Matrix Orbital Corp

Hi,

I have recently bought an Asus EEEPC, which is really cool. But I want to design a small little dongle that reads out the subject of new emails and things like that when the screen is off. Thus saving power.

I have looked at some of the VDF modules but was wandering if anyone could offer me some guidance on the practical side of it as I have never actually had any dealings with LCD VFD's.

All I really need is a low power one line VDF, which has the build in usb communications circuit, and then an internal header for the usb connector to an external usb connector. I can then get it moulded into a protective dongle and walla, my idea is formed.

So anyone got any guidance?

Thanks, Jon

We sadly can't offer you a one line VFD, smallest one we have on USB is a 2x16.

What have you got installed on your EEEPC? I have seen the little guys run both XP and Linux.

If you are running XP on it you probably could get away by just running LCDC to display the information with the windows drivers from our site to actually talk to the unit.

If you are running Linux you need the FTDI_SIO driver loaded to talk to the unit and probably use something like LCDProc or Lcd4Linux to display information.

Well 2 line isnt so bad... How big is the package for that?

Yeah the EEEPC comes with Linux on it, it is Xandros Based, it is nice but there are a few apps that I use on XP so I nLite'd my XP install and cut out all the stuff I didnt need, then installed it. Runs like a dream..

Just been looking for a tweak to set the speed of the CPU to 900Mhz on load as it is defaulted to 630Mhz.

Is there any suppliers of the Module you have in mind in the UK? Are the a few variations on the colours and types of display?

I think you are mixing up serveral technologies here


This is an lcd, the background is lit and the pixels turn black when turned on.


This is a vfd, has no backlighting but when turned on the pixels them selves actually emit light.

We offer both LCD and VFD products with usb connection, the LCD's we offer in various colors , VFD's usually are green but if you want to change color we do offer filters.

I suggest you browse our site to see what modules you like, we have four distributers in the UK that should be able to order you any unit you like if they don't have it in stock already.

Well which would be less power consuming? LCD or VFD?

I would assume the VFD would be less power consuming. I have been looking at the thickness of the products as well, is there anything that is really thin, as by the time the USB connector has gone on it will be even thicker.

Being in the industry is there any other company's that do thinner alternatives for such a product...?

In thickness most of them are between 25 and 29 mm, we have a really thin graphics display thats only 13.5 mm but it comes at the cost of having a rather large board attached to it and we do not offer it with a usb connection at this moment.

Powerwise VFD's generally use more then LCD's especially when you set up the backlight at a conservative brightness.

Thanks for the reply, I have been looking through the catalogue there are some nice little LCD's.

Was wandering how easy it is too take off all the connectors on the back, as I was thinking of maybe encasing the module in a resin and soldering the usb cable directly to the board...

I have been looking at these screens:
LK202-25-USB-FB
GLK19264-7T-1U-USB-WB

But the last one I dont need the buttons on it, but I cant find a usb version with out the buttons.

It is interesting to find out that the LCD's are less power consuming. Have you been testing any OLED technology?

We used to have an pled line of products but they had a fairly high failure rate and when the manufacturer stopped their pled activities because it was loss generating we decided not to search for replacements, its a promising technology though and we're keeping an eye on improvements in that field.

Removing the connectors is not that easy and not encouraged since this will void your warrenty.

We indeed do not offer a version of the GLK19264-7T-1U-USB-WB
without the keypad, do realize that most of our displays are aimed at industrial use and while the LK series are well supported on the PC by programs as lcdc and smartie the support for the graphical ones isn't nearly as good and you might end up needing to write your own software to make the display display what you want. Don't get me wrong these displays are great and will display anything you throw at is but if there isn't anything to throw stuff at it they will do nothing on their own. This is something to keep in mind to prevent any disappointments after ordering the display of your choice.

I was wandering how much it would cost to have the connectors not actually put on, therefore bypassing the need to take them off. As all I really want / need to do is attach the USB cable via soldering it to the terminals that are already there.

Looks like the LK202-25-USB-FB, will be the best option for easy of use. As the whole point was just to have a simplistic display which is very low power compared to the LCD in the actual EEE PC...

Also would there be any problems with encasing the displays in a solid epoxy resin?

Sadly I cannot offer any custom work on single display purchases, depending on the display you select there is a minimum order quantity for that.

As any computer component as long as the chips have a way to get rid of the heat they function properly, I can imagine dumping the display in a solid epoxy might cause the microcontroller to heat up beyond its expected termperature range and cause it to fail. So from a warranty point of view I would advice against that (dumping the display in epoxy will definitly void your warranty).

Personally I think it sounds like an awesome idea and if you do it i'd *LOVE* to see a picture of it when its done but you are definitly on your own on this one.

Thanks for the info, I had though about that, was going to put a temp monitor in the epoxy. Also have been looking for an epoxy or material that would let the heat disapate out. The other thing I thought about would be putting a seal around certian bits of the board and making a custom housing for it.

Still in the design phase so all feedback is helpful, I have posted another thread on Bit-Tech Forums to try and get some advice. But just had my hospital date brought forward so going to have to put the project on hold... Doh!! dont you just hate that.

I have also thought I might design a website to show off the project, so if there is any sponsors you would know of that would like to sponsor such a project then please let me know. I think such a project would be quite a good seller, as you would be able to plug it into any computer. Was also thinking of making a custom bit of software that could run from a USB flash drive mounted in the device. Thus not needing any drivers to be installed.

Just had an idea of maybe mounting a small heat sink onto any of the hot spots and making the epoxy just come upto the top of the heat sink, thus keeping the heat away from the chips.