MOP-GL12232B-BGFW on Micro-ATX PC board

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Andrew Kesterson
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:11 pm

MOP-GL12232B-BGFW on Micro-ATX PC board

Post by Andrew Kesterson »

A few not-so-quick questions, some of which are a followup to questions asked by smic717394 in this thread. For background, I'm a software engineer with background in sheet metal fabrication, and hobbyist electronics. I'm familiar with soldering, using a voltmeter, etc etc.

I am putting together a guitar effects unit / recording studio from a standard Micro-ATX form PC board, and intend it to run headless (for reasons not worth going into here). As a result, I would like to put a graphical LCD (for display of equalizer and menus, etc) and a keypad somewhere on the outside of it. What mainly concerns me is the internal connections of the unit.

Specifically, I'm looking at the MOP-GL12232B-BGFW and am wondering exactly how I'd go about hooking it up. In smic's thread, he had an available internal 25 pin parallel connector, but I don't. It would have to be connected through the parallel port on the motherboard (I don't intend to try removing the port to hardwire the unit to the board). I am having trouble marrying the parallel pinouts to the pinouts provided in the manual (I'm a software engineer, not a hardware engineer). How would I have to go about hooking up the device to a standard Micro-ATX motherboard with an existing attached Parallel port?

Also, I found This power connector which purports to work with the previously mentioned MOP unit. The device I'm building will be running from a FlexATX 12v 250W power supply (the unit's enclosure is very small). Given that it will be powering the motherboard (w/ 2 PCI sound cards), 1 80mm fan, and 1 IDE hard drive - do you think there will be enough power remaining to drive the LCD? And since I don't see any pre-existing connectors on the MOP unit, what is the MOP<->5v Power cable pinout I'd need to follow to hook it up?

Third, I cannot seem to find a description of how the majority of keypads will interface with the given LCD units. I was hoping to use a 15 key keypad like this one, but am unsure if is even compatible with the MOP unit I intend to purchase, or how to hook it up.

Sorry for all the questions, this is my first project of this variety, and I'm feeling kind of lost. But I heard you guys were super helpful, and what Ive seen on the forums so far reaffirms that. So I hope you guys can help me out, and I look forward to purchasing your products for my project. Thanks alot!

Andrew Kesterson
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:11 pm

Post by Andrew Kesterson »

Google answered my question about the power connector (this link if anyone else needs the info)

still researching the others tho

Raquel
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:37 pm
Location: MO Office

Post by Raquel »

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for your post.

Sounds like you have an interesting project ahead of you.

I think in smic's thread, that 25 pin internal parallel connector he has is the same parallel port on the motherboard. These parallel ports are intended for printers (or maybe other things) but not for driving parallel LCDs. We have heard of people (somehow) figuring out how to control the pins of the motherboard's parallel port to implement the LCD parallel protocol. We do not recommend this way of communicating to the LCDs, although, as I've said, we've heard of people doing it this way which seems to work for them.

Also, I found This power connector which purports to work with the previously mentioned MOP unit. ..... what is the MOP<->5v Power cable pinout I'd need to follow to hook it up?
This power connector is for our serial +5V LCDs (you can find them under Intelligent Displays - left navigation panel on www.matrixorbital.ca). You will have to do some alterations to be able to take its +5V power to connect to the appropriate pin of the parallel LCD.
Here is the manual for the MOP-GL12232B-BGFW.
Third, I cannot seem to find a description of how the majority of keypads will interface with the given LCD units. I was hoping to use a 15 key keypad like this one , but am unsure if is even compatible with the MOP unit I intend to purchase, or how to hook it up.
More and more, I think you need to check out our GLK12232-25-SM for your project, since the parallel LCDs will not handle keypad inputs.

I hope this helps. Please let me know what you think, and if there is anything that I can give you more info about.
Raquel Malinis
Design and Development
Matrix Orbital

Andrew Kesterson
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:11 pm

Post by Andrew Kesterson »

I agree. Since my initial post, I've been researching the project, and have also decided a serial panel would be better. I hadn't looked at the one you posted, though - it looks like it would be a very good option for my project.

Thanks much for all the help! My only question now is, how much slower can I expect read/write operations to a serial LCD be than to a parallel? (E.g., 1/8 as fast, considering it will be transmitting one bit at a time, instead of 8 bits? Or does the speed of the controller make any speed differences between parallel/serial negligible?)

Raquel
Matrix Orbital
Matrix Orbital
Posts: 796
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:37 pm
Location: MO Office

Post by Raquel »

Hello Andrew,
how much slower can I expect read/write operations to a serial LCD be than to a parallel?
This is quite a difficult question to answer since it's like compairing apples and oranges. Even comparing the display to the speed of parallel access is not valid. The raw parallel access can go 10x faster than the glass is capable of displaying, due to ghosting.

The serial display can move at different speeds depending on what you do with it:

Bitmaps from memory: FAST!
Lines/boxes: FAST!
Fonts: Good
Direct bitmaps: slower, but still quite good

It all depends on what you really want from the display. If you want a graphic EQ running at 30fps, parallel is the only option. If you just need to display menu items, and update the whole screen every so often, serial will be fine.
Raquel Malinis
Design and Development
Matrix Orbital

Andrew Kesterson
LCD?
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:11 pm

Post by Andrew Kesterson »

Alright... I think I've got the info I need to go on. Thanks alot for all the help.

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