'_VWV_' said:@gruso, can you please give me a link where beagle drives 2 displays at the same time? Thanx!
Here's one.
http://openpandora.wordpress.com/2009/03/1...-persia-agrees/
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http://openpandora.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/nulldc-making-rapid-progress-prince-of-persia-agrees/
Some info on DVI/HDMI: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoard#Interfacing_to_Raw_LCD_Panels
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http://elinux.org/BeagleBoard#Interfacing_to_Raw_LCD_Panels
The BeagleMID in question seems to be using an additional board for the LCD (and it's only running at PSP resolution).
'_VWV_' said:I'm just disappointed it was not done during development. In this case we could have had a proper case with no wire mess with nice HDMI. I think everybody agrees it's the only feature "missing" in Panda.
It's not like you can just throw something like that in. This was seriously considered during the early design phases, but it just wasn't feasible. There simply isn't room on the Pandora board for the necessary hardware. Adding HDMI would have required an extensive redesign with at least one (possibly two or three) additional PCB layers. The overall size of the Pandora would have to be made larger, and the price would have gone up considerably.
'_VWV_' said:I think everybody agrees it's the only feature "missing" in Panda.
I emphatically disagree. There are a lot of features which I would have included long before giving it HD output. It's a handheld, I intend to use it as such, and adding yet another interface to it could do nothing but decrease its mobility, if even slightly.
'_VWV_' said:But that man didn't add additional layers to beagleboard.. He added additional LCD driving board (as far as I can see, I'm not an expert). I can agree that additional layers are needed to merge a beagle (which is essentially a panda) with LCD driving board. And this would have drastically increased the price. But it seems there could have been a relatively cheap two-boards design. I might be wrong here, it's just a supposition.
And where would that second board go, exactly? Whether you add layers and size to a single board or you add a second board, you are still adding bulk, complexity and cost to the unit.
Not every possible feature could be added and still keep the Pandora pocketable and affordable. The line had to be drawn somewhere. The benefit just wasn't worth the detriments.
'_VWV_' said:Thanx for the replies! So you think that beagle mod costs a fortune..
It doesn't need to cost a fortune. It could cost as little as $5 to add the tech for DVI, but you still need to draw the line somewhere. It only costs $5 to add DVI, so add it. Oh, it's only $5 for tilt sensing, so in it goes. It's only another $5 for a low level GPS, and now you know where you are. Another $5 for a simple camera? done! Only $5 gets you a lot of things, one at a time.
But everything adds up, each cheap feature has their cost, plus additional development costs. Some things are left in, some need to be cut out; you cannot include everything. The devs decided that DVI wasn't important enough to be included, and given that they built a handheld portable device, I enthusiastically support that decision. If it had been a free feature, no real additional cost, no added development required (like how we got bluetooth) then yes, I'd be all for it; there'd be no reason not to.
But there are additional costs, especially in designing the circuit as described: costs in terms of time and space, not just money.
Many's the time I sit there on the metro on the way to/from work thinking "*sigh*... if only I could connect this pocket computer to the 58" plasma screen I always carry around with me".'_VWV_' said:I think everybody agrees it's the only feature "missing" in Panda.
Err, no. I htink you've had some great replies (esp. WizardStans) but, no. We have S-Video Out and that should be more than enough for me, as I hope not to carry around a huge HDMI telly everywhere I go. I'd put a camera, better keyboard, even GPS as more important than HDMI myself.'_VWV_' said:I think everybody agrees it's the only feature "missing" in Panda.