MiSTer FPGA Forum

In the past I've liked playing GameBoy Advance and other portable games on my Raspberry Pi (Retroarch) with official Raspberry Pi LCD display (7" 800 x 480) because the size of the display approximates the size of the original hardware displays and 480 is an integer scale for lots of consoles including the GameBoy Advance (160 vertical).

I've been trying to find similar small displays for using with my MiSTer and haven't found many good options. "Eyoyo" sells a few such displays with 480 vertical but reviews seem mixed on the quality of the display. "Elecrow" is another brand with some options. Another possibility would be monitors meant for monitoring video camera recordings (Atomos for ex) but those are very expensive/overkill and some of them display video signal info on the screen that can't always be turned off, depending on the brand/model. Maybe the Raspberry Pi 7" display could be adapted to work with the MiSTer but I don't know of any cases/adapters that do that currently (the display comes with just a ribbon cable connector and no case or power supply - it's meant to plug into a specific Raspberry Pi connector).

If anyone has used any small good quality monitors it would be great to know which ones are out there.

Thanks!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/312842987855

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQewRJZFTPM

this one is pretty neat but you'll to figure something out for sound. Analog, TOS & HDMI audio extractor are all options.

I have one and think its it nice quality video. It does work with MiSTer and it is 4:3 which I like for this application

It's a lot of DIY work and is on the upper end of your size limit, but there is interest and support in the Ipad 3/4 retina display. Its apparently absurdly low input lag when fed its native resolution, which Mister specifically supports.

@bbond007 great suggestion, I hadn't come across that 1024x768 RPi display before. Would work great for lots of consoles. I'd have to try and see whether a 5x scale (5x160=800) for GBA would cause important content to get cut off, or run it at 4x for GBA.

@FoxbatStargazer that iPad 3/4 display project sounds really interesting, wasn't aware of it until now. Not sure I'm ready for that level of DIY but maybe someone will put some kits together. There's also the iPad mini display formfactor (7.9-inch 2048x1536) which could work if the displays are available. I've previously messed around with the Provenance emulator on an iPad but sound lag was bad, development is slow, and they don't put out releases for years requiring lots of messing around with Xcode and dev certs, too much of a pain (https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance). If only iPads had the hardware capability to be used as a low-latency HDMI displays.

Nice Jul 4 post by RetroRGB on the LaserBear 3-D printed "LCD CRT" kit for 9.7" iPad-style displays:

https://www.retrorgb.com/laserbear-lcd- ... iewed.html
https://youtu.be/9D_q5HQQE90

Links to relevant hardware on the RetroRGB post.

They also have a slim version coming which can be rotated. Some time ago I clicked on their Contact us button to ask for more details, it mentioned that they usually answer within 48 hours. I am still waiting, not very customer friendly.

That was 2-3 months ago, I tried to find the post or video which lead me to this site but was unable to find it. But I did find a post by LaserBear, one year old, stating that this slim enclosure was almost ready to be produced. I guess I will have to think of something else.
Some time ago Sigismond0 designed one and published the CAD files viewtopic.php?p=16110#p16110.
I do not have a 3D printer, I don't have access to one and there is no such service where I live. That's what happens when you live on a desert island.

Recently heard/noticed that LaserBear is selling a complete monitor in a black color case (looks 3D printed) with speakers -
https://laserbear.net/shop/ols/products ... cd-monitor
"It comes with the LCD, Driver Board, Speakers all installed. It also includes a power supply." ($170.00)

Out of stock - the LaserBear people recommed to follow them for availability updates, https://twitter.com/collingall

A complete monitor ready to use is my preferred level of DIY ATM FTW .

What about portable Monitors techmoan featured a month ago? Sure, they are not 5 to 10" but they are quite cheap compared to special designed displays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVdID9nbwU8

@ragnar thanks, some of those might work ok if they have HDMI inputs - many portable monitors are USB-only for PC use (Windows etc). The attraction of the iPad-style displays like the ones LaserBear uses is that they have the more square aspect ratio that let retro games fill the screen nicely, unlike the more common widescreen displays where you wind up with wide black bars on the sides.

This thread deserves more attention. We all need small screens to play handheld games from MiSTer on a corner of the desk.

Just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3373

Nvidia shield portable convert mod?

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shop ... lSiePJ2-Og