9.7" iPad Retina Screen Perfect for MiSTer, $60 Fully Assembled 😄

[limi]

The iPad 3 Retina display with a custom driver board is probably the fastest LCD screen out there for MiSTer use (less than a frame of lag), is native 4:3 aspect ratio and its 2048×1536p resolution is natively supported — and great for scaling most of the console and computer core resolutions.

It used to be that you had to buy a driver board and a case and assemble it yourself, but there are now pre-assembled versions available. It even comes with speakers built in, and a headphone jack!

You can get it fully assembled on AliExpress for ~$60

I recommend the mini-HDMI version unless you need VGA (which you don’t with MiSTer), since it’s quite a bit thinner. The VGA version is 22mm, the mini-HDMI is 13mm.

Update: There is now a USB-C powered version available too.

Oh, and do not use the included mini-HDMI cable, it isn’t capable of handling the full resolution, get a high-speed HDMI-to-mini-HDMI from a reputable supplier instead — I use the AmazonBasics one, works fine.

I use it as my desk and travel setup, the stand is an iPad stand I already had available — but it also supports VESA mounts:

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[Neocaron]

Very interesting, I was playing with the idea of doing one myself, but this looks nicely built! Any caviats to mention? Is is usb powered? can it be powered by 5v input? How's the sound, what about odd refresh rates like 57, 59, 61 and what knot.

[limi]

Update: I am currently powering it from the USB board using a USB-to-micro-USB cable. This does assume that you are not using an inline switch, since the voltage drop from that is too much. Using a splitter for USB board + DE-10 is fine, however I would recommend a dedicated power supply for the monitor, as this barely works (With 4A and no splitter) but can be useful in a pinch.

No problems with any of the refresh rates so far, just tested with the DoDonPachi core (57hz), I use vsync_adjust=2. It’s supposed to support 50-63hz. I have confirmed that it does 50hz PAL great with the Amiga core.

Sound is serviceable, obviously won’t win any awards, but at least it has the clean HDMI signal to work with instead of analog I/O board output.

Caveats would be: It’s AliExpress, so they could easily end up changing e.g. the HDMI driver board for something cheaper down the line; one of the people that ordered one when we found it ended up getting a unit where the screen had detached, but it was glued back in place; it comes with a Chinese language OSD, but can be switched to English if you know which entry it is; ships with a mini-HDMI cable that can’t handle the full resolution.

[Neocaron]

Thanks for the extra infos, sounds decent to me. At this price especially ^^

[Neocaron]

Just got one! For this price it's a steal! I wanted to wait until we get those with Oled panel, but this is probably a few years away I'm guessing. In the meantime, this is gonna be great to do dual screens Mister setup and gaming while traveling

[limi]

Yeah, it’s a stupendously good display for the price.

PS: updated the earlier post with details on powering it directly from the MiSTer instead of having a separate power supply.

[hooxxx]

does it support 70hz?

[limi]

50-63hz.

[mapf]

Could you try Wonderswan at 75Hz even if it is outside the specs?

[Neocaron]

50-63hz.

Yeah so out of spec for athe AO486 core and Wonderswan, does the A0486 or the Wonderswan have 60hz modes?
But still worth it, I saw that mine was already shipped!

[limi]

Yeah so out of spec for athe AO486 core and Wonderswan, does the A0486 (sic) or the Wonderswan have 60hz modes?

Yes, they can both run at 60hz. And no, WonderSwan at native refresh does not work.

[Gaor]

Ordered one. Thanks for the tip! I was looking for this iPad 3 screen for a long time but the idea of having to DIY a frame and stand depressed me.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

It doesn't do 50hz. None of my PAL cores work on the Retina display.

[atrac17]

Secrets revealed!

[Neocaron]

I don't really care about Pal to be honest. But I guess we can't have it all! I hope it won't be a problem to force Pal rom to run at 60 for PS1 or Saturn.
I want to play the French version of these games at 60fps ^^

[limi]

It doesn't do 50hz. None of my PAL cores work on the Retina display.

That has nothing to do with the display, and everything to do with which driver board you are using.

I spend most of my time in the Amiga core (mostly PAL, 49.9Hz), and it works perfectly. The exact range for this particular driver board is 48.7-63.7Hz.

[Neocaron]

It doesn't do 50hz. None of my PAL cores work on the Retina display.

That has nothing to do with the display, and everything to do with which driver board you are using.

I spend most of my time in the Amiga core (mostly PAL, 49.9Hz), and it works perfectly. The exact range for this particular driver board is 48.7-63.7Hz.

Thanks for the extra details!

[thorr]

I am curious about the various refresh rates mentioned. Are you using the scaler and creating custom resolutions for each core and setting the refresh rate to match the original core, and defining the resolution to be 1536p? Or, are you not using the scaler and just feeding the native low resolution signal to the screen?

[limi]

I’m currently using atrac17’s presets, specifically the 6× integer scale ones, with the addition of some experimental resolutions for the Amiga core (since that one is a bit more…complex).

