Deogen is a small, self contained device for testing monitors. It was designed back in 2000 to reduce the amount of space and effort required to test monitors in a computer shop. The initial design used an AT90S1200 microcontroller to generate test patterns for the monitors. Being about the size of a portable CD player, it was much easier to take to any monitor and plug in for testing.
Version two of the device, pictured above, is much smaller, being about the width and height of a credit card. The depth is slightly larger than a 9 volt battery. Compared to the last vga test project we ran, this one is tiny. The unit boasts a decent set of features, such as; eight test patterns at four different resolutions, battery or DC power, and small form factor.
The processor of version two is an ATtiny2313 at 20MHz, and controls the H sync and V sync signals directly. The RGB is converted to analog using a resister network. The power circuit is custom made for low power consumption, though they note that a 78L05 equivalent unit could be used in its place.
The plans for the PCB and the software are available from their site. Head on over and check out some pictures of it in action.
[Thanks, Philip Fitzgerald]
Microcontrollers with VGA? Reminds me of the brilliant Craft by LFT
http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=50141
Sweet Battery OR DC!!!!!!!
Oh wait thats the same f***ing thing
I wish this were a kit. for now I have to bust out the whole laptop to test monitors.
Is the SMPTE test card one of the images? can we use custom test patterns?
bigballs: He means DC from an external source, like an AC->DC adapter, but I gather that you knew that and were just nitpicking on semantics..
Anyway, just thought I’d point out that there is nothing custom about the power regulator, it’s an ultra-low dropout 5V linear regulator, just like any old 3-terminal regulator. Looks like it may have a lower dropout voltage than is typical, but otherwise yeah, standard.
I’ve always wanted to build one of these for testing out used PC monitors that are for sale.