XBMC4Xbox

Ok so I have been looking for a vfd display to mod on the the front of an xbox console they have a higher brightness and viewing angle and I have come across this:

and I might buy one and try it out.

http://www.noritake-elec.com/includes/d ... 023-01.pdf

it may be worth a look at as it has the connection footprint on the side not the top so you wont have to cut out the two controller ports.

there is also a serial version with spi interface saving the need for soldering heaps of wires with avr and micro controllers.

Nice and bright, crisp display. I assume you will need a compatible modchip or an interface board of some kind ?

no they are pin for pin the same with lcd ones but also come with spi without an adaptor board slapped on the back.

professor_jonny wrote:no they are pin for pin the same with lcd ones but also come with spi without an adaptor board slapped on the back.

But you still need a chip or can it be wired straight to LPC ?

you still need a chip

professor_jonny wrote:you still need a chip

And theres the catch

in theory toy could connect a lcd direct to the i2c bus but it is used for important stuff and if you mess with it it could cause problems.

xbmc already has an i2c driver

Nice find P.J. but what about a supplier at a realistic price?. 20 X 4 lines of coarse and one question, is the backlite 4 levels compatible?.

bigkidoz wrote:

professor_jonny wrote:you still need a chip

And theres the catch

I still owe you a Xenium chip. I have lost your address however. The Xenium only has i2c LCD control by the way with very little data available for the "clone" Xenium modchip.

i believe the back light is able to be adjusted in the same pwm method to change brightness but with a vfd its sort of not the point brighter the better i have one on the front of my satellite decoder and it is heaps better than the lcd on the x3.
it is brighter and has no ghosting.

That screen looks very nice. My XLCD is hard to see from across the room with the backlight. Something like this would be much easier for me to see.from further away.

Nice find.
If only they could make 20x4 ones with ~40mm height...

How's the price on those? Last time I checked VFDs where like $50 and up for 2 lines. I think OLED character LCDs would be more suitable replacement nowadays. You get the visibility of VFD for cheaper. I think it also consumes less power but I'm not sure.

Example: http://www.adafruit.com/product/823

psyko_chewbacca wrote:Nice find.
If only they could make 20x4 ones with ~40mm height...

Totally agree - those VFD displays look so damn crisp but even LCDs are hard to find with that 40mm height.

Price is the killing point but I dont mind the price if i get something nice for my main xbox.
I think it waw $49 each as singles.

There is a bare no circuit board version 4*20 with a hd44780 controller on glass and the dimentions would be great but you need to make a 32v dc for the display to operate.

oled is cheaper but not as bright as vfd but a lot brighter than lcd.

The Crystalfontz CFAH2004K-TMI-JP (blue LCD, white letters), or CFAH2004K-YYH-JP (green LCD, black letters) would prob work better if mounted in the faceplate, but you would need a compatible chip still.

Here's a good link (at least for connecting to an X3 chip):

http://www.xbox-hq.com/html/xbox-tutorials-245.html