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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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17 years ago

Nios II evaluation KIt, how to write to the LCD

I just got my Nios II evaluation kit Cyclone III edition with the terasic board.

The 1st question i have is about the "evaluation" part, just after i got the kit i realize that it might be realy only evaluation, is that true? cant i write my oun programs? I know that i can write to the Altera Board (to the cyclone).

but what about the LCD? and the Video+Audio I/O? (the terasic board)

the 2nd Q: if i can accsess the LCD, how do i use it? does i need a complex driver? am i must write with NIOS with C? or there is other more "Basic" way to do so?

the 3rd Q: the same about the touce screen

3 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    I assume your talking about the Nios II Embedded Evaluation Kit, Cyclone III Edition.

    The "Evaluation," as far as I know, just means that the kit only includes an eval version of Nios II. This just means if you want to design a commercial product and sell it you will have to purchase a Nios II license for around $500. You can still load your own designs and code to the board, but if your design uses a Nios II core, I believe you will need to keep the kit connected to your computer through the USB cable.

    As for your second question. You can use the LCD. There is an example system that is included with the kit called "application_selector." This is what runs when you first power up the board to select between different demo applications. It uses the touchscreen as well. This example includes the SOPC builder system and the corresponding code to run the application selector. If you want to learn how to use the LCD I would make love to this example inside and out. The example uses the free video_sync_generator core along with a dma engine and fifo to 'talk' to the display, and the software includes a free small graphics library that you can use to generate your own simple graphics with your own code.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    Thank you

    I will look at the code.

    from what i saw so far its look very complex, and any way i prefer first to read some theory about the screen, and try to implement.

    I mean that i want first just to know the most basic way to use the screen, how to send pixel-by-pixel, and only than to complicate the sys: to use the memory as "buffer" and to create some kind of video accelaration by the hardware.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    It can be very complex, but if you start small like you said you will eventually get the whole picture.

    If you want to know how to send pixel by pixel I would start by reading the video_sync_generator.v file located in ip\sopc_builder_ip\altera_avalon_video_sync_generator in your install directory.

    It is very well commented and even if you're not a Verilog expert I think you will be able to have a basic understanding of how it works. That and the manufacturer's datasheet for the LCD will give you a good head start.

    Good Luck!