Archive for February, 2015

February 5, 2015   Posted by: Dr. Ace Jeangle

How to use FullHD+ LCD

Our 10″ FullHD+ LCD bundle supports 24-bits color and has WUXGA (1920×1200 px) resolution. Take note that your host board should support 1920×1200 resolution, otherwise you will get no video output.
Bundle consists of LCD panel, HDMI converter board, and LVDS cable to connect converter to LCD panel. You can also buy optional cables (miniHDMI and miniUSB), power supply to power converter and LCD, ambient light sensor for automatic brightness control, and LCD holder: 10″ FullHD+ LCD with HDMI interface

HDMI-dualLVDS converter board has the following connectors:
FullHD+

Connecting LCD

You should use included LVDS cable to connect LCD to HDMI converter board. Please, take care to correctly insert LCD side of cable – contacts should be on top. Use your nails or tweezers to insert cable completely into LCD connector.
LVDS cable, LCD side

Optional ambient light sensor should be connected with red wire into pin 1 on board connector:
Ambient light sensor

Logic and backlight voltages for LCD are generated on board and supplied by the same LVDS cable, so you don’t need separate power supply for LCD or backlight voltage generator.

Powering LCD

LCD with converter board take up to 1.2A/5A when backlight is set to maximum value. Board and LCD can be powered either by external power supply (5V at least 2A, jack is OD=2.6mm, ID=0.65mm, positive central pin) or by USB. By default it can be powered by external supply only. For USB power you should install 0R resistor in R12 position. Check that your USB host can provide enough current. CAUTION! Do not connect external power supply when R12 is installed, it can damage your USB port.

Basic LCD functionality

We ship LCD with simple demo firmware that turns on LCD backlight and video processor when input video signal is detected. If video signal is lost, LCD backlight will be turned off. On-board LED shows status of video signal – LED is on when active video signal is detected. You can always check that hardware is working well by connecting LCD with this basic firmware into standard PC running Windows. For advanced functionality you will need to update firmware as described below.

Firmware update with USB bootloader

We constantly release new firmware for our products to extend functionality and fix possible bugs. Converter board has embedded USB bootloader for easy firmware update. To update firmware you should switch converter board to bootloader mode by shorting both pins on ambient light sensor connector with jumper, then turn on power. Green LED will light on, and you will have 3 seconds to remove jumper in order to start bootloader. Green LED will blink when bootloader is active. You should follow steps 4 and 5 of this firmware upload procedure: Firmware upload.
HID USB bootloader program for PC is available here: HID USB bootloader.
Latest version of firmware is always available here: FullHD+ firmware

Ambient light sensor and backlight brightness

Ambient light sensor is available as an option, and can measure ambient light level for automatic brightness control.
ambient light sensor
Ambient light sensor should be connected to connector J1, red color wire to pin 1 on connector. You will need latest firmware in order to get automatic backlight control. Also, with last firmware you can control backlight from your host board or PC through USB HID commands: How to control LCD backlight (USB HID)

  • Maximum brightness (MAX_BL parameter) is 35 for this 10″ LCD
  • Report ID for backlight control is 0

Converter board schematic

Board schematic is available here: http://goo.gl/NSWTIQ

Technical drawing of LCD

Technical drawing of LCD is available here: FullHD+ LCD drawing

See in action

Video with dualLVDS converter board and our FullHD+ LCD is available here: FullHD+ LCD with HDMI dualLVDS converter

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February 4, 2015   Posted by: Dr. Ace Jeangle

How to control LCD backlight (USB HID)

Starting from version 2.0 all firmwares for our LCD and HDMI converters support LCD backlight control through standard USB HID protocol.

HID report descriptor

The following HID report descriptor is used:

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    0x05, 0x0C,             //    Usage Page (Consumer)
    0x09, 0x01,             //    Usage (Consumer Control)
    0xA1, 0x01,             //    Collection (Application)
    0x15, 0x00,             //       Logical Minimum (0)
    0x25, 0x01,             //       Logical Maximum (1)
    0x75, 0x01,             //       Report Size (1)
    0x95, 0x07,             //       Report Count (7)
    0x19, 0x6F,             //       Usage Minimim (0x6F)
    0x29, 0x75,             //       Usage Maximum (0x75)    
    0x91, 0x02,             //       * Output (Data, Var, Abs)
    0x95, 0x01,             //       Report Count (1)
    0x91, 0x03,             //       * Output (Const, Var, Abs)
    0x25, 0x23,             //       Logical Maximum (35)
    0x75, 0x08,             //       Report Size (8)
    0x09, 0x71,             //       Usage (0x71 -  Display Brightness)
    0x91, 0x02,             //       * Output (Data, Var, Abs)
    0x09, 0x35,             //       Usage (0x35 - Illumination)
    0x26, 0xFF, 0x00,       //       Logical Maximum (255)
    0x81, 0x02,             //       ** Input (Data, Var, Abs)
    0x05, 0x20,             //       Usage Page (Sensors)
    0x09, 0x41,             //       Usage (0x41 -  Ambient Light Sensor)
    0x81, 0x02,             //       ** Input (Data, Var, Abs)
    0xC0                    //    End Collection

