J720 Transflective LCD mod

Changing the polarizers basically makes it a bit more legible in direct light. If you wanted to improve brightness or contrast ratio you would need to change the lcd panel. As I said before there is a drop-in replacement DSTN with an improved contrast ratio (check the hitachi site).

I couldn't find a supplier that would ship samples of the panels though...

Heh, so that is why the 720 can externally support 800x600 (matrixcore's pdf).

Ok, so I could get a pinout on this relatively easily, I believe. The only thing keeping this from being easy is the fact that the 720 could break very easily.

If I had a few this would not be a problem.

Anyone else willing to test? Heheh.... C:Amie, you have a few 720's, right?

EDIT: What do you mean by samples? You can still order them, of course?

Yes, the inability to see in a bright room was the main problem. But if I get a full pinout, that I know will work, I will have no problem whatsoever in cracking open my 720.

Edited by ProgramSynthesiser 2005-10-15 7:31 PM

Hmm...for some reason I had thought that you found a tft with the correct pinouts...well there must be one out there, right? Does anyone know how I could find one?

Ok, matrixcore found a tft, model number TX16D11VCAA. It looks like I will be shipping it to him, once we figure out pricing. He is the guinea pig.

Awesome! What is your source for the TFT panel? If it works, could you please provide lots of pics and details? I know there are a lot of us interested in this.

As I said earlier in the thread the TX16D11VCAA is mechanically compatible with the SX16H003 (i.e. it's the same size etc.). You will need to check that the logic is in place to drive the TFT as well as checking pin-compatibility.

It might be a good idea to check the S1D13506 data sheet (get it from EPSON ERD - Google) to make sure that you don't need a new driver. A generic driver is available from Epson ERD anyway so thats no big problem.

When I said "samples" I meant one unit. Most companies will only ship large quantities (e.g. 1000+.

Sky + PS, you may want to send in your request to Hitachi direct. I did so with 3M and they responded most professionally and sent me samples of their polarization films. Unfortunately, that trial led me to be convinced that transflective LCDs have both transflective (polarizers, backlight unit, light guide and TFT panel) that work in together, but that is probably another story and thread altogether.

Anyway, try approaching Hitachi and see if you can get them to ship you a sample. Let them know your intentions and the scope of your trial/experiment that requires usage of that sample. If it works out, you guys can maybe start a retrofitting setup to provide such service to J720 users and breathe new life to their aging devices.

skyfox, I printed out the pin layouts for both the epson chip and the display. The tft display has the exact same pinout as the dstn one, so if one works, they will both work. I will match up the pins later. It would be nice if I could see the pinout of the connector wire to the screen from the 720...

Why would we need a new driver? The driver drives the chip, which drives the display. And it is one driver for their many devices that this chip was in. So there should not be any driver problems.

I did email Hitachi asking for the pricing of one, and I am waiting for a response.

If the driver was written specifically with the DSTN screen in mind then the S1D13506 register settings are probably hard coded to set the chip up for the DSTN pixel clock/timings.

It was made for various different computers and installations I believe.

EDIT: I am talking about the generic linux driver, I have no idea about the CE one. But I think that that was generic as well, and would work for all the CE devices, with their video chips.

Let's just see if Hitachi even responds.

Edited by ProgramSynthesiser 2005-10-16 5:59 PM

Just don't send in your request for sample as a HPC Sensei!

Haha, they have not responded. I will call them when I have free time, I suppose. And if they don't pick up, I will send them a few emails. Maybe a lot of emails.

I emailed tridentdisplays.com through their UK email address...which is pretty much what they have. (Useless, I know. But I want SOME sort of feedback)

Hopefully they will give me some sort of pricing range, and what to expect.

EDIT: I emailed Hitachi global. There is no direct site, and the place I emailed that did not respond was a California distributor. The Europe site seems to actually work.

EDIT2: I sent an email to the right place - hedus, Hitachi Electronic Direct US.

They said after the form that they will reply shortly...I sure hope so. I did send it to the miscellaneous section though, I wasn't sure if Technical or Commercial would work just yet.

-We'll see.

Edited by ProgramSynthesiser 2005-10-21 2:11 AM

I tried emailing Trident; They didn't reply. Hope you have more luck...

Trident's email address doesn't seem to exist, for that area anyways. I am relying on Hitachi to reply. If they do not, I will send it to the Technical and Commercial sections. They will reply eventually.