PCEGT replace with 3.5inch TFT LCD

[HercTNT]

so how tough would this be to do, and what do you estimate it would cost?

[thesteve]

i would need to source the connector

[HercTNT]

LOL, sigh, damn you steve......alright. sometime down the line when you figure out the battery backup i will send you my machine for a third time to have that connector thrown in to. I'm

currently working on a gag order for gunner, you don't need anymore ideas

[BlueBMW]

Now when steve makes the adapter plug to connect an IFU/CDROM2 to the Express / GT... then we'll really be in for it hehe

[Duo_R]

Waa??? I looked into doing this and the controller board is completely different (at least it seemed it did) compared to a TG / Duo. I recall it having a special chip running the control board...

Although I have no doubt you will figure a way.

port1 tap works

[thesteve]

true the board is different, but its wired the same.
they just combined the logic chips into an ASIC or PLD

[Duo_R]

so in theory this thing could take a turbo / duo tap? Wow that would be insane.

[HercTNT]

Its my understanding its not a theory. As long as he could source the  connector its doable. I'm learning from talking to steve that there is no such thing as cant be done. It wont be long before he's

telling me my gt can be fitted with a wet bar and ice maker. When that day comes I'm gonna erect a statue in his honor.........err......well......not quite like that 

[MotherGunner]

So... how about?  Jk!!

[HercTNT]

  .............................. 

[esteban]

WAIT A SECOND!

Why is this development not generating more discussion? I don't know if I actually "need" to have AV out on my Express, but I'm beginning to want it!

I must say, I was happily surprised to see this development!

[roflmao]

Yeah, I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but this is AWESOME!  When I have a little extra dough stored up, my Express is going back to thesteve for the screen mod and the av out mod.  It's really amazing.  (he recently added a switchless region mod to my Express which is working fantastically)

[liquitek]

I am very interested in having this done to my TE when things are ready.  All of it. 
The bigger screen, AV out, controller port, wet bar and ice machine.

Thank you for making as much of this happen as you have already and for whatever other brilliant ideas you might integrate.  I'll just leave the cheque blank shall I?
Also thanks for waiting until I was old enough and responsible enough not to waste my whole paycheck on booze and cigs.

On my son's birthday, when my wife asks why the pinata was filled with coupons for $7 off oil changes instead of candy, you'll all know why. 

[HercTNT]

LOL, do we all get to collectively sue steve when he ruins our productivity in society 

[esteban]

HOLY CRAP. Why are people not praising the pure awesomeness of all of steve's mods?

I am very interested in having this done to my TE when things are ready.  All of it. 
The bigger screen, AV out, controller port, wet bar and ice machine.

I was thinking the same thing. I have to wait to save up the $$$. But I want it. NOW.

[Flare65]

Just got my express back from him.  He completed the large screen install and fixed the sound.  I have not had a chance to play with it much or test the battery life of it yet, but it turned out great!  Once I get my second express up and going, I'll post some pics of the size comparison between the two.  He also installed the auto-region mod in it so now when I want to play japanese games, I just hold down select while powering on the system.

Very cool mods and I can't wait to play it more!  He did a great job!

[io]

clue's for now....lol
I had to lift 5 pins and ground them. (you might be able to see them in the pic)
PS: thats an NPN transistor and 75ohm resistor under the grey

Truly awesome ! How did you come up with that ? Do you have a datasheet of the Hu/Huc6260 ?

[EDIT] Ohhh... maybe by comparison with an other NEC console for the resistors values and the pins to ground : http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=hu6260_netlist

[esteban]

Just my express back from him.  He completed the large screen install and fixed the sound.  I have not had a chance to play with it much or test the battery life of it yet, but it turned out great!  Once I get my second express up and going, I'll post some pics of the size comparison between the two.  He also installed the auto-region mod in it so now when I want to play japanese games, I just hold down select while powering on the system.

Very cool mods and I can't wait to play it more!  He did a great job!

Great. Be sure to tell us how lame our stock Expresses are, now that you have pure awesomeness. I am sooooooooooooooo envious. 

[thesteve]

clue's for now....lol
I had to lift 5 pins and ground them. (you might be able to see them in the pic)
PS: thats an NPN transistor and 75ohm resistor under the grey

Truly awesome ! How did you come up with that ? Do you have a datasheet of the Hu/Huc6260 ?

