Small (1.8" or 2.5") Lilliput displays

kday · 02-25-2004, 10:55 PM

Does anyone here have any experience with these very small NTSC/PAL displays that are regularly available on eBay from Hong Kong?

I would like to find a display that will fit in place of the analog clock in my instrument cluster. I'm guessing that NTSC resolution will be more than adequate for a screen this small.

Thanks in advance for any info.

wi77iam · 02-26-2004, 08:53 AM

I just bought one of the 1.8" monitors to build a video projector using an old slide projector. (The lcd is about the same size as a 35mm slide)

I would probably tell you not to bother using this as a car display of any type. The resolution is not very good and the display is so tiny as to be practically unreadable. I had trouble viewing a tv picture from more than a foot away.

Now, if you wanted to hack it and remove the backlight and set up some kind of projector, you could have a cool heads-up display on your windshield, like an F-16 fighter.......hmmm.

kday · 02-26-2004, 12:38 PM

Thanks for that.

I am planning on doing the software from scratch, so it will be designed with a small display in mind (i.e. huge fonts, etc.). The eye to display distance would be approximately 3 feet. I don't have any plans for conventional video; I'm just looking for a reasonably inexpensive small color LCD for text and simple graphics. Do you still think the display is useless for this? I would be happy to be able to get around 16 characters across the screen.

How sharp is the picture? Could you snap a few pictures of the unit disassembled when you get around to it?

Originally I was going to build a CRT controller out of an FPGA and a 4:2:2 video encoder, so I wanted to use NTSC as a display-independant output signal. Now, however, I think I've decided to use an off-the-shelf SBC with VGA and LCD controller. Does anyone know of a source for 2" or 3" LCD panels besides these Lilliputs, with VGA, LVDS, or some other standard panel interface? The only one I've found is a surplus PDA display.

jusatry · 02-26-2004, 01:57 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by wi77iam

I just bought one of the 1.8" monitors to build a video projector using an old slide projector. (The lcd is about the same size as a 35mm slide)

I would probably tell you not to bother using this as a car display of any type. The resolution is not very good and the display is so tiny as to be practically unreadable. I had trouble viewing a tv picture from more than a foot away.

Now, if you wanted to hack it and remove the backlight and set up some kind of projector, you could have a cool heads-up display on your windshield, like an F-16 fighter.......hmmm.

please please please more info on making a projector

i have thought about this many times, but never really had teh idea of removing the backlight. Any more information on your project would be WONDERFUL.

Thanks!

wi77iam · 02-26-2004, 03:19 PM

Everything you want to know about building a projector using a lcd is here.

Most LCDs are transmissive, meaning they display things by being lit from behind, usually with a backlight immediately behind the screen. So remove the backlight and add a projected light source and some lenses, and voila you have video projector. BTW the 7" Xenarc make good compact video sources for projectors.

The simple thing to do is place the lcd on an overhead slide projector and display on a wall. Plug the lcd into your PC or DVD player and you have a cheap home entertainment system.

The 1.8" lcd doesn't really have good enough resolution for this purpose, as people on that forum will tell you. I just wanted to take the thing apart and try it, since I already had the 35 mm slide projector and the lcd was cheap.

wi77iam · 02-26-2004, 03:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kday

Thanks for that.

I am planning on doing the software from scratch, so it will be designed with a small display in mind (i.e. huge fonts, etc.). The eye to display distance would be approximately 3 feet. I don't have any plans for conventional video; I'm just looking for a reasonably inexpensive small color LCD for text and simple graphics. Do you still think the display is useless for this? I would be happy to be able to get around 16 characters across the screen.

How sharp is the picture? Could you snap a few pictures of the unit disassembled when you get around to it?

Originally I was going to build a CRT controller out of an FPGA and a 4:2:2 video encoder, so I wanted to use NTSC as a display-independant output signal. Now, however, I think I've decided to use an off-the-shelf SBC with VGA and LCD controller. Does anyone know of a source for 2" or 3" LCD panels besides these Lilliputs, with VGA, LVDS, or some other standard panel interface? The only one I've found is a surplus PDA display.

To simulate using this 1.8 " lcd as a car display, get a 35 mm slide of something with text on it, hold it at arm's length and see if you can read it. Then image it with about 1/4 the resolution of a 35mm slide. This lcd is just 500x234 pixels. I've looked for 2-3" lcds already and haven't found any with good enough res, but let me know if you find some (for my projector).

I'll take some pics of the 1.8" apart tonight if I have time.

ukchris · 02-26-2004, 03:46 PM

What are you aiming to display? I've been wondering how hard it is to drive a character LCD, maybe a 4x40 for displaying relevant data. For example I have been wondering, with the SDK, if I could have destinator tell me how far it is to the next turn and what direction to turn and poke this onto an LCD screen in the dash.

There are graphical screens like this too... maybe that would be an option for your project?

Chris.

jusatry · 02-26-2004, 03:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by wi77iam

Everything you want to know about building a projector using a lcd is here.

Most LCDs are transmissive, meaning they display things by being lit from behind, usually with a backlight immediately behind the screen. So remove the backlight and add a projected light source and some lenses, and voila you have video projector. BTW the 7" Xenarc make good compact video sources for projectors.

The simple thing to do is place the lcd on an overhead slide projector and display on a wall. Plug the lcd into your PC or DVD player and you have a cheap home entertainment system.

The 1.8" lcd doesn't really have good enough resolution for this purpose, as people on that forum will tell you. I just wanted to take the thing apart and try it, since I already had the 35 mm slide projector and the lcd was cheap.

OMG, i just lost like 2 more weeks of my life to forums! Thanks for opening up that bag of worms for me

i had never heard of this idea, but i LOVE it. YOU ARE THE MAN WILLIAM!!!!

ukchris · 02-26-2004, 03:53 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by jusatry

OMG, i just lost like 2 more weeks of my life to forums! Thanks for opening up that bag of worms for me

Oh boy, and I was just thinking of buying an X1.... has anyone bought this $19.99 guide and reviewed it in any depth? I'm interested...!

wi77iam · 02-26-2004, 10:37 PM

hey kday,

Here are those pictures of the 1.8" Lilliput disassembled. The display is very tiny.

The square white thing on right is the backlight.

I have to extend the ribbon cable so that I can fit the lcd in my slide projector.

For your car, I would look for at least a 3 - 4 inch lcd. Unfortunately small and high res ones are expen$ive.

wi77iam · 02-26-2004, 10:40 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ukchris

Oh boy, and I was just thinking of buying an X1.... has anyone bought this $19.99 guide and reviewed it in any depth? I'm interested...!

From what I've been able to determine, the guide is just a very detailed set of plans for building a projector, with recommended light source, projection lenses and enclosure design. Here is another site with some detailed info for free.

kday · 02-27-2004, 08:35 AM

Wi77iam -- excellent, thank you for the pics and description. Good analogy with the 35mm slide.

ukchris -- I am pretty much dead set on a color dot matrix display, unfortunately. I actually have some nice red LED 5x7 x 8 character matrix displays that I would use if I was going that way. But I want to do a few things that require color and a fully-addressable display (e.g. simulated analog gauge, compass, ...)

nl4jy · 02-27-2004, 04:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ukchris

Oh boy, and I was just thinking of buying an X1.... has anyone bought this $19.99 guide and reviewed it in any depth? I'm interested...!

Advice, do not purchase any DIY guides as it's already available over the internet. Just to a few search and you'll find a grand of information.

This reminds me of my old TV projection project I did a while back. Hehe, I was able to project a 100" projection out of my 12" TV. All I can say is...the quality was horrible!!!!

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