive whatever they have on tap at that moment. Batch sizes would be small (5-10 pieces at time, with 2-3 proto batches).

Soo.. I was hoping some of you could offer some experiences, suggestions, do's, don'ts, pointers,... No need to repeat your mistakes  ;D
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2019, 08:31:07 pm »
If the batches are that small you may want to consider buying a large supply up front. Reputable manufacturers may not be able to supply the same model down the line either.
 

Offline Ice-TeaTopic starter

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2019, 08:43:05 pm »
The same model would be nice, but in the end interface is the most importan, with mechanics second and specifications a distant third..
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2019, 08:57:24 pm »
While not as common as it used to be, the good old digital RGB/dotclock interface is still fairly common, that's about as generic as you're going to find I think and it's trivial to interface to an FPGA.
 

Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2019, 09:21:50 pm »
Just from my experience - you will relatively easily find LCD panels 5" to 7" with RGB interfaces.

Above 7", you're getting into tablet/laptop panels territory, and unless you want to pay A LOT, those panels will more often have an eDP interface and higher resolution than you'd expect. Finding panels with RGB interface and lower resolution for 8"+ panels will be kind of hard these days (often old stock OR industrial stuff, which means very expensive for what it is).

Just my 2 cents.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2019, 05:48:34 am »
That said, you can get SERDES chips to convert digital RGB to LVDS, or with some FPGAs you can drive the LVDS interface directly. If you get a panel that has a resolution that is a multiple of what you want, it's quite easy to scale.
 

Offline Ice-TeaTopic starter

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Re: Generic LCD display - suggestions
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2019, 12:51:50 pm »
While not as common as it used to be, the good old digital RGB/dotclock interface is still fairly common, that's about as generic as you're going to find I think and it's trivial to interface to an FPGA.
Seems the conscensus amongst you guys? Bit surprised by that, TBH, figured LVDS would be more common. But that's why I'm asking the question ;)

Just from my experience - you will relatively easily find LCD panels 5" to 7" with RGB interfaces.

See above ;)

That said, you can get SERDES chips to convert digital RGB to LVDS, or with some FPGAs you can drive the LVDS interface directly. If you get a panel that has a resolution that is a multiple of what you want, it's quite easy to scale.

I know. First did that with a Stratix I Engineering sample over 15 years ago. That was kinda the plan, but I don't mind wasting a few more pins if RGB is more common.

Vendor suggestions? Distributor suggestions?
 


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