Re: Hardware recommendations needed for small screen (QVGA) Windows CE Development

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You need to figure out what the LCD controller in your hardware is capable
of driving. Typically, these smaller screens on small devices are connected
directly to an LCD controller in the host CPU. That LCD controller is NOT a
desktop style VESA controller but a completely custom implementation that
requires a completely custom driver.

Sounds like you used regular VGA style drivers before; that isn't typical on
devices that use small screens. If you can't create/buy a conversion PCB to
go from VGA to your desired LCD, then you'll have to get a different video
controller that is able to drive the LCD directly.

--
Dean Ramsier - eMVP
BSQUARE Corporation


"amalinis" <amalinis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:B4A37CAB-BF7E-41F8-A468-3334F1C6D034@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you for the reply.

For our usual projects, I was only provided both an LCD panel (12"
1280x800), and LCD driver (some kind of conversion PCB, allowed me to
connect to the VGA port) by the LCD manufacturer.

We didn't bother with the timings and specs because I thought that this
setup works the same as the available consumer LCD monitors. Also, we were
developing for Windows XP, so video drivers are simple enough to
understand.

About the QVGA LCDs, the LCD manufacturer doesn't provide the LCD driver,
just the panel. So we are at a loss on what to do.

I hope that someone would follow-up on this.

"Luca Calligaris" <l.calligaris.nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:e$jPx2FUJHA.5824@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
small LCD screens work exactly as bigger ones, they only have different
timings (dot clock, etc.) so you have to check (as you did for other LCD)
if your video controller is able to manage the LCD you choose; download
the data*** of a panel from one of the bigger manufacturer (sh*rp,
hit*ch*,...) and compare the data to your video controller spec (btw,
sometimes an external clock divisor may help you!). Take in account that,
if you want to use 240x320 resolution MS provides a component with the
graphical resources (control panel applets, etc) modified to fit that
resolution. If you want QVGA (320x240) you'll have to modifiy the layout
yourself. Although most of those panels are natively 'portrait', you can
obviously obtain the desired layout rotating them in software.
--

Luca Calligaris
l.calligaris.nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.eurotech.it

"amalinis" <amalinis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:5F66AE0B-3277-4EFA-B2D6-8E11A31FADD7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello.

We have been using Windows CE in developing some industry apps. Our
hardware is usually composed of small and embedded x86 boards and
laptop-size LCDs with touch panels.

But now we want to move to smaller screens and resolutions. Problem is,
we are not sure about the hardware we are supposed to set up.

My problem lies on the resolutions lower than VGA (below 640x480). The
traditional boards we use definitely support VGA and higher, and I
understand them because I simply look at the video card specs, plug an
LCD into the RGB or LVDS port, and it works. I don't know how smaller
LCD screens work (the usual ones I see in cellphones and media players).
Do they have different connectors from VGA and LVDS ports? Should a
video card support the lower resolution? Can anyone provide examples of
x86 boards which support those LCDs?




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