Alright I have 3 chooses for the controller to be used with the 7.2". I will be shipping the LCD to china on monday to be programed with which ever controller is picked. Here are your chooses.

1)
This controller has...
* 1 HDMI input
* 2 Component inputs
* 2 A/V inputs
* 1 S-Video input
* 1 VGA input
* 1 PC audio input
It also the most expensive option ($30 more than the other 2)

2)
This is the same controller being used in the MST 10.6" kits. It has...
* 1 HDMI input
* 1 Component input
* 1 A/V input
* 1 S-Video input
* 1 VGA input
* 1 PC audio input
* 1 PC audio output

3)
This is the same controller as in #2 but with a SCART input instead of a component input. It has...
* 1 HDMI input
* 1 SCART input
* 1 A/V input
* 1 S-Video input
* 1 VGA input
* 1 PC audio input
* 1 PC audio output

Note: Option 1 cost $30 more than options 2 and 3. Options 2 and 3 are the same price. I also need to know how many people are going to want a 7.2" kit, so that I can order the right amount. THANKS!!

I personally have no need for an extra component and A/V cable and I don't need Scart. So I vote for #2.

Oh and you already know I'm in for one.

I vote #2. and i will buy one if i can ever afford it. (they are 1280x768 right?)

another vote for door #2

Since #2 is the same controller used with the 10.6" LCD, it has HDCP, right?

Yup it does. Also I just found out that this panel is 1280x768 native, I didn't think that was native but pretty cool that it is. I'm really glad no one wants the one with SCART I hate SCART! HDTVaddict and yoshuaspawn do you guys want one as well?

Is option 1 HDCP enabled? If it is then That will be my choice.

I vote for door number 2

Also,put me down for one.




B0SC0

They are all HDCP enabled

Boards 2 and 3 are as yet to be listed on the manufactures web site. But, it looks like the last update on that site was back in February.

Currently money is scarce, but I will eventually buy one

Brand new here and even I know #2 is the one! Wouldnt believe it if my first build could be lucky enough to start with a 7incher!!

not just yet for me .. but i will probably get-in on round 2 if all go's well.

All right sounds good. Now is the time to tell me if you don't want option 2. I wanted #2 from the beginning so I'm glad most of you agree.

The first controller is the one I'm getting for the 15.4 kits. The second controller is used for the 10.6.

I guess great minds think alike! I was going to use the first controller, but I think that it is bigger than the 7.2" panel it self! Is there another controller you would suggest using?

Hey guys just thought I would chime in here def want #2 but when are they going to lose the tuner completely its useless ... Am I right?? In fact I was at target the other day and all the DVD recorders that had analog tuners had a positng that said something to the fact that after some date soon couple of years that the tuner will not work I was like WOW talk about selling you on something. Do any of you guys use the tuner with these nice panels?????

I will have to go with #2 also. I have been waiting forever on the Kontron board & 1080P 15.4WUXGA.
I will PM for price an availability.

Like to jump in too. however, I like to see how things will turn out with the first batch,
then will go ahead and try to go in with the second group buy! #2 will be my choice.

No, it's not useless. All broadcast television stations still broadcast an analog signal until at least 2009 (unless they extend it yet again) in the US, and until unknown dates in other parts of the world. Standard NTSC OTA signasl can still be used until then. You can also use analog cable well past the broadcast cut-off, because US based cable companies will still be delivering an analog signal along with digital on their systems. Part of the reason is due to the high cost of replacing cable boxes, and in part due to the fact that they are not required by the FCC to turn off analog signals like the broadcast stations will have to. The reason? Because they don't broadcast. The signal is delivered on a cable.

Most of the shows on digital OTA and cable are still standard definition, it's just sent on a digital signal.
(Digital is not HDTV, but HDTV is digital)
Those NTSC tuners will actually continue to work with the right signal source, but not for over-the-air standard definitions signals after they stop sending those in 2009. Also these tuners not only support NTSC, but also usually PAL (plus maybe SECAM) and these tuners can still be used throughout Europe, and numerous countries throughout the world.

Now, if you will only use this controller in a projector for HD, then, yes, that tuner makes little sense.
What these controllers really need is to have an ATSC and NTSC tuner on them.

Thanks for the information fmerrill me and my narrow mind I forgot about cable and other countries. I would love to have the tuner replaced from ntsc to atsc now that would be SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET! I am always thinking about me and my setup which is only OTA Digital and DVD, HDDVD, basically like you said only High Def stuff.

How much would option 2 make the combo? (Panel and Controller)

Heres a little update for everyone. Right now the panel is china and controller #2 is being programed to work with it. Also my LCD supplier told me that it had 16ms-25ms response time and 500:1 contrast ratio. He also sent me an updated data sheet that corrected the response time and contrast ratio. Oh and for everyone who has been fallowing this I also got the FFC extender for the LCD from my supplier.

