Libre projectors/monitors? - Freetardism reloaded

[Sage In All Fields]

Anyone know any projectors or monitors that let you load entirely custom stuff onto them or whose operating systems are open source from the get go? Also what is the proper term for the system on projectors and monitors that lets you set the settings and stuff, is there anything more specific than 'operating system'?

 

[Chaos Theorist]

Bios

 

[Kosher Dill]

I think you're going to find very slim pickings, but Zisworks' monitors have mostly open source firmware, aside from their FPGA.

ZisWorks

Source: https://github.com/cirthix/

 

[Lord Xenu]

is there anything more specific than 'operating system'?

That would be "firmware". It is a term that originally referred to the software that was stored on ROM and because of that, it was somewhere between "hardware" the physical part of the system, and "software" the code that runs on top of the hardware.

Often, you would be able to change the ROM chips to update that firmware. Now that rewritable memory is ubiquitous, the firmware is stored on these and is usually updateable via a small OS (DFU mode etc).

Something that is worth keeping mind when looking for relatively secure or freedom oriented hardware is that the firmware often contains "binary blobs" that contain proprietary code. It is nearly impossible to find recent hardware that is open source because no manufacturers are going to allow their innovative work to be freely available on the internet where some other company will snipe it.

That means reverse engineering is pretty much the only way to get newer hardware running on free software, and reverse engineering any complex system is a big project. That means it's going to take time, and more often than not that time is some hobbyists leisure time occasionally measured in years.

All of this is particularly true of graphics oriented hardware.

 

[Sage In All Fields]

That means reverse engineering is pretty much the only way to get newer hardware running on free software, and reverse engineering any complex system is a big project. That means it's going to take time, and more often than not that time is some hobbyists leisure time occasionally measured in years.

How feasible would it be to build something from the ground up, I can deal with like 480p or maybe a little lower if that's what it takes

 

[Kosher Dill]

How feasible would it be to build something from the ground up, I can deal with like 480p or maybe a little lower if that's what it takes

What, as in you personally want to build it?

Again I say look to the Zisworks people for a rough idea, I believe they documented their work online to some degree. I don't know if their custom FPGA would be needed for any monitor whatsoever, or just for the ultrahigh refresh rates they were aiming for. Either way, I would estimate this project squarely in the "Really Difficult" category.

 

[Sage In All Fields]

What, as in you personally want to build it?

I don't want to but I'm open to doing it eventually if nobody else will

Again I say look to the Zisworks people for a rough idea, I believe they documented their work online to some degree. I don't know if their custom FPGA would be needed for any monitor whatsoever, or just for the ultrahigh refresh rates they were aiming for. Either way, I would estimate this project squarely in the "Really Difficult" category.

Yeah I had a look at their stuff, it seems good but it's a little on the high-end side for me

 

[Kosher Dill]

What exactly is the goal here anyway, is this just a purity thing or do you have some specific reason you need to program custom monitor firmware?

 

[Sage In All Fields]

What exactly is the goal here anyway, is this just a purity thing or do you have some specific reason you need to program custom monitor firmware?

Yeah it's a basically a purity thing, I don't like the idea of having something that doesn't feel like it's mine in my house

 

[Kosher Dill]

Yeah it's a basically a purity thing, I don't like the idea of having something that doesn't feel like it's mine in my house

How about getting a CRT monitor? You can get schematics for those that detail everything, down to each individual resistor, and document what all the ICs are for. No software involved.

Example:

https://www.manualowl.com/m/Dell/D1626HT/Manual/362524

 

[Sage In All Fields]

How about getting a CRT monitor? You can get schematics for those that detail everything, down to each individual resistor, and document what all the ICs are for. No software involved.

Example:

https://www.manualowl.com/m/Dell/D1626HT/Manual/362524

Not a fan of the power consumption but it's still better than nothing... How do they switch between inputs and stuff like that without firmware though? Is it all just simple ICs and transistor logic?

 

[Lord Xenu]

How feasible would it be to build something from the ground up, I can deal with like 480p or maybe a little lower if that's what it takes

I would take a look into the PineBook project. It is an attempt at an open-source hardware laptop, so there will be documentation. The entire laptop is only $200, so it might be possible to source the same panel and adapt whatever they are using to drive the panel to your project at a reasonable price.

You will still be susceptible to whatever supply chain vulnerabilities that the Pine Org is. If you are interested in learning about this stuff, Bunnie Huang has written a lot about this stuff, and talked at different conferences. You can find it online pretty easy.

https://www.bunniestudios.com/

There's some information here on the specs of PineBook. The largest display is 14" @ 1366x768.

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinebook#Pinebook_Information

Page 16 of the Mainboard scehmatic has information relating to the LCD driver:

https://files.pine64.org/doc/pinebook/pinebook_mainboard_schematic_3.0.pdf

 

[Kosher Dill]

How do they switch between inputs and stuff like that

Like this:

It may be presumed that the IC takes care of it.

 

[Sage In All Fields]

I would take a look into the PineBook project. It is an attempt at an open-source hardware laptop, so there will be documentation. The entire laptop is only $200, so it might be possible to source the same panel and adapt whatever they are using to drive the panel to your project at a reasonable price.

Yeah Pine's stuff is awesome, I have a Pinephone atm and I love it (then again I haven't tested calling in a while). Thanks for the suggestion

Like this:

View attachment 1908372

It may be presumed that the IC takes care of it.

I looked it up and you're right, the IC is a generic analog switching chip that's still sold to this day. Sweet!

 

[jimsterlingspronoun]

for free monitors just wait for the next peaceful BLM protest

 

[Sage In All Fields]

for free monitors just wait for the next peaceful BLM protest

Didn't realise BLM was full of reverse engineering experts