[mythtv-users] OT: HTPC Cases - Touch screens et al.

[Mark Lord]

On 11-06-10 09:06 PM, Ben Kamen wrote:
>
> I have the iMON VFD which I have to say is nice.... but I'm talking just the
> VFD part which LCDproc easily supports other VFD's based on any 44780 chipset
> hooked in the myriad of ways that one can connect a VFD to a PC.
> the iMon part is mostly irrelevant.

Yeah.  I have the iMON VFD (not LCD) as well.
Bright, high contrast, very visible/readible from a distance.

I don't use LCDproc with it -- wrote my own simple code
to query Mythtv and use libusb to talk directly to it
without need for any device drivers or third-party packages.

I hadn't realized it has a 44780 inside (does it?),
but I have a stack of various character LCD displays here
that do have a 44780 (or similar) inside.

Those are really, really easy to interface to,
in both hardware and software.

If anyone wants to homebrew their own USB-LCD display,
then just get a Sparkfun FTDI-232 breakout board,
and most character LCDs will wire directly to it
without need for any extra electronics.  I've got code
and wiring diagrams if needed.

This works for both "serial LCDs", as well as the raw
"parallel" ones that expose the 44780 interface directly.

Cheers