Report usages follow recent changes in official USB HID specification proposed by Microsoft in change request #HUTRR41. Interface # is 0 for HDMI-dualLVDS converter and FullHD+ LCD bundle, Interface # is 1 for open frame/black frame 7″ LCD and for new 10″ integrated LCD. Report ID is 0 for all cases.

Packet format

Firmware accepts 2-bytes packet request from host and reply with 2-bytes packet with information about current backlight mode and ambient light level:
Backlight HID format

Only one bit can be active in command byte of request packet. If bit 5 is active (Set Brightness command), then next byte contains desired brightness level. For others commands second byte is ignored. LCD will reply with current backlight status and ambient light sensor value to any received command. To get current status without performing command you can send request with command byte equal to 0. MAX_BL is 35 for HDMI-dualLVDS converter and FullHD+ LCD bundle, MAX_BL is 18 for open frame/black frame 7″ LCD and for new 10″ integrated LCD.

How to send commands

The simplest way to communicate with HID devices is to to use cross-platform library HIDAPI from Signal11. With HIDAPI it is just several lines of code to control LCD brightness:

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#include <stdio.h>
#include "hidapi.h"

// Try to open HID device and return pointer to opened device
hid_device* openHID() {
    struct hid_device_info *devs, *cur_dev;
    hid_device* device = NULL;
    int iface = 1;  // We use interface# 1 for 7" and 10", and interface# 0 for dualLVDS/FullHD+

    // VID=0x04D8, PID=0xF724 for 7" and 10" multi-touch firmware, interface# is 1
    // VID=0x04D8, PID=0xF723 for 7" and 10" single-touch firmware, interface# is 1
    // VID=0x04D8, PID=0x003F for dualLVDS/FullHD+, interface# is 1
    devs = hid_enumerate(0x04D8, 0xF724);
    if (devs == NULL) {
        devs = hid_enumerate(0x04D8, 0xF723);
        if (devs == NULL) {
            devs = hid_enumerate(0x04D8, 0x003F);
            if (devs == NULL) return NULL;
            else iface = 0;
        }
    }

    // Walk through all enumerated devices to find one with correct interface number
    cur_dev = devs;
    while (cur_dev) {
        if ((cur_dev->interface_number) == iface) {
            device = hid_open_path(cur_dev->path);
            printf("Found Backlight interface at path: %s", cur_dev->path);
            break;
        }
        cur_dev = cur_dev->next;
    }
    hid_free_enumeration(devs);

    return device;
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    hid_device* device=NULL;
    unsigned char buf[3];

    buf[0] = 0x0;   // Report ID (0)
    buf[1] = 0x04;  // Command (0x20 - Set Backlight)
    buf[2] = 9;     // Backlight value for command Set Backlight

    hid_init();

    device = openHID();
    if (device == NULL) {
        puts("Can't find USB device with interface for backlight");
        return -1;
    }

    hid_set_nonblocking(device, true);


    printf("Writing bytes: %02X,%02X,%02X\n", buf[0], buf[1], buf[2]);

    if (hid_write(device, buf, 3) == -1) {
        puts("Error writing bytes to device!");
        hid_close(device);
        return -1;
    }

    if (hid_read_timeout(device, buf, 2, 100) == -1) {
        puts("Error reading bytes to device!");
        hid_close(device);
        return -1;
    }

    printf("Received bytes: %02X,%02X\n", buf[0], buf[1]);

    return 0;
}

Above example is universal and will work with all our products with USB backlight control feature.

GUI application for LCD control

Cross-platform GUI application to control different LCD settings including brightness is available here:
LCD control GUI
You will need Qt framework to build it from sources.

See in action

Video with backlight test using our dualLVDS converter FullHD+ LCD is available here: Backlight test video

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