Source for small (e.g., PDA/phone) color touch panels

[D Yuniskis]

Hi,

I am looking for 10 - 20 small-ish color LCD touch panels
for a "one off" project. In these small quantities, I suspect
I may be better off purchasing a bunch of "appropriate" PDA's
on eBay and cannabilizing them for parts (?). That could
also be a win as the MCU therein already has support for
driving the panel (so, I could just "talk to" the MCU instead).

Suggestions? Alternatives? Panels must be backlit and
work with "finger" touch (not require a stylus).

Thanks!
--don

 

[D Yuniskis]

Hi Rob,

STM32 Primer 2 ??? Not sure on availability, and I haven't used it
myself, but it was pretty cheap at one point ... has touch screen, usb,
and MEMS accel. ... ???

<frown> Digikey shows them at ~$65/ea (I didn't bother to
check the 10-off price). I suspect I can find abandoned PDAs
for considerably less. Problem will be getting enough of them
without having to pay S/H "per each".

Then, worrying about the quality of their individual screens
(wear patterns).

Thanks!

 

[while\(1\);]

Hi,

I am looking for 10 - 20 small-ish color LCD touch panels
for a "one off" project. In these small quantities, I suspect
I may be better off purchasing a bunch of "appropriate" PDA's
on eBay and cannabilizing them for parts (?). That could
also be a win as the MCU therein already has support for
driving the panel (so, I could just "talk to" the MCU instead).

Suggestions? Alternatives? Panels must be backlit and
work with "finger" touch (not require a stylus).

Thanks!
--don

Look here: www.crystalfontz.com , under TFT - the last one is 3.5" with
touch option.

- while (1);

 

[Cesar Rabak]

Em 17/2/2010 20:29, D Yuniskis escreveu:

Hi,

I am looking for 10 - 20 small-ish color LCD touch panels
for a "one off" project. In these small quantities, I suspect
I may be better off purchasing a bunch of "appropriate" PDA's
on eBay and cannabilizing them for parts (?). That could
also be a win as the MCU therein already has support for
driving the panel (so, I could just "talk to" the MCU instead).

If you decide to go that route, remember to buy, dissassemble, test and
repack carefully a number of spares (if you don't think of a possible
recurrence of the buyer), or stock if the returning customer is plausible.

Been there done that for a project and after one and half year when the
need for three more parts arrived I almost went crazy to obtain the
additional ones!

my 0.019999....

 

[D Yuniskis]

Hi Cesar,

Em 17/2/2010 20:29, D Yuniskis escreveu:
If you decide to go that route, remember to buy, dissassemble, test and
repack carefully a number of spares (if you don't think of a possible
recurrence of the buyer), or stock if the returning customer is plausible.

Sorry: 'for a "one off" project' (i.e., a "one time buy")

 

[D Yuniskis]

Look here: www.crystalfontz.com , under TFT - the last one is 3.5" with
touch option.

Yeah, pricey. As I said, I figure I can get "everything" in
a "used" PDA for considerably less. If this was a full prodcuction
run, then I could afford to "buy new". :-/

 

[Jon Kirwan]

I am looking for 10 - 20 small-ish color LCD touch panels
for a "one off" project. In these small quantities, I suspect
I may be better off purchasing a bunch of "appropriate" PDA's
on eBay and cannabilizing them for parts (?). That could
also be a win as the MCU therein already has support for
driving the panel (so, I could just "talk to" the MCU instead).

Suggestions? Alternatives? Panels must be backlit and
work with "finger" touch (not require a stylus).

The first thing that came to mind was a replacement screen
for the touch-half of a Nintendo DS from DealExtreme.
Something like these two pieces?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26582
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3245

That may still leave too much yet to be done.

Jon

 

[while\(1\);]

Yeah, pricey. As I said, I figure I can get "everything" in
a "used" PDA for considerably less. If this was a full prodcuction
run, then I could afford to "buy new". :-/

So, what's your question, then? Get that PDA, cannibalize it and you're
done...

- while(1);

 

[Jon Kirwan]

Hi Jon,



Excellent! Yes. I assume the two are assembled together
(sandwich) in the Nintendo? I.e., I would have to mechanically
mount them atop each other.

