EBook reader DIY?
Bernie
First off, I have little to no clue about electronics. I'm an aerospace
engineer and can figure stuff out by myself once I've been pointed in
the right direction. I have some very BASIC electronic knowledge, can
quickly read up books & articles about electronics when needed, and am
very experienced with soldering. This would be my very first
electronics DIY project.
I came across a BOEhydis HT10X21-200 lcd screen (without bezel,
frame,etc.) and would like to build my own portable eBook reader /
picture viewer / movie player. I have no idea whatsoever where to start
looking for info, diagrams, parts, etc. I have no idea if a 'homebuilt'
like this has been done before and thus I have no general concept of
what to do (windows based? unix based? other OS? what memory, cpu,
graphics, etc..).
Any help / pointers would be greatly appreciated! I realize my request
is very broad, feel free to just throw your opinion in please!
Thanks!
Bernie
Deefoo
"Bernie" <bfa...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1151065391.3...@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
Wow, that's definitely a good beginner's project! You could start by buying
a single board PC with LCD interface and then install Windows XP (embedded)
and some other software. Or you can do it from scratch: design a computer
board, write an OS for it and then the applications you want. That should
keep you busy for the next five to ten years or so.
Good luck!
--DF
Bernie
Deefoo wrote:
> Wow, that's definitely a good beginner's project! You could start by buying
> a single board PC with LCD interface and then install Windows XP (embedded)
> and some other software. Or you can do it from scratch: design a computer
> board, write an OS for it and then the applications you want. That should
> keep you busy for the next five to ten years or so.
LOL - I know I know, I'm not exactly being realistic here. I'm just
brainstorming ;)
I've never stated that I do want to do it from scratch though. Single
board PC? Sounds good to me, any pointers there?
Thanks!
Deefoo
IEI (www.ieiworld.com), Advantech (www.advantech.com) and probably many
others.
--DF
JeffM
>eBook reader / picture viewer / movie player.
Before you start this, read about
the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA--pronounced Dumb-ka)
and what happened to Dmitry Sklyarov:
http://www.google.com/search?q=from-Adobe's-secure-eBook-format+into+the-more-common-Portable-Document-Format-PDF&filter=0
pbde...@spamnuke.ludd.luthdelete.se.invalid
>Guys,
>First off, I have little to no clue about electronics. I'm an aerospace
>engineer and can figure stuff out by myself once I've been pointed in
>the right direction. I have some very BASIC electronic knowledge, can
>quickly read up books & articles about electronics when needed, and am
>very experienced with soldering. This would be my very first
>electronics DIY project.
Just curious, if you are good at soldering. How small components do you
manage..? 2706 - 1812 - 1206 - 0805 - 0603 - 0402 - 0201 , tq144 ? :)
>I came across a BOEhydis HT10X21-200 lcd screen (without bezel,
>frame,etc.) and would like to build my own portable eBook reader /
>picture viewer / movie player. I have no idea whatsoever where to start
>looking for info, diagrams, parts, etc. I have no idea if a 'homebuilt'
>like this has been done before and thus I have no general concept of
Most lcd's either have some kind of serial/parallel comms or do the video
approach with pixelclock + h/v-sync. Look & measure the original lcd driver.
>what to do (windows based? unix based? other OS? what memory, cpu,
>graphics, etc..).
If requirements on cpu complexity/powerconsumption is tight you may have to
program a system that is not really an os but simply an task handler.
If a somewhat powerful cpu is ok. Then you could simple run www.netbsd.org or
similar os. Which unlike MS offerings requires less cpu power. And less
hassle with legacy encumbered interfaces and licenses.
Good cpu's are on the lowend avr/pic offerings. And higher arm/mips etc..
Also take a look at fpga offerings from Xilinx/Actel/Altera. They allow you
to have interfaceing & cpu in one chip (SoC).
>Any help / pointers would be greatly appreciated! I realize my request
>is very broad, feel free to just throw your opinion in please!
Beware it's proberbly easier to take an existing pda. And modify it to suit
your needs.
Other than that select an cpu/fpga + i/o (video, keyboard) that suit your
needs. Buy parts, design pcb..
Oh and.. this project might be a steep step for a beginner.. ;)