Driving random LCDs with Arduino? (Sharp XV-110ZM projector TFT LCDs)

[Distelzombie]

Hi

I got some LCDs from old projectors. I want to use them with Arduino. Any Idea if that is possible with LCDs that are so proprietary, maybe?

Three from the very first LCD projector ever:
Sharp RUNTK0260CE 1701515H
... 1701534H
... 1702169H
They're slightly different in size.

And three from a modern LCD projector:
L3P08X-55G20 1-J-5296A7 M7
also slightly different numbers and dimensions. I don't know the manufacturer of these though.

I am mostly interested in the Sharp ones, because they are quite big. Two or three inches, but just 640*480. They also have pots on them that are labeled H-POS and H-HOLD, could be useful.

I found no information about these on the internet. Any tips?

[Cliff Matthews]

That would likely end up being way more project than Arduino (and on limited AVR memory, not very interesting). Since VGA shields exist at $24 and projectors are commodity products under $68 why not consider that? It would still be a lot of fun to program and afterward, you'd still have a working projector 

Hmm... seems to be enough text room for a 10-bit, 6-channel voltmeter... (albeit with common grounds..)

 

[Distelzombie]

I already have two projectors. Both already in the smallest pieces. Both were broken before I got them. And the PCB are mostly scrapped for parts.
I don't actually want a projector. I just want to drive these LCDs. I'll take a look at the VGA shield, thank you for telling me about it.
But is there a guarantee that it can run any of my LCDs? (This question can also be asked thusly: Can it run any LCD?)
Good thing about my LCDs is that they are raw. No backlight, no polarizer... I want it that way. I have the polarizer separate if I need them.

[Distelzombie]

I was just thinking: Can you drive an LCD without a graphics shield/board? I guess I have to know what the pin-out of the displays is.
It's ok if the framerate is less than one per second, btw.

The displays have a driver onboard. Does anyone know what sort of interface that could be?
On the mainboard those were connected to is nothing to read. It was a very old projector: It had a Ultrasonic delay line in it.  It was one of the first LCD projector: Sharp XV-110ZM
It uses TFT-LCDs and they do have polarizer on them, but just one. The other one was external.

[james_s]

You'll probably need an FPGA for this, and a datasheet for the LCD, otherwise you'll have a big task of figuring out the pinout.

[ogden]

Sharp is manufacturer of LCD displays/modules and not only. It could be so that key component of Sharp projector is custom-manufactured by Sharp and documentation is in "unobtainium" category.

[Distelzombie]

Huh... that's bad. Any ideas what it COULD be? I mean they must have used some standards. Even when they are in-house.

BTW I made a cool picture of the pixel in one of these TFT LCDs. I'm not sure if you can see the transistors, though. My self-made microscope is very limited.

[metrologist]

yeah, it would be cool because I have several surplus instrument LCDs...

[ogden]

BTW I made a cool picture of the pixel in one of these TFT LCDs. I'm not sure if you can see the transistors, though. My self-made microscope is very limited.

Picture is cool indeed, but unfortunately this is all what I can tell

[james_s]

A lot of TFT panels use an interface that has parallel signals for binary intensity values, hsync and vsync signals that reset the horizontal and vertical counters and a dot clock that latches the data into each pixel. There's no telling what something like a projector panel uses though unless you have the board that originally drove it.

[Distelzombie]

Sure I have it. What should I look out for? I was already looking at it to see if the silk screen tells me something, but no.

[james_s]

Power it up and look at the signals with a scope, or trace the pins to ICs and look up datasheets. It's standard reverse engineering, though not a particularly easy example.

[Distelzombie]

Oh, about that: You must not have read my signature yet.
As planning goes I'll have my oscilloscope in August. 

I guess there's not much to do then. 
I was too naive to think it would be kinda easy.

Maybe the other three could work somehow. The small ones; L3P08X-55G20 (1-J-5296A7 M7)
I'm gonna have to look those up. EDIT: Woa, or I just sell them. They go for 70$ apparently! EDIT: No they don't sell...

[Distelzombie]

I got a couple more LCDs and whatnot from a range of different mobile phones. Any chance I can use them? Three from fairly modern (post 2000) phones that look black.
Then one normal LCD from an Nokia 5130.

[james_s]

If you can find or otherwise determine the info then sure, but given the low cost of new TFT displays it's one of those things you have to do because it's fun. Either use a logic analyzer to decode the protocol or find the info from someone else who has.

[amyk]

Controllerless LCDs need to be fed a constant stream of data, basically like a composite video signal but with syncs and pixel clocks separate.

http://www.cafelogic.com/articles-2/driving-a-controllerless-graphic-lcd-with-a-pic32/

http://www.savel.org/2007/03/27/controllerless-lcd-on-printer-port/

http://pcbheaven.com/exppages/Reverse-Engineering_an_LCD_Display/