VGA Shield

The Arduino VGA Shield will be, as the project name may indicate, an Arduino shield that outputs VGA video.

Project Status

Schematic and board layout complete, PCBs ordered, still need to order parts.

Design Overview

• Shield will provide I2C-RS232 bridge so the Arduino doesn't have to use its (only) RS232 UART for this
• Will provide a 3.5mm jack for external speakers (no room on shield for a speaker)
• The µVGA-PICASO-MD1 has 16 GPIOs, so will pin those out on the standard 2x5 connectors
• Status LEDs for power, TX, RX, and audio enabled

Chipset Options

• 4D Systems µVGA-PICASO-MD1 module ($54)
  • Very expensive
  • Some complaints about reliability
  • Only talks RS232

• New 4D Systems uVGA-II(SGC) module ($49)
  • Relatively expensive
  • Only supports up to 800x480 (WVGA) @ 16bpp
  • Very easy to interface with (via an I2C/SPI to RS232 bridge likely)
• Propeller chip with custom code ($8)
  • Cheap
  • Unsure how high resolution would be possible given generating VGA video from an MCU

• Custom FPGA solution ($?)
  • More work than any other solution
  • Similar cost to propeller chip, likely

• Off-the-shelf VGA controller chip
  • The Epson S1D13506 seems promising, you talk to it and it has an internal RAMDAC to generate video.
    • Supports LCD, VGA, and NTSC/PAL composite output
    • Flexible bus to talk to the microcontroller
    • Requires EDO DRAM, which isn't available anymore.
  • The Epson S1D13517 might work, it's like the S1D13506 but takes SDRAM
    • Supports up to 800x600 16bpp
    • Only supports TFT displays, may be able to make it talk DVI though through timings/TMDS converter?

• Project Peacock
  • Hybrid CPLD/MCU solution, cheaper than using a softcore in an FPGA
  • Would allow for an easy DVI shield too