3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

If you're making a portable you probably need something to watch it on. (Unless you want to guess what's happening in the game, but I wouldn't advise that) Anyway, this forum is your "Hacking a pocket TV/screen" one-stop solution. Share your experiences and knowledge here.

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segasonicfan
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3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by segasonicfan » Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:54 pm

Very cool mod work being done here: http://forums.benheck.com/posting.php?m ... 11&t=36273" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; One thing I'd be really interested in is getting RGB input to that mini LCD. Any idea what the chip part number is on that circuit board? I was looking at this site but it looks like they scratched it out:
http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=78" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm assuming it's an integrated TFT/Video demodulator integrated into one chip.

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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by wallydawg » Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:11 pm

Some of them on eBay claim to have RGB output, but you know how that goes with Chinese sellers (falsified battery mah, inflated resolution sizes, etc). Most of the older conversations about this, that I remember, were written off as "not worth it" due to the improved visibility not noticeable enough on the screen size on the amount of work that needed to get it working or something (I'm not really versed that well on specifics of such things so hopefully that makes sense, I might be explaining it wrong). This was around when we first started doing car backup LCD replacements on the Nomad, so more useful information may be more readily available now, but every time a thread such as this comes up it always seems to eventually gravitate towards the "not worth it" mentality.

It IS possible though, as I vaguely recall seeing a Gamegear LCD replacement with a 3.5" LCD on SMSPower, but I don't think the post was in English so I can't recall any specifics. Another problem would arise is that even if someone did figure out how to output RGB on a specific LCD, the driver boards change so often that vital information may be rendered useless quite quickly. There have been 7" and 5" LCD's that have RGB output so it might just continue to be a "wait and see" project as the technology keeps advancing.

Personally, There are a couple other Nomad mods I'd like to see explored first. If someone could omit the controller daughterboard and just run the Nomad off of the smaller board with the cart slot, you just might be able to fit a 32x in there...
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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by segasonicfan » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:33 am

Hey thanks for the reply. I looked up the thread you mentioned and foud it along with the full site documenting the mod:

http://club.tgfcer.com/viewthread.php?a ... id=6175537" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sadly, it looks like he too used composite input. Most people might not mind the difference but I love having RGB video on any size screen. The colors are always brighter and everything is more crisp.

The information wouldn't necessarily become outdated quickily since the chips might be used widely as was the case with the IR3Y29. On my webpage is an example of a mod I did to a PS2 7" LCD for RGB input and pictures with the quality difference:

http://www.freewebs.com/vgmods/playstat ... ations.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If we could find out the chip used in the new generation of these small screens it could be really helpful for a lot of screens coming out down the road too hopefully.

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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by hailrazer » Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:03 am

There's a HUGE difference in size with a 3.5" and a 7". There's no way there would be a noticeable difference doing an RGB mod on a 3.5" screen. Or if there was a minor difference 99.9% of the people out there would not notice it.
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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by segasonicfan » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:53 pm

well that's your opinion and I respect it but do disagree. I think anyone seeing it side by side would notice the difference. People may tolerate it but there is a difference. I modded a 3" portable TV screens years ago and when I did composite v. RGB it looked much nicer. Regardless of screen size, composite bleeds all the reds, dilutes them, crosses color artifacts and other things.

Anyways, I just started this thread to see if anyone out there could help me do the mod. RGB input to these (newer) 3.5" LCDs. If anyone has one and could take a close up picture of the main chip, or could post the part number it would be great :)

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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by hailrazer » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:59 pm

Well that's your opinion. I did the rgb mod on a Psone 5" and nobody I showed it to saw any difference between it and composite.

It's the same thing with HD. I know a lot of people who have HD televisions and they can't tell when an HD program or a SD program is on.

Most people are NOT videophiles and most people will NOT notice the difference, especially on a 3.5".

That being said. If you find a 3.5" or 4.3" that will take Rgb I would like to know so I can hook up an N64 to it and do a side by side comparison :)
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Re: 3.5" LCD with RGB input? (for Nomad modding)

Post by wilykat » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:37 pm

I'm also with other, don't believe what the seller claims. Many of the specs are misleading due to communication barrier, and some are outright lies. I was looking for laptop batteries, and I saw some cheap ones with 6 cells claiming to do over 11k mAH. My old battery is original HP, 9 cells, and tops at about 60k mAH. So how can a Chinese made battery (by seller with lots of negs for misleading claim I might add) can do nearly double the mAH of OEM while having 1/3 less batteries?

I ended up getting the battery from authorized reseller, far less chance of erroneous claim or altered claim.

As for the LCD, unless you're going to use larger LCD (7" or so), I agree with other and just do straight composite. Most of the cheap Chinese made/sold LCD are composite only and rarely worth the effort to reverse engineer for RGB hack

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