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I-Opener Screen
The Screen for the I-Opener

New MessageI-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) Solidus
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I probably bet this has been awnsered somewhere, but does anyone know how to make the I-Opener screen work on a normal PC? Once this thing gets too slow for me I wanna strip it outa the I-Opener and use it as a dual monitor setup for my gfx stuff.
05-24-2001 12:50:18

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) mp3boombox
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do a search and You'll find your answer
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05-24-2001 13:12:52

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) Programmer
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Actually the answers you'll get when searching are somewhat contradictory. most say no, and some say yes..

The correct answer is yes, you can use it. However, there are some hurdles. You must have either a video card that has a 16bit dstn cmos output or a video card with a dfp port (the radeon dual head has this) with the 16bit cmos output, you'll need the pinout for the card and for the screen. for the dfp port, you'll need a SIL141(or similar) demultiplexer, and the piouts for the screen.

In both cases, you'll also need a power source for the display.

If you were REALLY bored, and had the technical expertise, you could hook up the entire thing to a PC parallel port or even a USB port, but that would be somewhat difficult.

05-25-2001 11:08:02

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) parasyght
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Can you really hook up an lcd screen to a usb port? Where would i find information on going about doing this? Ive never heard of anyone doing this. Info on the parallel port hookup would be great to!!
05-25-2001 18:20:03

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) Wild_Pencil
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I think Programmer meant that if you were one of those hard-core hardware programmers with *LOTS* of free time, you could whip up your own USB-to-DFP solution. It's like trying to drop a V8 engine into a Japanese Rice-Rocket.. sure it's technically possible if you've got the skill and are determined enough...
05-25-2001 20:12:43

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) Programmer
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Wild_pencil hit it right on.. though actually it's shouldn't be THAT bad.. the USB would be the easier of the two.. get an external usb->ide enclosure (which is really an addressable buffer: at least the one I have that was intended for a USB cdrom) it gives you (essentially) a 16bit IO port over USB. The SIL140 transmitters can be used 16 bit, and I'm just realising that you'd need a clock as well. If you could find some source code for a generic video card, you could simulate all of the video functions on the computer side, and just send the output to the SIL140 over the usb. This would allow you to hook up virtually any flat panel display, and even a regular monitor over the USB port.. Note that there would be a limitation on exactly how large a resolution you could use. 800x600 in 16 bit color would require a 57.6MB/s(800(v)x600(h)x16(bit)x60(fps)/8(bits/byte)) channel, far beyond USB1.1 capacity. 640xx480 at 16 bit color would need a 36.9MB/s channel. Fortunately with an LCD like the IO you could reduce the number of frames per second quite drastically say to 15 wiythout much real loss. that would still need 14.4MB/S.. still beyond the USB capability.. but if you went even further to cut back to a display useful for only static imagery, you could get by with a pulse of 960K every time you sent an update. I really don't know how well an LCD will retain it's image if it isn't refreshed, but if the clock isn't runnign then I doubt there's a problem.. if you did need anything like that then you'd be talking extra hardware..

and if you're talking extra hardware, why not just hook up a 16 bit video card? find a basic ISA card/chip set up a latch to switch between addresses and data, and off you go..

05-29-2001 07:26:23

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) GWIZAH
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I think solidus' head exploded right after "However, there are some hurdles."

When I start making comments like Programmer does (mind you, VERY helpful comments!) I think I'll have spent too much time on this hobby

05-29-2001 09:32:23

New MessageRE:I-Opener Screen (modified 0 times) Programmer
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My family doesn't like my explanations much either.. they tend to roll their eyes when I chime in.. oh well.. :)
05-29-2001 10:44:29

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