Yes, that's how it's done. And it is backlit. If you don't
have a DS Lite, buy one. Play with it, see how it "feels" to
you. Examine the backlighting, the touch, etc. You can even
_develop_ code for it, as there are groups who have put
together a fairly nice toolset to do all that with some
readily available "cartridges" you can plug into it. You get
two ARM processors in there, plus some memory, and so on, as
well as two displays, one that is touchable, buttons, and an
RF link that is compatible with most routers.

DealExtreme offers some small screwdrivers to dismantle the
DS Lite, as well (couple of dollars.) So you can pretty much
go exploring.

I will look into the DS and see what it's capabilities are
as well as what the likely interface would entail.

Thanks!

Let me know how it looks. I'm very interested in either the
positives or negatives you uncover. I'd appreciate the
update, very much.

Jon

 

[D Yuniskis]

Hi Jon,

The first thing that came to mind was a replacement screen
for the touch-half of a Nintendo DS from DealExtreme.
Something like these two pieces?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26582
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3245

Excellent! Yes. I assume the two are assembled together
(sandwich) in the Nintendo? I.e., I would have to mechanically
mount them atop each other.

That may still leave too much yet to be done.

I will look into the DS and see what it's capabilities are
as well as what the likely interface would entail.

Thanks!

 

[D Yuniskis]

So, what's your question, then? Get that PDA, cannibalize it and you're
done...

My *question* was whether there were other "inspired"
options to get the functionality that I desire. See
Jon Kirwan's post, this date.

 

[D Yuniskis]

Hi Jon,

Excellent! Yes. I assume the two are assembled together
(sandwich) in the Nintendo? I.e., I would have to mechanically
mount them atop each other.

Yes, that's how it's done. And it is backlit. If you don't
have a DS Lite, buy one. Play with it, see how it "feels" to
you. Examine the backlighting, the touch, etc. You can even
_develop_ code for it, as there are groups who have put
together a fairly nice toolset to do all that with some
readily available "cartridges" you can plug into it. You get
two ARM processors in there, plus some memory, and so on, as
well as two displays, one that is touchable, buttons, and an
RF link that is compatible with most routers.

DealExtreme offers some small screwdrivers to dismantle the
DS Lite, as well (couple of dollars.) So you can pretty much
go exploring.

I will look into the DS and see what it's capabilities are
as well as what the likely interface would entail.

Let me know how it looks. I'm very interested in either the
positives or negatives you uncover. I'd appreciate the
update, very much.[/QUOTE]

<frown> The NDS seems a bit pricey for what I want to do.
Shelling out ~$2K for essentially 20 "screens" is way
overkill. :< I.e., I'd still have hardware and software
tasks in addition to fighting with a platform that
wasn't *designed* to support "open" development (it
appears nintendo has actively tried to thwart folks
repurposing their device)

But, the screen+touchpanel may be a viable option. I have
to research that some more -- the DX offering seems to
be unclear on whether the cited LCD is, in fact, the LOWER
display and not the UPPER. Even their "clarification"
of the issue seems ambiguous :-/

I've also found a few surplus vendors from whom I might be able
to order a small lot (25-50 units). That option, however,
leaves me too much fexibility (!) in terms of picking a size,
etc. :-/

 

[JosephKK]

Hi Jon,



<frown> The NDS seems a bit pricey for what I want to do.
Shelling out ~$2K for essentially 20 "screens" is way
overkill. :< I.e., I'd still have hardware and software
tasks in addition to fighting with a platform that
wasn't *designed* to support "open" development (it
appears nintendo has actively tried to thwart folks
repurposing their device)

But, the screen+touchpanel may be a viable option. I have
to research that some more -- the DX offering seems to
be unclear on whether the cited LCD is, in fact, the LOWER
display and not the UPPER. Even their "clarification"
of the issue seems ambiguous :-/

I've also found a few surplus vendors from whom I might be able
to order a small lot (25-50 units). That option, however,
leaves me too much fexibility (!) in terms of picking a size,
etc. :-/

Dina 'nyone tell ya? Choice is wealth. And wealth is one of
the magnificent old men of the sea.