Although the information that allelectronics.com provides is a bit
sketchy, it does cover how to interface with the device. It uses a 4
or 8-bit parallel method, which is supported (as far as I can tell) by
LCD driver chips from Epson, that contain onboard RAM as well. You
could also drive it from some sort of custom chip, or microcontroller,
and I'm guessing you're a hobbyist like me. A microcontroller might be
too slow to drive it fast enough (I don't know), but some sort of FPGA
solution could probably be made, if you wanted to interface to it in a
particular way. But for your money, the best bet is probably to find a
ready-made controller with built-in RAM. I know Arrow carries an Epson
controller, for around $15 US, that should support the display. I say
"should" because I don't know anything about LCD panel duty cycles.
The ECM-A0526 docs state that it can only handle 1/242 duty.
If you want to do it "by hand", page four of the photocopied document
shows the pinout. You can find the connector for that on the back of
the display, just above 20 solder pads. I'm guessing the connector
(for mylar film with conductive traces, I guess) and those pads serve
the same function.
The separate board is the inverter to drive the backlighting, since it
requires a different voltage from the main circuitry. The whole device
is powered by a single 5V supply (through the connector on the back).
Note, I'm not a Google-answers person, and I just created my account
now to comment on this question. So feel free to take what I say with
a grain of salt. ;) |
