Any interest in HD 1080p video shield?

Hello, I am new to the forum so please excuse me if I am not following protocol.

I have prototyped a shield for Arduino Uno that can play high definition 1080p video at up to 60fps.
I am hoping for some input and opinions from this forum to help determine if I should have them produced to sell.

Quick facts:
We expect the price to around US $75 each in single quantities
Will play most all popular audio or video files from a micro SD memory card.
There is no blank space, no black space, when looping or when changing files. It will hold the last frame until the first frame shows.
Composite output, NTSC or PAL, HDMI output at resolutions from 720p50, 720p60, 1080i, 1080p, 24, 50, 60 fps, selectable by serial command
Stereo audio output on HDMI cable or on 3.5mm jack, selectable by serial command
On screen menu for setup using 4 inputs for external pushbuttons, or use optional IR remote control
Stacks on Arduino Uno R3 and passes all pins* to next level up. All 4 mounting holes match the Uno R3
By jumper selection, can be powered from the UNO R3, or can supply power to the Uno R3, or be powered separately (5 Volt regulated)
When power is applied it will loop the file named 000
Up to 200 more files can be controlled from serial command
Simple 1 byte serial commands, 8N1 at baud rates from 2400 to 38.4K
Serial commands for Pause, Play, FF, FW, Next, Previous, Volume up, Volume down, Mute, initial setup and more
Has serial feedback - will echo commands, will report file number playing, will report when the End of File is reached
Multiple pins from the Uno R3 can be assigned to the RX and TX by shunt jumpers
In Address Mode, up to 5 Sprite Shields may be stacked on the same RX line and be set to different addresses (2 byte commands, address, command)
Can be used stand alone without the Arduino with looping file 000, and up to 5 pushbutton or TTL low inputs to play 5 other files
After a selected / commanded file finishes, the file named 000 will begin looping again until the next input.

This prototype is based on our MedeaWiz Sprite production video player, a proven design, which has sold over 3000 units in under 2 years
You can find out more about the production Sprite at our website or just search "medeawiz sprite"
We have distribution in North America, United Kingdom, Europe, and soon India

Now the "bad news"
The prototype is a bit larger than the Uno R3, measuring 3.070 x 2.475 inches (78 x 63 mm). The edge of our board that has the power, HDMI and AV jacks lines up to edge of the Uno R3 where the USB and power jacks are located. So all cables exit the same end in the same plane. The micro SD slot is at the opposite end, along with the 2 x 5 pin header for 5 external pushbuttons. We can possibly make it smaller with some more tweaking of the layout or limiting the jumper pins to select which Arduino pins to use for the TX and RX.

  • It does not pass either of the 2 x 3 headers for ICSP or SPI bus to the next level

To summarize
I think we have a good product. We have built on the success of a proven product. Everything is in place to begin production within a few weeks. However, since we are new to the Arduino world, we are not certain of potential sales. We are looking for opinions to determine if we will invest in a production run, or possibly do a Kickstarter, with a lower price for supporters.

I' will try to post pictures following this first post.

Thank you for your consideration.

Bill Kingsley

Shield proto on foam 1 cropped 640px.jpg

1 Like

YES! Count me interested big time! Can't believe I didn't notice this post until now.

We put this project on hold due to lack of response. We need to know that there is a good market for it before we commit funds to production. That said, if we determine there is substantial interest, we could start a production run on short notice.

For now, you can use our standard (not a shield) DV-S1 Sprite with the Arduino. www.teamkingsley.com in the US. www.medeawiz.com for other distributors world-wide.

Hi
I was very interested in this shield but because it has not come to market I bought the Sprite DV -S1 instead.
Now my question is how would I go by controlling the sprite by serial commands , I downloaded their manual but I just have no idea where to start, I am pretty new to both products Arduino and the Sprite player and I think this will be great to make a home video jukebox,
Anybody can you help please
thanks

What firmware version is your Sprite DV-S1 running as this determines what manual to download and the Serial instructions used.

Hi, you can email support@medeawiz.com for help. Here is some sample code to get started:

// Sample Arduino code for the MedeaWiz® Sprite
// Team Kingsley LLC, 20171130

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3,2); // RX pin is 3, TX pin is 2
byte RXbyte; //variable to hold received byte

void setup() {
// Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
Serial.begin(57600); //this serial port is the one to your computer on USB!!
while (!Serial) {
; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for native USB port only
}

Serial.println("Sprite!");// should show “Sprite” on your computer

// set the data rate for the SoftwareSerial port
mySerial.begin(9600);//this serial port is the one to the Sprite!! Set Sprite baud to 9600
delay(5000); //unsigned long
mySerial.write(0x02); // plays file 002
}

void loop() { // run over and over
if (mySerial.available()) { //if we received data from the Sprite
RXbyte = mySerial.read(); //copy the data to RXbyte variable
Serial.print(RXbyte, HEX);//will print the Hex value to debug COM port of your PC
if (RXbyte==0xEE){ // Sprite reported the End Of File mark
Serial.println("end");
mySerial.write(0x04); // Play file 004
} // This will keep looping file 004 - When the End Of File occurs
// will re-start file 004
}
if (Serial.available()) {
mySerial.write(Serial.read());//play the file number that was recveived
}
}

$75? Why not just use a Raspberry Pi Zero and talk to it over serial. It would be trivial to write a snippet of code to run on the Pi that does the required things.

// Per.

Why not just use a Raspberry Pi

Yeah, that's the problem. I'd sort-of love to have a cheap, low-power HDMI transceiver (?) that zippy microcontrollers could bit-bang at VGA-ish resolutions, since displays with video or VGA inputs are disappearing (assuming that this is even possible.) But it needs to be cheaper/easier than Raspberry-Pi class devices...

Hello,

It works someone control the Sprite video player by serial communication with arduino?

Thanks