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Display for my Raspberry Pi

[Edit] I have now undertaken another approach, worth checking it out here

I recently purchased a 4.3″ TFT LCD screen, originally intended for attaching car backup cameras with the intention to use it as a status screen for my Raspberry Pi. I got it from Ebay and it costs $25 delivered:

Specs say it should be powered by the car’s 12V, but I figured it would work at much less. I tested it at 6V and it works just fine, there isn’t any warming that running it on 12V would cause. So I hooked it to Raspberry Pi’s TV out and it worked straight away:

I then followed the instructions on this site to get Chromium installed and running full screen on specific site upon booting, that happens to be the URL for my public dashboard on emoncms:

 

By Martin | October 1, 2012 | Raspberry Pi |

20 thoughts on “Display for my Raspberry Pi”

    1. admin Post author

      Here is it is: Ebay link

      The specs say 1440×272 resolution that I find highly unlikely. Anyway hooking it to the RCA will still only give you PAL/SECAM resolution. I am still able to read the text and for graphics it is not bad at all..

      1. relghuar

        Actually 1440×272 is very likely – this is looks like physical dot-resolution of the display, which means you have to divide X dimension by 3 (each pixel needs separate R,G and B dots). That would make it 480×272 actual pixel resolution, which is not unusual at all (Sony PSP has this one, or any number of 4.3″ LCDs like http://www.ebay.at/itm/NEW-4-3inch-HannStar-HSD043I9W1-lcd-display-screen-resolution-480-272-color-lcd-/180847840346?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1b5f0c5a#ht_5384wt_956).

    1. admin Post author

      There’s nothing secret going on 🙂
      I can surely make it non-public and only visible with R/O api-key provided.

    1. admin Post author

      I wonder what was I thinking then.. my other comment didn’t make it easier either..
      I must have you laughing hard 🙂

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  5. Michael Horne

    Hi.
    I have that exact same screen. How are you powering it? Could you show how it’s wired up at 7V ?

    —
    Mike

    1. admin Post author

      I have a wall transformer that has adjustable voltage out through a dial. I simply plugged it to the power plug of the monitor and adjusted the dial to 6V (not 7 V as you say) and it works nicely. I can post pictures later, but there is nothing really complex, just mind the polarity. By the way I think at some point to power both my Pi and the monitor from that single power supply. For the purpose I will need to set the transformer to 7V or higher and make a small board with 7805 voltage regulator for the Pi’s strict 5V requirement.

          1. relghuar

            Nice one 🙂 I was just looking on ebay to get one of these monitors and take it apart to put both pi and the display in a single case… Bypassing the display voltage regulator will certainly make that easier. Now just to put together some usb touchscreen interface 🙂

  6. Tom

    Hi, I live in the UK and I think that your idea is great, but I was wondering if a 12v DC rechargeable power supply for CCTV cameras would power the screen as I have found a similar monitor.

    Thanks, Tom.

      1. Tom

        Ok, thanks for your help, also, could I power the pi through a rechargeable power supply for usb devices? (I have a usb cable for the pi)

        Thanks again, Tom