FEAT


ATURE


EMBEDDED TECHNOLOGY


BRINGING THE DOMESTIC INTO THE INDUSTRIAL What advantages do HDMI displays offer embedded projects? By Adilson Jacob, applications and development engineer at Anders


in favour of a lower-cost, or low-power edembedded RGB or L VDS interface. The option remains: to use the HDMI display in the end product wit h the interface board, or by integrating t he conversion circuitry on the application main board. It’s fast and easy, if rather expensive and power hungry.


On the other hand, high-performance evaluation modules, such as the


Compulab SOM-iMX8, are suit able for equipment that demands high graphics or image-processing performance, such as medical imaging devices or high-end gaming terminals. In-house tests have shown that these boards offer easy plug- and-play compatibility wit h a variety of different HDMI display s.


different HDMI display HOW


HOW CA DISPLAY?


H


DMI displays are available in small sizes, such as five or seven inch, which are popular for industrial


embedded use cases such as for smart appliances, security devices, t icketing and information systems, medical devices, machine controllers, etc.


ARE H ARE HDMI PANELS PLU LUG AND PLAY?AY?


One advantage of the HDMI int erface is t hat the display can be regarded as a “plug and play ” component . In t he middle of a development project, one display can be easily swapped for another, to try a different size or a better specification. Plug and play can help teams to start work on the user int erface wit hout committing to a hardware platform or waiting until a protot ype is ready. T hat can be very helpful when the time comes t o demonstrat e a proof of concept, in order t o secure a green light from top management .


Anders offers a selection of HDMI


displays t hat provide a Mini-USB port for t he purposes of prototyping, connecting t he touchscreen to any of t he large number of single-board computers that provide a USB connection. Get ting a head-start on the user-interface design, while also having the flexibilit y to make changes, can be a tremendous advant age to the project, particularly when achieving the right look and feel is critical to the overall user experience. However, HDMI was not created as an embedded user interface. Wit h its roots in the consumer world, it is


14 MAY 2020 | ELECTRONICS


relatively expensive due to license fees that can raise the price of the delivered product . The power and board real estat e consumed by HDMI interface circuitry also needs to be considered.


CAN I CONNECT MY CHOS EN AY


Various other high-performance display interfaces have strong credentials for emerging embedded use cases. MIP I-DSI is an example, which is being adopted in the automotive industry, as well as AR/ VR equipment and wearable electronics. An embedded board with a MIP I-DSI output may require conversion to RGB or L VDS to connect a chosen display. Conversely, some developers may want to connect a MIPI display to a module that has an ordinary RGB or L VDS output. Small displays that feat ure high- performance int erfaces provide new flexibilities for embedded projects. Anders helps navigat e the possible opportunities t o ensure the finished product meets the applicable cost, size, and power requirement


and power requirement s within the desired time-to-market window.


ARE HDMI PANELS SUITA INDUSTRIAL APPLICATI


ARE H TABLE FOR ATIONS Despite these apparent drawbacks,


embedded projects can take advantage of the fast start, plug-and-play simplicity, as well as the flexibility to make design changes quickly and easily, which HDMI displays can provide. Anders’ LVDS to HDMI interface converter can connect an embedded board to an HDMI display , to let user-interface development begin before committing t o any particular hardware platform. This can be an


effective approach for rapid prototyping. Lat er in the project, when the display size and specification are known, the HDMI interface board can be dropped


Anders


www.andersdx.com T: +44 (0)207 388 7171


/ ELECTRONICS


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