[EDIT] Ohhh... maybe by comparison with an other NEC console for the resistors values and the pins to ground : http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=hu6260_netlist

i actually did a side by side comparison with a TG16 and express, using an ohm meter

[mrjingles75]

I have an LT in good condition that is begging for a screen upgrade like this. Do you know if replacing the standard 4" LT screen would be a similar process?

[thesteve]

im sure it would be.
4" is an off size as 3.5" and 4.2" are common

[gerard]

I am interested in the mod, are you still taking orders?
Thanks.

[thesteve]

sure, just been busy

[Bernie]

I'm gonna get this done at some point too.  Just gotta get an Express or GT.

[NightWolve]

I was very tempted by this, but I ultimately decided against it since a) it's extremely rare for me to pick up my Express and play it anyway, AND b) the 3.5" LCD panel that they're using can only be connected via a composite signal, not the raw RGB signal... They tell me it still looks much better than the original (which I assume is analog RGB connected), but you essentially have to switch to the worst video connection method (only slightly better than RF). When/if they figure out how to connect it via RGB, then maybe I'll think about it. Call me picky! ;)

This is the panel, image attached: NEW 3.5" TFT TomTop LCD Color Screen Car Rearview Monitor DVD VCR

[thesteve]

RGB would be much simpler
just finding a display to use it is about impossible

[turbokon]

Nightwolve, you don't know what you're missing. It's like night and day. The quality of the new LCD versus the old stock screen is so much better that it makes up for using an "inferior" signal. Check out this video I made for YouTube. Hope you didn't mind thesteve

[NightWolve]

Oh wow, you did a full-on video for it! That's cool!

Anyhow, it's definitely interesting and it looks great! To borrow what esteban said, "I don't know if I actually 'need' the LCD Mod for my Express, but I'm beginning to want it!" ;)

Technical inquiry: So if I understand this correctly, the composite sync pin (44) out of the hu6260 chip is disabled by default when it comes to the TurboExpress because it's inherently connected via raw RGB to its native LCD panel? I would guess they disabled it to save power or something and since it wasn't necessary, that correct ?? And as such, the circuit that 'thesteve' designed manages to re-enable composite sync in order to feed that signal to the new LCD panel because that was the easiest path towards achieving a video connection?

[HercTNT]

a friend of mine has two turbo's one with steve's screen and one without. Not only does the new screen trump the old one by a mile, but steves recap also makes the sound crystal clear and loud. unless you want to keep your's stock (nothing wrong with that), the new screen is a must in my book.

[thesteve]

the stock screen uses pin44 comp sync
by default pin40 lum, pin33 R-Y, pin26 B-Y, and pin20 color burst are disabled as they were not needed.
i enable them

[NightWolve]

Ah, gotcha! Thanks steve, you're very detailed and verbose with your answers... ;)

[Duo_R]

steve where did you get your acrylic ?

[thesteve]

i use the acrylic from the new screen.
i cut it to fit

[meka]

Steve are you still offering this mod with the region mod, my pc engine gt is dying even though it has been recapped, with this mod you can actually read text which is good for Japanese RPG's. I'm really wanting this done.
Thanks

[thesteve]

yes pm me

[esteban]

steve, I just want you to know that I still fantasize about this mod. When I have $$$, I will send one of my TE's in for a mod.

This is assuming, of course, that my PCE/TG-CD consoles don't face the mechanical/capacitor apocalypse I have been expecting...

[Flare65]

Had him work his magic on my unit.  I'm very pleased with the results!

[HercTNT]

it goes beyond the Pc engine, he put a new screen in my friends gameaxe and its unreal how good it looks.

[meka]

Just got my modded a few days ago, it's so much better than before.

[JohnnyPhantom]

simple isn't it

This is truly awesome! Can't wait to send my unit in to thesteve for the 3.5" LCD mod. It's one of those things I could probably do my self, but I'd rather pay him then risk doing it myself. Looking at the diagram he posted. I'm just trying to make sense of it. So he lifts and grounds pins 19, 25, 29, 32, and 39. Then he lifts and connects pins 20, 26, 33, and 40 to resisters, connectes them together after, and then thats where it looses me. I'm not a electrical genius so I have no clue what happens next (which why I'd rather send it to be modded then do this one myself) but what happens next? and whats CV?

from what I can guess, once again I have no clue, after the resisters, they connect to a 5.0V source and then NPN (no clue what that is) to a 75 resister (guessing thats 75k?) and then CV?

