wirehead wrote:
Delcom can do it, ready with Linux drivers, for $11.60.
I'm not sure how those would benefit my project. I'm looking for a byte-pipe, not a bit-bang solution. The FTDI chipset solutions are perfectly suited for what I'm looking for.
Those bit-bang solutions might be good for something like in-circuit programming or whatever. But again, the FT245BM chips offer those too.
The $25 price tag I quoted was a module, not the chip. The module fits a bone-stock 28-pin DIP socket, and includes the clock oscillator and so forth. The FT245BM chip is only available surface mount, and at this time, I have no desire to work with surface mount components. I just don't trust them.
Quote:
control an external SRAM with the memory pins. But since the LCDs generally take 4-8 bits at a time, you are going to have a much easier time than trying to control a VGA monitor.
Actually, controlling a VGA monitor appears to be pretty trivial. You have three analog inputs for R, G, and B, and two TTL-compatible sync inputs. That's it. What can be easier?
I have heard over and over that controlling a VGA monitor is somehow more complex than driving an LCD interface. I have yet to see concrete proof of this. Moreover, all the *cheap* displays take analog input, not digital. I remember pricing out an LCD 640x480 display, and for the same price, I can get a smallish flat-panel that does color from PC Club that does 800x600.
The most difficult part of hooking a custom circuit up to a VGA monitor is the high-density DB15 connector. Those suckers are *mad* expensive. It's actually cheaper to purchase a VGA monitor extension cable and hack off one of the ends and use that to couple to the monitor.