> Hello group,
>
> For a new project, we have almost decided on AT91SAM7X256 for a variety of
> reasons. Primarily due to its rich peripheral set and previuos knowledge of
> Atmel Chips.
>
> But we need to implement a LCD display, preferably 320x240 pixels into our
> system and we would like some advice on the best way to do this. With
> respect to both hardware and software development. I.e how to get a grip on
> this. would we use LCD controller or do direct IO from the processor?
>
> Any help, comments, links are gladly appreciated.
>
> Thanking you in advance.
>
>
> Henrik
Hi Henrik - Olimex is coming out with a SAM7X256 dev board within a
couple weeks that has an LCD display on it. You may want to check that
out: http://olimex.com/dev/sam7-ex256.html
-Mike
Reply by Henr...@ work●July 14, 20062006-07-14
"Ulf Samuelsson" <ulf@a-t-m-e-l.com> wrote in message
news:e986b6$bsr$1@emma.aioe.org...
> You do not need to use Linux for the device.
> A lot of the code from the U.Boot boot monitor can be used.
> This supports the DM9000E Ethernet controller present on the SAM9261EK.
> Later this year, you can get the SAM9263 with built in Ethernet and LCD
> control.
I will look into this more closely. Any suggestions for software ressources
available are galdly appreciated.
Best regards
Henrik
Reply by Ulf Samuelsson●July 14, 20062006-07-14
>> Depending on your need for peripherals you could also consider the
>> AT91SAM9261
>> which has an internal LCD controller optimized for 320 x 240.
>> The standard peripherals are more or less the same but it
>> lacks Ethernet, ADC and CAN of course.
>
> Actually I have been thinking alot about this controller as well. But I
> need the ethernet controller. And I have a feeling that the online
> community
> for this chip is smaller than for the ARM7 parts. Also I have done no
> investgation into SW tools and RT-kernel and such.
>
> I have no experience in using Linux for such a device and I think that
> buying a module from someone else will not be an option for us.
>
You do not need to use Linux for the device.
A lot of the code from the U.Boot boot monitor can be used.
This supports the DM9000E Ethernet controller present on the SAM9261EK.
Later this year, you can get the SAM9263 with built in Ethernet and LCD
control.
> So for now, I think we'll stick with the AT91SAm7X256 (When will the 512K
> version be out??)
>
Somewhere later this year.
> Best regards
> Henrik
>
--
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson
This is intended to be my personal opinion which may,
or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Nordic AB
Reply by Henr...@ work●July 14, 20062006-07-14
"Ulf Samuelsson" <ulf@a-t-m-e-l.com> wrote in message
news:e980he$3vp$1@emma.aioe.org...
> "Henrik @ work" <henrik6650@ofir.dk> skrev i meddelandet
> news:44b4e370$0$148$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk...
>
> Depending on your need for peripherals you could also consider the
> AT91SAM9261
> which has an internal LCD controller optimized for 320 x 240.
> The standard peripherals are more or less the same but it
> lacks Ethernet, ADC and CAN of course.
Actually I have been thinking alot about this controller as well. But I need
the ethernet controller. And I have a feeling that the online community for
this chip is smaller than for the ARM7 parts. Also I have done no
investgation into SW tools and RT-kernel and such.
I have no experience in using Linux for such a device and I think that
buying a module from someone else will not be an option for us.
So for now, I think we'll stick with the AT91SAm7X256 (When will the 512K
version be out??)
Best regards
Henrik
Reply by Chris Quayle●July 14, 20062006-07-14
Peter wrote:
>
> I'm interested to know what people suggest for the HW side of things -
> we're looking at adding a LCD to a Atmel SAM7 chip without an external
> address bus and, so far, haven't come up with any good ideas. There
> don't seem to be any 320x240 SPI based controllers around - one
> suggestion was to put it in a FPGA and write some logic to convert
> between SPI & an "address bus" based FGPGA video controller.
>
> Peter
Have you looked at the Epson 1374 series ?. Has onboard framebuffer ram
and a bus interface that can be coerced onto most micros...
Chris
--
Greenfield Designs Ltd
-----------------------------------------------------------
Embedded Systems & Electronics: Research Design Development
Oxford. England. (44) 1865 750 681
Reply by Darcy Roberts●July 13, 20062006-07-13
Peter wrote:
> Henrik @ work wrote:
>
>>For a new project, we have almost decided on AT91SAM7X256 for a variety of
>>reasons. Primarily due to its rich peripheral set and previuos knowledge of
>>Atmel Chips.
>>
>>But we need to implement a LCD display, preferably 320x240 pixels into our
>>system and we would like some advice on the best way to do this. With
>>respect to both hardware and software development. I.e how to get a grip on
>>this. would we use LCD controller or do direct IO from the processor?
>
>
> We're using the LCD library from Simplify Technologies
> http://www.simplify-technologies.de/gui_library/index.html
> which has been great - it's not (or wasn't!) licensed on a 'per
> product' basis which makes it cheaper if you want to use it in multiple
> projects.
