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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : MM2++: 5" SSD1963 TFT display
| Author | Message | ||||
| matherp Guru  Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10400 |
A 5" 800x480 TFT display using the SSD1963 controller arrived today. I've built the code to run on the MX470 in 16-bit parallel mode. A version for the 44-pin MX170 would also work well although slower. With the processor running at 96MHz the code can refresh the complete screen (800x480x16-bit pixels) in 25msec. 
The zip contains the usual boring demo/test example code: 2015-02-20_192915_ssd1963.zip The Cfunction source is: 2015-02-20_191926_SSD1963.zip I haven't incorporated the touch screen code - this is just cut and paste from any of the previous examples. At some future date I need to modify the Cfunctions to support the HK fonts but this is a big job. Although the SSD1963 is supposed to support hardware rotation I can only get inversion to work and not swapping row/column. This is supposed to work using bit 5 in register &H36 but this seems to be completely ignored. The MX470 is running happily on a Colour Maximite PCB |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
you are a Robot ;) |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
Wow, another fantastic addition.  25mS refresh-rate is very impressive indeed.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 772 |
Looks like I need to order a few of these... I finally got delivery of the 2.4" touch units you had mentioned so I will (hopefully) get some time to try them out..! Still waiting on a "Grogster" board so I can get into the 470 testing group (can't wait..!!) I would love to put together a usable system for (way) less money then the "4-D" systems approach... Bigger is better for what I need for this UI... So, if you could show us a source for these 5" parallel touch screens, I would like to very much give it a go...! And thank you very much for the time you spend helping all of us here..!! |
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MicroBlocks Guru Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
Thank you again! This is great news as the SSD1963 is on the screens that i targeted for my new project. Within 2-4 weeks i have to place an order for screens and that will be for the 2.4", 4.3", 5", 7" and 8" screens. I am now waiting for a quote, with the chinese holiday it will take probably 1-2 weeks. I expect a price around 40US$ for a 5" screen with SD,flash,font chip and multi capacitive touch. Yep also waiting for "Grogster" board. Eager to join the beta testing. Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10400 |
This display is the one I bought. The code should also work on the 7" displays driven by the SSD1963. I'm not very impressed with this display though. The colours are not very bright (compared to the 2.4" which is excellent) and the backlight takes over 0.5A. Also the SSD1963 controller is poor. It doesn't support true hardware rotation and also address setting is only done in 8-bit parallel mode requiring extra instructions. Only the actual pixel output uses the 16-bit bus properly. The trouble is these bigger displays start to get too expensive to buy just to play with. This one looks really nice and has capacitive touch but is quite pricey. It would of course need the Cfunctions updated but is it worth the effort? |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
I've ordered a 7" one of these screens to play about with. This one uses a different type of screen to the 5" one matherp used for his experiments, although the controller chip is still the same. Weather that will have any effect on the brightness of the display, remains to be seen. This display cost me about fifty-five bucks(in NZ money - about US$40) including shipping, so not too bad. Here is a link Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2956 |
Lads, Has anyone looked into those cheap GPS units or android (toy tablets etc) that are around with a view to ripping the displays out of them? Surely there must be an economical way to buy these larger displays, there must be many faulty or used units available that we can re-purpose it MITE-e-DISPLAYS. Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
Those cheap things like the Google Laptop thing, which can be had very cheap due to the mass-production of the things, is a great idea Mick. I think the problem becomes how to drive them. I guess we'd have to get one to play with. Maybe I will - someday. The other problem is standardization - lots of different things out there, and I doubt they all use the same LCD. The Google Laptop thing would be a solid base to build on, as there are thousands of those about, still, I don't know how practical this would be. Food for thought, though. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
I'm with you on this one Grogs. Three years ago I had the idea to rip out a screen from a cheap photo frame, and ended up buying no end of photo frames and ripping them apart. I managed to get the backlights working but that was about it - cost a lot of (wasted) time as well as ended up costing lots. I agree it would be nice to use a cheap tablet (as a complete unit with rechargeable battery, GPS, wi-fi, GPRS, etc, etc) BUT still not found a reliable solution for my requirements. I revisited this idea with the VT100 terminal (i.e. my TerMite) but still beats me how to do it 'reliably & consistently'. I personally think the best solution is to base a solution around matherp's code (or future version of . . .). TFTs are cheap from Chinese manufactures and a available to specifications (a downside of trying to rip screens out of cheap products as I discovered quickly). Most have a documented interface and/or a controller chip/clone chip. For one-off projects; and if you have lots of spare time; then trying to drive a screen from a cheap unit may be a fun and challenging thing to achieve - guess most people here would rather be getting on with building their projects though. PS; if you want to buy any really cheap screens ripped out from old units, let me know what size you want and I will see if I have any in the loft that are undamaged (I seem to remember that most got hacked to bits, but I can look!). Probably not economical with postage though as would need good packaging (hence big, hence expensive  )
WW |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4071 |
Grogster - I'm puzzled - what Google laptop thing? Chromebook? They don't seem cheap. A cheap tablet is still quite expensive but would be workable. The really cheap ones don't have GPS, though. John |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
John - I was actually thinking of these things. About $100 each, and are a full Linux-based simple computer. I don't have one, and not sure how hard they are to get, but I know there are thousands of them in production. Not sure if "Joe bloggs" can get their hands on them though - might only be for the destination markets. EDIT: It's been a while since I read about that thing, and the screen is 7.5-inch, so the 7-inch screen I have coming, is pretty close in size.(therefore, getting hold of one of these and hacking it would be false economy) Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| plasma Guru Joined: 08/04/2012 Location: GermanyPosts: 437 |
Ouch , Dsi need a fast chip. Where are some solutions out (google) but not cheap because most used a fpga for converting hdmi to dsi. Even we have no hdmi . An fpa with extra ram for the buffers are Around 99 dollar without an screen. I prefere an rpi and an old screen , connectet with serial or spi or i2c. |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4071 |
Grogster - OK, but about $100! You could get a 7" or bigger tablet for less and just use that. If all one wanted was HDMI then an Android TV stick for $20+ is enough. Can't be rocket science to chat from mite to tablet/stick and display video from there. Comes down to what is wanted and why? John |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
I need a big display, for easy reading from half-way across a room - this is why I am still drawn to VGA and the full-size LCD screen used with many a computer. The MaxiMite does this job well, as it can natively drive a standard VGA monitor. I will have a play with the 7" LCD on it's way to me though, as with help from members here, I may well be able to make some nice big fonts that CAN be easily seen, even on such a "Small" screen. Also, please note my "Edit" on the end of my last post....  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
Just came across this Win 8.1 tablet for $48 
I'm not suggesting anything - just wanted to highlight how cheap these things are becoming . . . |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9641 |
Crikey - that is fecking amazing...... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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