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Matrix Orbital LCDs -- various protocols

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:30 pm
by starlon
Hello. I'm writing an LCD controller for Linux (Windows later), and was curious about the Matrix Orbital displays. How many different protocols are there in production, excluding discontinued models? I've viewed the various displays online, and even found the documentation pages. It's a bit overwhelming, so I figured I'd ask here. I want to support as many models as possible, both character and graphic displays.

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:53 pm
by starlon
Hmm 40 views and no replies... At least I know people frequent the forum. :) Not very talkative though.

I have had some time to look over the manual sheets. It appears that the character displays are all similar, which is really good news. The graphic displays also look similar to one another. These were first glances, so there may be differences unique to each display. I likely won't have to get that detailed if the basics are covered. LCDControl does the rest.

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:03 pm
by Paradigm
Sorry for slipping through the cracks. :oops:

Our displays predominately have many common features. Commands like clear screen work on every display we have.

The first major difference will be the graphics vs alphanumeric. Obviously draw line doesn't work on an A/N display, and custom characters are not supported by graphic displays.

VFD vs LCD will introduce another difference. Brightness on a VFD vs backlight brightness and contrast on an LCD.

In the A/N displays, 4 line displays support medium and large digits, while 2 line displays only support medium digits.

Then the size of the keypad and number of GPOs will be another factor.

In spite of all of this, our displays are quite consistent, and should have large amount of overlap. Really, I'd grab a display that scratches your itch first, then when you put in the next display you'll have a lot of "Oh, I already have that command" moments.

If you do run into problems, just let us know. We're usually a little quicker getting back to people on the forums.

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:23 pm
by starlon
Thanks, James. Looks like I'll be grabbing a few.

Right now I'm most curious about the GX since there's no documentation on it.

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:30 am
by Clark
Hi Starlon,

Great to hear that you are embarking on what sounds like quite a project in the Linux environment. As you've seen, the GX is not like any other display we have manufactured, although James is the final word on documentation, I don't believe a document is expected in the near future.

You may want to check out this thread for a little history, and take a look at a similar GX project here.

~Troy