>
> I'm interested to know what people suggest for the HW side of things -
> we're looking at adding a LCD to a Atmel SAM7 chip without an external
> address bus and, so far, haven't come up with any good ideas. There
> don't seem to be any 320x240 SPI based controllers around - one
> suggestion was to put it in a FPGA and write some logic to convert
> between SPI & an "address bus" based FGPGA video controller.
>
> Peter
>
For HW, why not look at the SAM9 series or the new AVR-32 series from
Atmel? LCD controller is built in.
regards
DR
Reply by Peter●July 13, 20062006-07-13
Henrik @ work wrote:
> For a new project, we have almost decided on AT91SAM7X256 for a variety of
> reasons. Primarily due to its rich peripheral set and previuos knowledge of
> Atmel Chips.
>
> But we need to implement a LCD display, preferably 320x240 pixels into our
> system and we would like some advice on the best way to do this. With
> respect to both hardware and software development. I.e how to get a grip on
> this. would we use LCD controller or do direct IO from the processor?
We're using the LCD library from Simplify Technologies
http://www.simplify-technologies.de/gui_library/index.html
which has been great - it's not (or wasn't!) licensed on a 'per
product' basis which makes it cheaper if you want to use it in multiple
projects.
I'm interested to know what people suggest for the HW side of things -
we're looking at adding a LCD to a Atmel SAM7 chip without an external
address bus and, so far, haven't come up with any good ideas. There
don't seem to be any 320x240 SPI based controllers around - one
suggestion was to put it in a FPGA and write some logic to convert
between SPI & an "address bus" based FGPGA video controller.
Peter
Reply by Ulf Samuelsson●July 13, 20062006-07-13
"Henrik @ work" <henrik6650@ofir.dk> skrev i meddelandet
news:44b4e370$0$148$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk...
> Hello group,
>
> For a new project, we have almost decided on AT91SAM7X256 for a variety of
> reasons. Primarily due to its rich peripheral set and previuos knowledge
> of
> Atmel Chips.
>
> But we need to implement a LCD display, preferably 320x240 pixels into our
> system and we would like some advice on the best way to do this. With
> respect to both hardware and software development. I.e how to get a grip
> on
> this. would we use LCD controller or do direct IO from the processor?
>
> Any help, comments, links are gladly appreciated.
>
> Thanking you in advance.
>
>
> Henrik
>
Depending on your need for peripherals you could also consider the
AT91SAM9261
which has an internal LCD controller optimized for 320 x 240.
The standard peripherals are more or less the same but it
lacks Ethernet, ADC and CAN of course.
--
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson
This is intended to be my personal opinion which may,
or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Nordic AB
Reply by Tom Lucas●July 13, 20062006-07-13
"Chris Hills" <chris@phaedsys.org> wrote in message
news:Qgc279AGkVtEFAiY@phaedsys.demon.co.uk...
> In article <1152712265.72165.0@despina.uk.clara.net>, Tom Lucas
> <news@REMOVEautoTOflameREPLY.clara.co.uk> writes
<snip>
>>
>>I can recommend emWin very highly and their support is good too. The
>>licensing needs to be looked at carefully because they have made it
>>very
>>complex and restrictive -
>
> No it's not. It's quite simple.
I wouldn't say it is all that straightforward and it is quite
restrictive. Someone else commented on this a while back when I was
choosing between Segger and PEG. They are a bit more flexible during
development but once you go into production then you are tied to using
the library on one product even if you are using the same display
hardware in several. I guess that is how they make their money but it is
definitely more restrictive than other licenses I have and I think is is
a bit more complex than most.
However, just to qualify that, it is not enough of a problem to prevent
anyone from buying the library if that is the one they choose.
>>> Thanks for the pointer, I will check that thread.
>>
>>It looks pretty good from what I've seen of it and covers all the
>>basic
>>things I'd want a GUI to do. I've written a lot of extensions to emWin
>>to tweak it to what I want so I might as well have started with a
>>simpler library.
>
> But the problem is a simpler library probably won't be able to do what
> you need on the next release. BTW the bits you would probably leave
> out
> others would want in...
I think it is just useful for some people to have a leg up and just get
a bit of simple graphics going which they can add their own functions
to. It's not right for everyone but if you are only doing something
really basic then it might be enough. It is certainly much easier to get
going with a package like Segger's but the cost might be prohibitive for
some.
Reply by Don McKenzie●July 12, 20062006-07-12
Henrik @ work wrote:
> Hello group,
>
> For a new project, we have almost decided on AT91SAM7X256 for a variety of
> reasons. Primarily due to its rich peripheral set and previuos knowledge of
> Atmel Chips.
>
> But we need to implement a LCD display, preferably 320x240 pixels into our
> system and we would like some advice on the best way to do this. With
> respect to both hardware and software development. I.e how to get a grip on
> this. would we use LCD controller or do direct IO from the processor?
>
> Any help, comments, links are gladly appreciated.
>
> Thanking you in advance.
>
>
> Henrik