I don't understand the repeated focus on VGA. Isn't HDMI well supported on modern FPGAs now, in terms of both direct TDMS output signals and hdl libraries?
VGA is awesome. For many different reasons. First, VGA is easy (relatively speaking) compared to NTSC. NTSC is actually difficult when you start messing with color bursts. I built an NTSC card years ago using a slow PIC and some TTL logic. It was cool, but difficult to get right.
As much as I love NTSC, it's getting harder to find good displays that handle them well. Modern TV's don't really like the old NTSC signals and CRT's are big and hard to find.
VGA monitors are a dime-a-dozen. They are everywhere. I've bought several from thrift stores for < $10. And, they are still being made. Many brand new, still produced, HDMI monitors will have a VGA port.
HDMI is DRM'd, has copyrights, and is a legal mess if you ever really want to get serious with it. I would imagine that many devices out there that support HDMI are technically doing it without legal permission. VGA has no such restriction.
VGA can be driven with a, again, relatively slow frequency of 25.175 MHz. 640x480 can use "fat pixels" of 2x2 to get a great "retro sized" screen of 320x240. And, VGA is razor sharp on a low-end monitor.
VGA can be driven with a modest micro-controller (the Propeller can drive 6-7 VGA displays at once...each with different content). Even TTL driven VGA isn't terribly difficult.
So I'm the exact opposite of what you were asking...I don't understand why more people don't push VGA instead of HDMI.
Cat; the other white meat.
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