The display is low powered enough to mean that it can be bus powered from
a PC parallel port. The code listed below will enable raw image data to be
streamed to the display via the parallel port. This might be useful to
make a handy self-contained status indicator for a Linux box - e.g. a
headless MythTV backend.
Connect the LCD data lines to the parallel port via resistors to limit the
current in the IC's clamp diodes. I used 12K resistors, but this might be
a bit too high for reliable operation. 4K7 might be a better choice,
depending on the specific parallel port.
Connect the anodes of the LCD backlight LEDs to the parallel port via
lower value resistors. I used 620ohms for a reasonable brightness. You may
need to adjust this value.
The +2.9V logic supply is connected to one of the LED anodes. Logic ground
and the LED common cathode are connected together and to the PC ground in
the parallel port.
To use it, compile then execute, streaming in your raw image data. The
program expects exactly 24240 bytes of data: triplets of unsigned bytes
representing red, green and blue samples (in that order), 101 triplets per
line, 80 lines in the image. This stream can be trivially effected under
Linux with the ImageMagick tools, e.g. something like this: -
convert MyImage.JPG -resize 101x80\> -size 101x80 xc:black +swap \
-gravity center -composite rgb:'-' | stream -size 101x80 rgb:'-' \
-storage-type char -map rgb '-' | ./a60-lcd
Two arguments are recognized: ./a60-lcd 0 (number zero) switches off the
LCD, rendering it safe to disconnect and ./a60-lcd s skips the
reset/initialisation sequence, possibly useful for slideshows or live
status updates
