I agree, the scrolling would be cheesy if it was moving the text across the display one character at a time. Most character displays have the old HD44780 controller on them and that's all that is possible. In that case it can be handled equally well on the display or host side. However the scrolling on the Crystalfontz display is done a pixel at a time, which looks very nice: When we developed our serial displays, we started from scratch and made a display that was intended to be a serial display from the start. That is why our displays have the serial electronics built onto the LCD PCB instead of on a daughter PCB. Since we were designing from scratch we could use a controller that was a little newer than the HD44780, and develop a custom LCD glass that is larger and easier to read than the "standard" size displays. It is these two features that allow the 632 and 634 to have the nice smooth "gapless" horizontal bar graphs . . . . . . and the smooth pixel-by-pixel scrolling text. The v2.x Crystalfontz 632 and 634 can also store the boot screen, scrolling message and the state of all the custom characters for recall at power up. So you can easily create a unique "power on" screen for your computer that shows a message while the OS is loading. We also offer a bracket for bith the 20x4 and the 16x2 models:
Hey Brent, (CF) Hows about a hookup of some of your products? Mail me Koolvin@BiT-tech.net or mrhaz@bit-tech.net or anyone of us.
ahhh... so there was something to that scrolling "gimick" after all! lol... i didnt intend to start an LCD war. ooooo crystal fontz sooooooooooo tempting but VDfs sooooooo tempting to, Ahhh i think im gunna explode! - not to long be4 a get me credit card! not to long b4 im 18! WOOHOO! :rofl:
1) Not sure why anyone thinks it is a "war" -- just wanted to clear up the detail of pixel vs. character scrolling. 2) VFDs are cool. You can approach the look with a well-backlit negative mode LCD, but the VFD will win in the end if you can afford it. 3) The v2.x CF displays have an FSTN LCD that has a better response time than the v1.x series. 4) What is a "Dremel"?
4) A dremmel is a tool which is often used to ruin a perfectly good Computer case whilst trying to turn it into a Ford Capri with Purple underlights... have a look here If I am a good boy Satan (sic) will get me one for Christmas. Then I can begin my modding career... Can someone answer me this please... For a first time modder would a Crystal Fontz or MO be overstretching myself (esp since I can't solder for toffee...) should I just stick to getting myself a baybus (if/when Oclocker is back) and the Halfords Temp Probe? Thx Kazza
CF and MO serial LCDs are quite easy to deal with--the degree of difficulty is lower than a baybus as long as you're using someone else's software for them (not writing your own). So it's not a matter of difficulty for most peeps, it's a matter of expense. Parallel LCDs are much cheaper but require more electronics wizardry to operate, and are less supported by common software. So when you qualify your question the way you did, CF and MO LCDs are quite painless. And a Dremel is the finest sex toy you can buy, hands down.
Writing your own software for it isn't hard too. As I have looked at the Matrix Orbital command set of most of his LCD's, it's just as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 for a beginner to experienced programmer alike, in every language. Another thing, that new cool thing with LCD center (email alert) is cool, but is very simple too. I'm not such a very experienced programmer, but I can check email, and do a lot more too. Combine that (experience in programming language) with the power of an LCD screen (keypad + GPO's + Display) and a simple serial unitfile (or include for c++) for the programming language of your choice, and you can let the lcd do almost anything. Some examples: alert when new ICQ messages alert (and/or activate fan) on temperature to high you score in your favo game winamp stuff (okay, some things I'll say here are already done by LCD center (or was it driver..) but just saying) play and display audio cd information (without winamp, that is) read emails and ICQ messages follow IRC view the chat of your favo game .... and so on. So really, it isn't that hard at all with MO LCD's, I don't think it's harder with CF LCD's (but please, CF, get some GPO's and Keypad interfaces, that's sooo cool (and maybe some cool keypads too? then you will be better than MO)). ...okay I dunno why I've just posted this message, as you probably all know tha power of LCD's better than me, but anyway....
<I agree, the scrolling would be cheesy if it was moving the text across the display one character at a time.> -Quote. You have miss read or miss interpreted my original post, the fundamental statement I made was: What is scrolling other then moving a letter over one space (or pixel)? So weather you do it by sending a command or by making a small little loop in your code to do scrolling it will achieve the same goal. The only reason I could see for using a hardware scroll feature is that your display isn't fast enough to receive so much data and process it or you don't have pixel placement of characters. We have seen this issue with some of our fully graphical LCDs. That brings me to my second point; you should be careful how often you use "unique scroll feature". We have had this feature on some of our graphic displays for over one and a half years now, and all of our new graphic displays have it. We have made it so that you can select the size of the area you want to scroll and scroll it only (right or left), leaving everything around it intact (for example a small box in the middle of the screen). I must admit that scrolling text on our displays is a little harder then on yours, but that's because we use bitmaps for graphics and fonts and don't use a internal fonts. But this also does open allot of doors for other unique uses. When we design our displays we decide to design advanced and unique features, something more then all the other serial display manufacturers and take serial LCDs to the next level. Instead of spending time and resources on things that have been perfected by tens of other LCD manufacturers. We spent time innovating with keypads (even a full AT size keyboard), high and low power GPOs, PC Bay inserts, 2x8 to 4x40 displays and graphic displays. After looking over your website I see that you now have a splash screen, your displays run at 19.2 and have black PC Bay inserts, I guess it's time for our engineers to come up with some thing new again isn't it MOV files, I know.. but you get the idea... http://www.matrixorbital.com/temp/pixel scrolling.mov http://www.matrixorbital.com/temp/pixel scrolling2.mov
VFD loving... Here is some general information on VFDs 1. VFDs response time doesn't slow down in cold weather. This is ideal for out door applications where temperature can reach -40C and the display will respond as fast as it would at +20C 2. You can place filters on VFDs, this allows you to change the color of the display ( http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1597 ). Also in direct sunlight is will keep excellent contrast and protect the display glass from damage 3. In case you have the VFD in space and the glass breaks, it will still operate fine in open space. (thanks to NASA and IMAX for this information)