It's settled, if I have to sell a kidney I gotta have one!!

Haha I don't think I would do that... but if you must... No but really the kit with the controller LCD panel and FFC extender should be about 280-290 (around the same as the 10.6). I have to wait and see how it looks when it gets back from china in case they didn't program it right but it shouldn't be much longer at all.

It looks like these are going to be sweet. I think i might hold off on my first build and wait untill someone builds a pj with one of the 7.2" lcd's and if the results are good thats what im going to use.

when you get it back and prove it out i will be interested in seeing results, my infocus is screaming for new parts lol

Haha prove it reminds me of high school football "get out there and prove it! PROVE YOU BELONG!!) Yeah I can't wait to get to get back they have the video working on it but the backlight isn't normal (we need it anyway) they can't find an inverter that works with it. I told them it worked with a 30 volt printer supply but for some reason they stock those haha.

well it sounds as if its about a done deal backlight... smacklight.... anyway so its number 2 WOW for the same price as 10.6 getting better and better

could someone begin a 7.2 LED panel, 10mm please. Johnzo, i'm lookin your way...

I have had a read through both threads and couldn't find the actual dimensions of the board-does anyone have these?

Thanks,

Matt

I can make one, but waiting on the 7.2 combo to be complete.

Ok the panel is 6.3 inches x 3.5 inches. Man that seems small

With a screen that small we are going to be able to make projectors that are not much bigger than most commercial projectors. My guess is that we will easily (if we can figure out cooling) be able to build a box that is about 18"x8"x6" or maby even smaller. that is getting small. i relay cant wait to see these things.

What's the color gamut for this lcd. The biggest weakness IMO for the 10.6 was the small color gamut. Is this the same?

262k colors. Almost any laptop lcd will be 262k colors.

I know a lot of people see no issues with a good quality panel that does 262,144 colors as long as the dithering is done well.
If the board has very good dithering capabilities, then the dithered image will look great for most people, and it's hard for me to notice any real difference between it and a true color 8 bit 16.7 million color panel.

On some older 6bit (256K) LCDs that did a poor job of dithering I can see the poor looking gradients in certain pictures and scenes, and it drive me nuts.

I totally agree.

Also some panels just have better color than others. Like among the 15.4" Wuxga's. If you have a Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, LG sitting side by side with the same controllers you will notice that some have much better colors than the others.

With a panel this small, you can probably find real lenses large enough to use instead of fresnels if you looked around enough and didn't mind spending a little more on them.

That's what I'm talking about!, large lenses instead of fresnel, check this out:

http://alag3.mfa.kfki.hu/astro/GiantLenses/200mm.htm

I agree with this. However, how do we know these boards do dithering? I don't see that in the spec sheets. If they do dithering then the actual color gamut increases to like 16.1 mil or something, close enough. But again, how do we know they do dithering.

Since it is the scaler chip that would be performing the dithering, you might want to check the specs on the chip itself, instead of the controller. Not sure if that would tell the whole story though. I assume that all controllers now do dithering by default, but it's a good point though, and one that I guess should be looked into.
I think most modern scalers probably do it well enough that it's not even thought about much anymore.

Here is an example of some info from a Genesis gm2121 chip data sheet:

The Gamma LUT outputs a 10-bit value for each color channel. This value is dithered down to either 8-
bits for 24-bit per pixel panels, or 6-bits for 18-bit per pixel panels.
The benefit of dithering is that the eye tends to average neighboring pixels and a smooth image free of
contours is perceived. Dithering works by spreading the quantization error over neighboring pixels both
spatially and temporally. Two dithering algorithms are available: random or ordered dithering. Ordered
dithering is recommended when driving a 6-bit panel.
All gray scales are available on the panel output whether using 8-bit panel (dithering from 10 to 8 bits per
pixel) or using 6-bit panel (dithering from 10 down to 6 bits per pixel).

Great info. Can Jonzo tell us about the other controllers for the 10.6. Do they all do dithering. Is that simply a default property of controllers these days.

Hi guys, have been lurking around and following the 7.2 + controller developments for a while now. Thought I'd break my silence and say good work progressing it all. I'd definately love to be in on the group buy when the time comes around.

Cheers

After reading the specs its down to this or a 10.6, thanks for pointing this out in my thread - I didn't realize how much the controllers had on them (NTSC tuners, etc.).

Count me in if this happens soon.

So is it safe to assume that the LCD FFC problem been resolved?

Tgreenwood

Yeah pretty much

So just out of curiosity, what kindof timeframe would be looking at from this point? It sounds like once you get everything back working, you'll mass order (well, small order) and send them off, and then we get them after you get them back?

No , once he gets it working there is no need to send off every panel.

Just order the controllers/ffc extensions/power supplies/lcd and he's good to go.

Awesome, so even less time then.....I hope this works out soon - widescreen would be really nice for my setup.