Sorry for my lack of knowing here, hoping someone could shed some light on where I'm lost, it's great to learn ^-^

thanks everyone!

[thesteve]

after the resistors, it goes to a simple amp/driver, than the 75ohm resistor to reduce the signal

[JohnnyPhantom]

after the resistors, it goes to a simple amp/driver, than the 75ohm resistor to reduce the signal

simple amp/driver? is that built into the console or have to be added? and is the CV the LCD input?

[turbokon]

The amp/driver has to be added to the TE. The CV is for composite video out either directly to the LCD or the 3.5mm earphone or com jack for the external output to tv.

[turbokon]

If you want to do both LCD and comp vid out to tv, you'll need two tranx, one for each.

[JohnnyPhantom]

Ah ok, I'm starting to follow, two questions, whats a tranx? and what do you use for the amp/driver?

[turbokon]

It's for Transistor, that is what used to amp/drive the video signal.

[NightWolve]

after the resistors, it goes to a simple amp/driver, than the 75ohm resistor to reduce the signal

simple amp/driver? is that built into the console or have to be added? and is the CV the LCD input?

Mixing Y (Luma), Red-Y, Blue-Y, and CB (Chroma Burst) is how the regular NEC console systems produce the Composite signal from the Hu6260 video encoder chip. The reason he has to ground all those pins mentioned is because those outputs are normally disabled (he figured out that grounding them re-enables them, etc.) for the portable. The new 3.5" screen needs a regular Composite signal, so it has to be produced in order to work with it. If he could connect the raw RGB to it, he would, but this is what has to be settled for, regardless, the new screen is far better and clearer even with the use of a Composite signal.

The NPN transistor that he's using is likely his favorite S8050 (as opposed to the #1 transistor in the world, the generic Radioshack 2n3904). Both work about the same, but steve says the S8050 is better in the long run and what not so I bought a pack of 100 myself for the mods that I'm gonna do (already finished my SNES YPbBr mod using it).

A picture of the S8050 is in this thread. This image. But steve likely used the surface mount version, which is much smaller, but works exactly the same.

[thesteve]

after the resistors, it goes to a simple amp/driver, than the 75ohm resistor to reduce the signal

simple amp/driver? is that built into the console or have to be added? and is the CV the LCD input?

Mixing Y (Luma), Red-Y, Blue-Y, and CB (Chroma Burst) is how the regular NEC console systems produce the Composite signal from the Hu6260 video encoder chip. The reason he has to ground all those pins mentioned is because those outputs are normally disabled (he figured out that grounding them re-enables them, etc.) for the portable. The new 3.5" screen needs a regular Composite signal, so it has to be produced in order to work with it. If he could connect the raw RGB to it, he would, but this is what has to be settled for, regardless, the new screen is far better and clearer even with the use of a Composite signal.

The NPN transistor that he's using is likely his favorite S8050 (as opposed to the #1 transistor in the world, the generic Radioshack 2n3904). Both work about the same, but steve says the S8050 is better in the long run and what not so I bought a pack of 100 myself for the mods that I'm gonna do (already finished my SNES YPbBr mod using it).

A picture of the S8050 is in this thread. This image. But steve likely used the surface mount version, which is much smaller, but works exactly the same.

exactly correct

i am using the 8050, as i found them cheap and plentiful
the 2n3904 is equivalent

[compil3r]

Hello people! I want to know if anyone has a good advice on buying a 2.5 LCD to do this, so far I've found this one, comes with a camera also, so the unit must be torn apart, but the price is good anyways:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/185C-2-5-LCD-Screen-4-LED-Car-HD-DVR-Video-Recorder-Camcorder-Night-Vision-TFT-/281031898143?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416ece741f

Or this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/mini-2-5-Digital-LCD-Car-Monitor-for-CCTV-CAMERA-DVR-/250771923902?pt=US_Car_Monitors_w_o_Player&hash=item3a632be3be

Anyone has a better (or the best) option?

Thanks!

[turbokon]

I'm not sure how the camera feeds into the LCD on the first one so I would say the second since it accept a composite video in.