Pixel Qi 10" Display with Controller- 1024x600 HDMI/VGA/NTSC/PAL

SKU: ADA1303 Brand: Adafruit

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This product has been retired. It is no longer available, but this page has been kept for reference.

Adafruit is really excited to offer the revolutionary Pixel Qi display, a full color screen that can also be used in daylight. The Qi has three modes - backlit color, backlit grayscale and daylight grayscale. In normal office/indoor use you'll want to go with keeping the backlight on to reveal the color layer. The screen works just like any other 10" TFT with fast refresh (not like slow e-ink). When a bright light shines on it, the display turns 'gray' but is still visible. When outdoors in bright light, the backlight can be turned off to revert to a transflective display mode which is much lower power. For much more information please check out the Pixel Qi website

Adafruit has packaged up this cool screen with a driver board and power supply. Since the screen is 3.3V LVDS, its very hard to connect directly to a microcomputer. The adapter board has a cable that plugs to the screen, there's a data line and a separate backlight line. (If you want to use the display in low-power backlight-less mode, simply disconnect that plug.) Simply power the controller board with 5-24VDC (Adafruit includes a 9V power supply) and supply video. You can use HDMI, VGA or NTSC/PAL so you're covered no matter what interface you want to use! There's a little keypad thingy you can use to select the input and adjust contrast/brightness/color/etc.

Each order comes with one Pixel Qi screen, LVDS cable, controller board and power adapter. No enclosure, case or stand is included. To demonstrate it, Adafruit took some photos with the display connected to a Raspberry Pi, but it will also work connected to any device with HDMI, VGA or NTSC/PAL output. It will not work with a device that only outputs DVI or SECAM. HDMI cable and Raspberry Pi not included!

For use with a Raspberry Pi we suggest editing config.txt for best results (otherwise, the Pi may not 'recognize' the HDMI display and revert to composite output or the wrong resolution) You can now use Raspbian with 1024x600 resolution natively so you can use the Pixel Qi without any 'black border'. Check the Tech Details tab for the config contents. Adafruit's photos above were taken before 1024x600 could be supported natively.

For use with a Beagle Bone Black, Adafruit just plugged it in and it worked great, no configuration required

A 9V US-prong power adapter is included. The power supply may vary from the one shown in the photo, but it will definitely have a US 2-prong plug and will be a switching supply that can be used with 110-240VAC.

Technical Details

Display:

Resolution: 1024 x 600 (color RGB) and 3072x600 (backlight off, grayscale)
Visible area: 222mm x 125mm (10.06" diagonal)
Brightness: 165 Nits (dark room), 235 Nits (office lighting), 1000+ (daylight)
Pixel Qi PQ 3Qi-01 Datasheet has lots more details
Not HDCP compatible - it cannot be used with 'secured' HDMI sources

LVDS Driver:

Power with 5-24VDC
700mA power draw at 12V
Auto-detects between VGA, HDMI and Composite

Set your config.txt to the following for native 1024x600 resolution!

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
framebuffer_width=1024
framebuffer_height=600

hdmi_force_hotplug=1
#hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
hdmi_cvt=1024 600 60 3 0 0 0


# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=87

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# for more options see http://elinux.org/RPi_config.txt
gpu_mem=16

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