Before that, I just used the built-in support for this screen’s 1536p resolution in MiSTer, and just set it to video_mode=13, which worked great as well.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

It doesn't do 50hz. None of my PAL cores work on the Retina display.

That has nothing to do with the display, and everything to do with which driver board you are using.

I spend most of my time in the Amiga core (mostly PAL, 49.9Hz), and it works perfectly. The exact range for this particular driver board is 48.7-63.7Hz.

I am using the one that was recommended to me on another FPGA forum.
This is the one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07SMDS7GD/

To be honest, I am not too bothered if it does, or does not do 50hz, my CRTs cover me there, and look much better. I only got the ipad because of cores that won't work on a 15hz CRT.

[zezretro]

This is an exciting posting but when I read the Aliexpress description, I dont see it formally mentioning they use an old iPad screen, nor do they make any claims as to the latency.

They could easily be using some other screen or driver which has different qualities than the ones which have been tested with known iPad screens.

If someone could formally lag test one of the Aliexpress units then we would have a baseline. If that screen checks out then its not a guarantee all future Aliexpress screens will be the same but its a good start.

[Gaor]

This is an exciting posting but when I read the Aliexpress description, I dont see it formally mentioning they use an old iPad screen, nor do they make any claims as to the latency.

They could easily be using some other screen or driver which has different qualities than the ones which have been tested with known iPad screens.

If someone could formally lag test one of the Aliexpress units then we would have a baseline. If that screen checks out then its not a guarantee all future Aliexpress screens will be the same but its a good start.

You're right, the AliExpress page doesn't mention anywhere that it's the famous LP097QX1 screen. But considering its datasheet, it's not absurd to consider that it can only be this one (have we already come across other references with the same specifications?). That said, this thread alone proves that differences in the driver board cause different results (50 Hz works for some but not for others).

Is it possible to get a screen reference somewhere through the Chinese OSD?

[Sigismond0]

Or for that matter, crack open the case and have a look.

[limi]

It’s the LP097QX1 display with the VS-RTD09703-V1 driver board. We did lag testing, this is the sub-1-frame board. (Update: It’s a slightly different driver board — sorry about the mix-up — but the VS-RTD09703-V1 should support PAL too, a friend of mine has it)

The only reason I mentioned it earlier was that there’s always a risk that they run out of boards and put in something else, but for $60 fully assembled, it’s a risk worth taking. Everyone I know that got this one so far had the exact same panel and driver board.

[thorr]

That's good enough for me. I totally don't need this, but I have to have it.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

It’s the LP097QX1 display with the VS-RTD09703-V1 driver board. We did lag testing, this is the sub-1-frame board.

The only reason I mentioned it earlier was that there’s always a risk that they run out of boards and put in something else, but for $60 fully assembled, it’s a risk worth taking. Everyone I know that got this one so far had the exact same panel and driver board.

But that is the board I purchased in the link above. From that link, it says the following.

Packing list 1× HDMI LCD Controller Board VS-RTD09703-V1,1× Converter Board,1× Signal Cable,1× Keyboard With Cable

That clearly says VS-RTD09703-V1, and yet it doesn't give me a picture in PAL cores, such the Amiga, AtariST, C64 PAL Mode, ZX Spectrum, etc... And I have tried ALL ini files from this forum. Perhaps, you could upload your ini you are using for your ipad screen ?

[limi]

Perhaps, you could upload your ini you are using for your ipad screen ?

I already linked them. Sorry it doesn’t work for you. 50hz should work with the VS-RTD09703-V1, I checked with a friend that has one. And I *did* mix up the two boards, this one has a different model number, but I don’t have the number handy (and I don’t want to open up the display).

Maybe see if any of the Discords can help you troubleshoot? Forums are a bit tedious for that sort of thing. I didn’t have to do any particular ini setup to make it work, but there are of course a lot of variables in the ini file. Start with a fresh Alt ini file and see if something like the following mode line works? And this should really be a separate thread since it’s not related to this combination of boards/screens.

Code: Select all

video_mode_pal=2048,48,32,80,1350,3,10,19,183087

This is what I use for Amiga PAL at the moment, but I’m still experimenting with making it fill more of the screen (since Amiga has offsets, overscan, etc)

[MiSTer_Kirk]

And this should really be a separate thread since it’s not related to this combination of boards/screens.

While I agree, I do think it's right that the advice on this forum is for the correct board + serial number, or many will be disappointed when they buy one, and it doesn't do PAL 50hz.

Thanks for the video mode, I will see if it's the same as mine.

[epistaxis]

it comes with a Chinese language OSD, but can be switched to English if you know which entry it is; ships with a mini-HDMI cable that can’t handle the full resolution.

Can you share this knowledge?

[limi]

Trigger the OSD → Select the [OSD] section (it’s an icon) → Select the first entry, which is the language selector → push up or down.

Update: A year later, there’s a USB-C variant that seems to have a different menu structure, see later in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=69749#p69749