EBook reader DIY?

- B
- Bernie
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 12:23 PM

Guys, First off, I have little to no clue about electronics. I'm an aerospace engineer and can figure stuff out by myself once I've been pointed in the right direction. I have some very BASIC electronic knowledge, can quickly read up books & articles about electronics when needed, and am very experienced with soldering. This would be my very first electronics DIY project.

I came across a BOEhydis HT10X21-200 lcd screen (without bezel, frame,etc.) and would like to build my own portable eBook reader / picture viewer / movie player. I have no idea whatsoever where to start looking for info, diagrams, parts, etc. I have no idea if a 'homebuilt' like this has been done before and thus I have no general concept of what to do (windows based? unix based? other OS? what memory, cpu, graphics, etc..).

Any help / pointers would be greatly appreciated! I realize my request is very broad, feel free to just throw your opinion in please! Thanks! Bernie

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- Deefoo
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 12:39 PM

Wow, that's definitely a good beginner's project! You could start by buying a single board PC with LCD interface and then install Windows XP (embedded) and some other software. Or you can do it from scratch: design a computer board, write an OS for it and then the applications you want. That should keep you busy for the next five to ten years or so.

Good luck!

--DF

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- Bernie
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 1:10 PM

LOL - I know I know, I'm not exactly being realistic here. I'm just brainstorming ;)

I've never stated that I do want to do it from scratch though. Single board PC? Sounds good to me, any pointers there?

Thanks!

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- Deefoo
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 2:25 PM

buying

(embedded)

computer

should

IEI

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Advantech

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and probably many others.

--DF

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- JeffM
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Jun 23, 2006 6:44 PM

Before you start this, read about the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA--pronounced Dumb-ka) and what happened to Dmitry Sklyarov:

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's-secure-eBook-format+into+the-more-common-Portable-Document-Format-PDF&filter=0

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- pbdelete
  
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posted
17 years ago

Sat, Jun 24, 2006 9:03 AM

Just curious, if you are good at soldering. How small components do you manage..? 2706 - 1812 - 1206 - 0805 - 0603 - 0402 - 0201 , tq144 ? :)

Most lcd's either have some kind of serial/parallel comms or do the video approach with pixelclock + h/v-sync. Look & measure the original lcd driver.

If requirements on cpu complexity/powerconsumption is tight you may have to program a system that is not really an os but simply an task handler. If a somewhat powerful cpu is ok. Then you could simple run

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or similar os. Which unlike MS offerings requires less cpu power. And less hassle with legacy encumbered interfaces and licenses.

Good cpu's are on the lowend avr/pic offerings. And higher arm/mips etc.. Also take a look at fpga offerings from Xilinx/Actel/Altera. They allow you to have interfaceing & cpu in one chip (SoC).

Beware it's proberbly easier to take an existing pda. And modify it to suit your needs. Other than that select an cpu/fpga + i/o (video, keyboard) that suit your needs. Buy parts, design pcb.. Oh and.. this project might be a steep step for a beginner.. ;)