VGA to LVDS video controller IC?

Log in or register to post comments
Go To Last Post
7 posts / 0 new
Author
Message
farmosh203
farmosh203's picture
Level: Hangaround
Joined: Mon. Oct 27, 2008
Posts: 169 View posts
#1
Posted by farmosh203: Sun. Feb 28, 2010 - 11:38 PM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

Does anyone know of an IC that will convert VGA to LVDS directly? I saw Genesis had some IC's that did this (they got bought by ST electronics) but I think these IC's are only sold to high volume customers. I opened an old LCD monitor and it used a Novatek brand IC, which I could not find at Mouser or Digikey.

Thanks.

Tags:

Learning and Information, General Electronics
Top
Gold Markclawson
clawson's picture
Level: Moderator
Joined: Mon. Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 104799 View posts
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
Posted by clawson: Mon. Mar 1, 2010 - 10:33 AM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

Quote:

but I think these IC's are only sold to high volume customers.

That's going to be your problem - the scaler card in an LCD monitor is a commodity unit used in 10's of millions of monitors and TVs but these aren't generally available in small quantities for retail sale. You might want to Google "Asian Sources" - you *might* find a vendor in HK or PRC who was willing to sell a small quantity.

Top
jayjay1974
jayjay1974's picture
Level: Raving Lunatic
Joined: Wed. Oct 30, 2002
Posts: 5763 View posts
Location: The Netherlands
Posted by jayjay1974: Mon. Mar 1, 2010 - 12:38 PM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

TI has some LVDS serializer/deserializers.

Top
Gold Markclawson
clawson's picture
Level: Moderator
Joined: Mon. Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 104799 View posts
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
Posted by clawson: Mon. Mar 1, 2010 - 12:59 PM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

Quote:

TI has some LVDS serializer/deserializers.

But those will just be the line drivers - the "clever bit" is the rescaling processor that "talks" analogue VGA on one side and outputs the digital LVDS signals on the other side that then pay into those kind of line drivers which then run to the panel's own drivers where it's converted back from LVDS to row/column drivers.

The curious thing is that you can buy an entire scaler for about $5-$10 (in large quantity) and yet you cannot buy either the scaler chip or the LVDS drivers separately for much less than that?!? - there must be HUGE economies of scale involved if someone can make money out of making/selling these kind of scaler cards!

Cliff

Some of the players are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vid...

Top
jayjay1974
jayjay1974's picture
Level: Raving Lunatic
Joined: Wed. Oct 30, 2002
Posts: 5763 View posts
Location: The Netherlands
Posted by jayjay1974: Mon. Mar 1, 2010 - 01:23 PM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

I'm not certain what the OP wants; analogue VGA or the digital signals ie. 24 bits of RGB + sync + pixelclock. These serializers are used in laptops for example to reduce the number of connections to the display to 4 differential pairs. It easier for EMI and signal integrity purposes.

Prices that mass production manufacturers can negotiate are completely different from prices in distribution (but I guess you know that :))

I once did a project at Philips that used an Altera FPGA. The price they had to pay for it is one we can only dream about; IIRC $5 or so for a part that costs $50 in regular distribution. Not to mention the design help you get for free once such big name is involved.

At Nokia you can get a bonus of several K if you manage to reduce the BOM by a few cents; so I heard.

Top
farmosh203
farmosh203's picture
Level: Hangaround
Joined: Mon. Oct 27, 2008
Posts: 169 View posts
Posted by farmosh203: Mon. Mar 1, 2010 - 03:15 PM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

Sorry about not clarifying, I meant the analog RGB.

Top
jorytsai
jorytsai's picture
Level: New Member
Joined: Thu. Aug 4, 2011
Posts: 1 View posts
Posted by jorytsai: Thu. Aug 4, 2011 - 05:23 AM
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Total votes: 0

I noticed you mentioned that Novatek transfer VGA to LVDS signals. One of my project needs to convert it backward. Do you know any IC will serve this purpose?

Thanks. Jory

Top