The LCD:
I have begun some evaluation of LCD panels for the front panel display. I am currently focussing on two line text based panels as I would like to keep the cost down (opposed to a graphics panel) and keep the display physically small enough to fit on the front panel. I'm also opting toward a panel that is compatible with the HD44780 as I have existing libraries to drive that chipset. I just purchased and received a 16x2 character display and an 40x2 display. I've done a little work with each but have made no decisions at this time. It will probably come down to what I can make fit better on the front panel. I got the 16x2 from http://www.diybin.com and the 40x2 on ebay from a place in china http://cgi.ebay.com/40X2-Character-LCD-Module-Module-LCM-HD44780-/190337762891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5103c64b
I just came across this mini oled display. I temped to pick up a couple as they would probably work really well above the rotary encoders (they are about an inch). From what I read they look really nice and support graphics also.
The Rotaries:
Currently I am using a Panasonic mechanical rotary encoder with detents for the input knobs. I have written some native code for the Fez II Panda that is working well to decode the the rotaries. I may not need to do this in native code but it seemed like I wasn't getting fast enough event notification of I/O changes in the managed code so I moved it down and installed a native interrupt handler. It is definately more responsive now. I'll probably revisit this down the road once I'm further along with some of the other work.
The front Panel:
I have not yet started on the front panel redesign but my plan is to create a new panel from scratch. I will probably use 1/8" aluminum. A few months ago, I and a couple friends built a 2'x3' CNC router that I will use to cut/machine the aluminum face plate. I'd like to go with a 40x2 LCD display with the rotary dials underneath to make a menu system but I'm not sure if I can get the rotaries and the display to fit on a one rack space panel. I'll have to try and be creative on that.
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