This page brainstorms about possibilities for graphical display functionality
Topic revived for 2005-Dec so we can have a display product(-line) for the 2006 racing season
We now have a professional partner for the mechanical manufacturing and assembly. This is very good news (the mech issues can be daunting)!!
We still have to choose a display or PDA to integrate as a display solution. Very urgent.
Note that there are 3 possible solutions:
- custom mask display. I'd postpone this for later. Setup costs might be acceptable, but design and management seems prohibitive
- we also avoid composite input displays (very popular nowadays, appr $100). It's possible, but proper color takes a videochip and a PAL coder (we don't want simple 1-bit gfx :-)
- If bare display, adding ARM garnish requires >2 months so we must act fast.
- we might choose a ready-to-go PDA (that has serial port: USB device only is not good), like
- IPAQ
- Nintendo GBA
- Sharp Zaurus
The software (guts) should be almost the same, regardless of the HW.
www.elatecworld.com distributor showed up, they would like to sell us displays.
- Besides the plain TFT / LCD-s - TODO: list of suitable products
- they sell a round RPM-display (relatively big, as you expect from a car's factory RPM display): GDE017SP -- XIAMEN OCULAR that we could also use. TODO: look up details
If anyone has good candidates, please take a note. If you know prices (we'd buy 100+) that's even better.
what displays we've got now is:
- MegaTune and MegaTunix tuning apps (see DocsPage) running on notebooks
- directly connected alphanumeric LCD: GenBoard/BuildProcedures/LCDconnect
what we'll have for sure:
- extended tuningsoftware for notebooks: OtherTuningSoftware
- logging and display (and tuning possibility, wether useful or not) software for PDAs: OtherTuningSoftware
- round 52mm diameter unit with LED displays: 3*7 segment and 24 LED bar
- bigger LED display for HUD application: at least 3 LEDbars and 3*3*7 segments and several status-LEDs.
other ideas that came up
- graphical LCD
- CRT (TV)
http://www.amulettechnologies.com/products/products.html Easy GUI, uses HTML
Note that developers are strongly against these.
Reasons:
- Simply because there are other areas of development that appear to be more useful.
- these are useless before we have some prototype for displaying the data (which is effectively a major part of OtherTuningSoftware for PDA )
- after we have OtherTuningSoftware for PDA these bring very little extra, so efforts are hard to justify. Even if the units are cheap, the development overhead is not.
Regarding Data Display
I would like to suggest using a small portable TV that operates on 12v. This also opens up the use of a VCR in the car to visually record data.
Circuit Cellar has several articles, one uses a micro to generate TV sync while also doing real processing, free compiler for this, another article by Fred Eady, duplicates an LCD, uses a pic, 5370xxxOSD IC, maybe the little Atmel micro could replace the PIC.
If interested, I could post article details to files,
Jay
It is definitely possible (an ARM and an offtheshelf video chip can be put on a PCB) but I'd say first task is to make OtherTuningSoftware work on PDA. Make a PDA (the above suggestion is effectively making a PDA) only after that (it seems that competition is tough there, hard to compete unless millions of units can be sold). All the displays (CRT or safe types) I know are more expensive than a full-featured PDA.
Marcel,
Sorry I write or explain what trying to say so poorly. Qne of the articles simply details how to make the TV display a picture like an LCD, LCD EMULATION.
(I think I understand, and it seems it is effectively useless until we have a PDA display app).
It effectively replaces an LCD module, Just plug into what would normally drive an LCD subsystem.
(just plug it in wouldn't be useful, even if it worked that way. It needs to be defined what should be displayed and how!)
You can then record it on VCR, camcorder etc.
Small TV's can be bought here for less than $20.00.
(OK, that unit price is compelling, but the development costs are not).
Nothing to do with PDA, just another adaptive display, several area flea markets sell a 5x7 color video display for less than $70.
(yes, it has a lot to do with PDAs! We cannot use that for anything before we have a working app, which will surely work on a PDA next. After we have the display code - might be just 3 days if someone really sits down - we could think if we put the 8000 Euro worth of development effort into driving a CRT or if we can find something more useful.)
A list of graphical modules
I think this can be somewhat cheaper if we buy many.
It cannot compete with Nintendo prices, but even a 320x240 can fit our budget.
Could someone look up in datasheet how hard to drive these ?
240 Ft = 1 EURO = 1.3 USD\n
EW12A03FLY 122x32 graphic LCD 3 300 Ft EW13B10FEW 128*64 grafikus fehér hát 4 700 Ft EW13B10FLY 128*64 LED háttér 4 000 Ft EW13B30BMW 128x64 Graphic Blue/White 4 440 Ft EW24B00BCW 240*64 CCFL kék háttér 13 400 Ft EW24B00GLY 240x64 graphic LCD w/ LED 12 700 Ft EW24B00YLY 240x64, Green,STN,LED BL 9 100 Ft EW24D00FLY 240x128 LCD vezérlõ + LED 14 500 Ft EW24D30FLY 240x128 graphic LCD 9 800 Ft EW24D40FDW 240x128 grafikus LCD 13 400 Ft EW24D70NCW 240x128 graphic LCD CCFL 12 600 Ft EW32F10BCW QVGA blue/white ccfl 11 000 Ft EW32F10NCW LCD 320*240, CCFL 12 600 Ft EW32F40FLW LCD 320*240, LED, SED1335 17 300 Ft EW32F40NCW 320x240 graphic LCD CCFL 18 300 Ft EW32F90FLW LCD 320*240, LED, no IC 8 900 Ft EW32F92FLW 320x240 graphic LCD w/TP 15 000 Ft EW32FA1FLW 12 900 Ft EW32FA3FLW 320x240 FSTN White BL 12 800 Ft EW50080FLW 128x64 graphic LCD white 6 900 Ft
Some very nice LCD panels can be found here:
http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/index-grph.html
I know more TFT LCD monitor developer, so from 1,8" TFTs to 15" in-car TFT's we can offer a lot of types. Some modells with VGA input and with touchscreen.
Prices from 50USD, all modells over 100k pixels and has video signal input, full colours etc.
The avarage price is 80-100 USD for a 7-8", there is standalones, in-dashes, etc
Tschangow
Emil received an x-mas deal for 8" 640x480, 675 sek + VAT