Gaming TV out diagrams and info

[ZippyDSMlee]

I am gathering up information for a project to hook the DS up to a TV like the PSP, but first I need information.

I know it will need a external box and I would like the box to upscale it as best it can if possible, also have it also press the screen switch buton it will go through cycles screen one on TV, screen one on TV wif/LCD off, screen two on TV wif/LCD off, screen twoon TV wif/LCD off(but powered so touch will work) and both screens on TV formatted for up/down SD tv and one left/right for WD TV.

But fristly I would like to get a screen to the TV first, hell maybe if hook a 360 controller to it and have the analogs do the touch but all in due time, I need to gather info first.

 

[FAST6191]

http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/DS/jumbotron/ might be a good start.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Well he's got soem info there but no diagrams or schematics.

 

[FAST6191]

As far as I am aware that hack is the only one to have attempted hooking into the DS LCD protocol (that is to say the ribbon cable between the screen and motherboard) and doing anything with it. Come to think of it I have not even seen it documented (or for that matter even pinned out) in any of the DS tech documents.
Coders and rom hackers (premade libraries and file formats mean not all have to even be aware of it) are usually more concerned with memory layouts/OAM, timings (about as close as you are going to get here), graphics modes and graphics priorities, emulator authors do not have to touch it (once they have it arranged in memory they kick it up the chain to the display APIs for the system they are programming on or API for the library they are using (thinking things like SDL)) and there enough replacement screens available from factories and breakers to sort that side of things out (not that they are all that likely to share if they do reverse engineer it).
Still assuming the jumbotronDS link is correct and I have no reason to assume otherwise the protocol is largely analogue/timing driven or at least not digital packets of data/very similar to old style VGA and component (or certainly close enough that existing chips might even be able to give it a crack- see those monitors in the jumbotron hack apparently being fairly similar to the DS screens).
The main site seems to be down right now but http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/sear...=www.google.com has some good info.
http://hackedgadgets.com/2010/11/19/avr-mi...ler-vga-output/ might also be of interest.
http://hackaday.com/2010/12/12/game-boy-vga-using-an-fpga/ (although it is a gameboy it might differ a little bit).
http://www.hardwarebook.info/VGA_%28VESA_DDC%29 might also be of use.

After this your screen switching thing (perhaps not so much for the merging inputs but it should not be that hard if you take the analogue route- it is all timing driven- abuse it) would be an almost trivial addition.

Controller stuff is a bit easier as you are going back into the DS. Perhaps not the easiest hack but far nicer with far more info available. Personally I would look at the likes of the controller remapping hacks, stylus hacks ( http://crackerscrap.com/docs/sfchacktut.html ) and the guitar hero grip patches (we had a thread in the hacking section a few days back but the idea is covered in gbatek linked above- if you are going to the lengths of patching into electronics you might even be able to make a sort of guitar grip of your own).

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Er I ment soem of the doc links on the jumbotron page were bad but he didnt have pinouts anyway. HOWEVER

http://electricstuff.co.uk/ndslcd.html

And there they are.....now I need to stat gathering stuff together LOL