Following on from our news article last week that described how to generate composite video from an Arduino we can now tell you about a solution to generate VGA video output from an Arduino or compatible, using an interesting method described by Damian Peckett.
Previously methods have relied on the processing power of the onboard microcontroller, however Damian's solution takes advantage of the Atmel 16U2 on later Arduino Uno and compatible boards, using it as a part of the solution as a frame buffer and more. This helps increase the possible screen refresh rate and results with readable text, for example:
Furthermore Damian also explains how VGA video is generated, and the challenges of doing so with limited hardware. For more information, visit Damian's interesting website. And for more, we're on facebook, twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If using a larger monitor via VGA is a little too much, consider our 128x128 pixel OLED Module. With a diagonal size of 1.5" and 16,384 colours to select from, so almost anything is possible. Furthermore there's a microSD card socket, and removable tabs on each side which can hold LEDs and buttons:
And using the module is made simple - we have tutorials and drivers for both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms - great for experimenters or those who use both systems. Furthermore, check out the forum where members are already creating modified drivers to rapidly increase the display speed. For more information including our Quickstart guides - and of course to order - visit the OLED Module product page.
