Spare display for Pixl.js?

Unfortunately I just broke my display.
Something hard and heavy dropped onto it and the upper half now stays blank.
I guess I cut parts of the ribbon cable...

Any chance to get a spare display or just buy a whole new Pixl.js?
I am glad I bought everything in pairs - so there is a spare Pixl for my current development left..

...somewhere in the forum @Gordon published details about the LDC used on Pixl.js... just could not find it yet...

EDIT: here the post: http://forum.espruino.com/comments/14378021/

And pdf attached.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-128x64-Serial-SPI-Graphic-COG-White-LCD-Display-Module-LCM-w-ST7565P-5V/122179960272

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• PixlLCD12864.pdf

Thanks @allObjects!

I'm not 100% sure if that eBay item is the same, but it sure looks pretty close. Lots of people call LCDs 12864, so it's important to get the full model number.

I don't have many of the LCDs spare, but if you can't buy one online then I'm sure I could find one for you. I have a lot more of the Pixl multicolour ones which are the same panel but with a slightly different rear, so if you were either happy to do some bodging or do without a backlight then you'd be fine

@ChristianW - when you get a replacement, check for the operating voltage... the ebay uk link I posted shows a 5V model... you need a 3.3 volt model.

Thanks @allObjects, @Gordon - I just ordered this one here: https://www.ebay.de/itm/322375559510 and see if it fits.
If not, I can still use it with my Puck or Pico I guess.

Sun 2019.11.03

Hi gang, hate to be a buzz kill here, but as just the display is cracked, isn't just the LCD and mylar connector all that is needed, such as:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/positive-replacement-lcd-display-JHD12864-G176BSW_2004097643.html

@Robin thanks. You are right. I already started an inquiry and got the first response.
Maybe they can send me one or two spare displays.
But shipping will take a while - so I also ordered another Pixl.js from a German supplier.
You can't have enough... ;-)

Thanks @Robin, thanks - that looks like exactly the right part.

I think everyone was struggling to find something and had the LCD on it, so the idea was to buy a complete board and unsolder the display.

Mon 2019.11.04

'If not, I can still use it with my Puck or Pico I guess.'

Hey @ChristianW while that would be a cool upgrade for either of those devices, have an even better idea for a winter project.

As the ordered board has pads for wires, what about creating a stereoscopic display as a sister to one of the other Pixl's, such that there is a left eye and right eye separately viewable system that could rapidly flip images between the displays, thereby creating the 3-D stereoscopic view.

You would have the world's first Espruino driven 3-D stereo viewer and of course rightful ownership to the corresponding project within the 'Projects' forum area. ;-)

Might extend your bicycle computer project for use when the weather won't allow for actual bicycling, simulating (although rather crude) a 3-D terrain!

From:

http://www.espruino.com/Pixl.js

"The only LED available on Pixl.js is the backlight"

Q: So, is the backlight LED integral to the LCD display itself, or a separate part all together?

The link I supplied really doesn't answer this (and I haven't afforded the time to peek at spec yet)
Still researching, but asking seems to be the easiest ;-)

@Robin yeah 3-D. Right. With 128x64 B/W. ;-)

Yes, it seems Backlight is built into the LCD. I could order different colors of Screen and Backlight.
Gordons datasheet also mentions the LED color (green) and A and K connections (however, they seem not to pins on the ribbon cable...).

Meanwhile I got a quote via above alibaba link: USD 18 postage to Germany, so I ordered 4 pieces for USD 2 each + 1.30 PayPal fee = USD 27,30 (+tax probably)

So if anyone needs another spare in Europe, I may forward one or two of my units...

A and K connections (however, they seem not to pins on the ribbon cable...).

Yes, they're the two through-hole tabs on the Pixl board (by the unpopulated JST holes and A2) - you'll have to unsolder them to get the LCD out. The LEDs sit on a daughterboard so I guess different colour LCDs just replace that board.

Tue 2019.11.05

While my 3D comment was half in jest @ChristianW I wasn't sure if your response was to the resolution of the display, or the technology actually working that way.

Back in the eighties, our company secured a few 2"x3" LCD demos, (remember the resistive Zebra strips @allObjects that bound the glass to the copper circuit board?) around ~$200 USD then and cobbled together a shutter type solution. Yes it wasn't Oculus Rift quality, which was thirty years into the future anyway, but it was cool to see isometric views in 3D.

Unable to find the articles we had then as that was pre-Internet, but this is close to how the glasses functioned:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264849145_Shutter_Glasses_Stereo_LCD_with_a_Dynamic_Backlight

The displays from China just arrived.

First I unlocked the connector and pulled back the ribbon cable.

Unsoldering the backlight pins war no issue, since there wer only two:
First dipping a bit fresh solder on, then heating up one by one prying the LCD off with my fingernails.
The funny sound is the sticky tape coming loose.
There is another strip of tape on the top that will just come off if you lever it up.

Cleaning the holes from the backlight connectors with desoldering wick, then putting in the new display, just using the sticky tape on the top, because the lower part is already held by the solder.
Re-solder the two pins, putting the connector back in.

Voila! - Looks as new.

Thanks for the tips and the link. Delivery was quicker than expected and it just went through customs without an issue.

See the picture of the box. They even provided the connector terminals for each display...

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That's great! Nice of them to stick the connectors in too - that would have been super helpful when I was prototyping it!

Now you've got some displays and connectors you could take a look at the Pixl schematics and have a go at making your own custom board :) https://github.com/espruino/EspruinoBoard/tree/master/Pixl.js

Hehe :)
It is really nice that all of this is open source. I was already considering this.
But currently I am far away from learning this.

Maybe if the VMC (velomobile computer) takes off and everyone wants to have one we can do a kickstarter project on this...
The only hardware missing would be a few sensors (voltage/current, maybe accelleration and gyro), a few inputs (switches, wheel and crank sensors) and some MOSFET outputs (light, PWM(!), indicators etc.)
Could be quite compact on a custom PCB.

That's great! Nice of them to stick the connectors in too - that would have been super helpful when I was prototyping it!

Look what I found on eBay. Those fit perfectly for the Pixl display.
And since I have 3 spare ones from last year in my box.

And by the way:
How can I access the displays from the MDBT42Q breakout board?
Unfortunately two of the "original" Pins used for Pixl.js are missing on the breakout board.

Let's say I can solder them on - can I just flash a Pixl.js image onto a MDBT42Q?

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Let's say I can solder them on - can I just flash a Pixl.js image onto a MDBT42Q?

Maybe, although things like buttons will be in different places. Instead, I'd just use the existing JS driver that's here and you should be fine: http://www.espruino.com/ST7565

Works. Just using the library I mean. Somehow I did not know where to look.
Thank you very much!

I even found the smaller displays I accidentally ordered before the ones used for the Pixl.js and connected them to the MDBT42Q.

Looks cute, don't you think? ;-)

Now I have a micro-Pixl.js...

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Nice! Those displays draw so little power you can power them from GPIO, so you could actually just get some pin strip and solder the LCD direct to the MDBT42 breakout, making something really compact!

Ah yes, @Gordon thanks for mentioning. But I feared to run short of GPIO pins in this future project... ;-)
And for those who wonder (and asked) - there was an eBay link at the top of that thread already: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122179960272 - looks like the baby version of the Pixl.js display.
The display also has a backlight. It seems to be a bit "whiter" than the one of Pixl.js.
And it runs on 3.3 V - the 5 V rating of the eBay listing probably only refers to the backlight (which runs off a GPIO pin as well in my case).