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[on:]

Hi!

I just got this camera from sparkfun:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10061

The thing is, i would like to know if there is a way to actually display a single jpeg image from that camera into a colour LCD/TFT. If so, which one could i use for this task?

BR

[Reply #1 on:]

Unfortunately an arduino doesn't have enough resources (RAM) to be able to decompress a JPEG into raw data for display.

You can however get some colour LCD arduino sheilds which have a built in processor and SD card. Some of these are capable of reading JPEGs from their SD card and displaying them, so all you would have to do is to read in the jpeg and save to the SD card, and then let the screen do the work.

[Reply #2 on:]

Thanks for the tip!

In fact, i pretend one arduino to send the data received from the camera via RF to another one, and this other one would be displaying the shot. I would really appreciate if you could let me know of a product (CLCD) that would do what you mention.

I guess that the right track would be: TTL camera-->Arduino1-->RF-->Arduino2-->SD-->CLCD


BR

[Reply #3 on:]

I'm not sure of what you are trying to do, but a possible different way to do it is to get a camera with analog composite video out (normally called a RCA connector), and a mobile LCD screen that takes composite video input, such as a few MP4 players, a few camcorders, and LCDs made for car backup monitors.  You could then get the Video Experimenter shield (http://nootropicdesign.com/ve/), which allows the Arduino to output lo-res text/graphics on top of the video image (or replace the image).  I recently bought the Video Experimenter but I haven't had time to try it out yet.

In the past, when I was buying my monitor (JXD i969, which appears to no longer be sold), it was hard to find MP4 video players and camcorders that supported video input as well as video output.  When I was looking, I also had the additional requirement of using generic batteries, but now with mobile cell phone chargers that emit 5v output, it becomes less of an issue (for my uses, I needed to be able to run 12+ hours away from the wall socket).

Here is an example of the car backup monitor that takes composite input.  It needs 12 volts, so you would need to get a battery that has separate 5v and 12v terminals if you need it to be mobile: http://www.ebay.com/itm/310395856174?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649.

[Reply #4 on:]

Thanks for your reply Michael!

This does not quite fit for the project i am working on, but the Video Experimenter shield is perfect for another augmented reality project i am working on! Indeed, i just ordered one! Therefor, thanks for the tip!   

What i want to do is the following:

I have one arduino with a distance sensor that will be the "alarm sensor", and when the distance changes (lowers), it will assume that there is an intrussion and will take a picture with the TTL cam. Once it takes the picture, it will send it over to another arduino via X-bee, which is portable. Then this other arduino, should inform that there has been an alarm, and show the picture taken.

So, i still need to know an CLCD that can display JPEG images.

BR

[Reply #5 on:]

RE the JPEG screen, I missread the description, it only works with bitmap images.

Another potential issue is that xBees are very slow - you are looking at a maximum of about 10kbps. A 320x240 colour jpeg is about 25kB. So it would take at least 20 seconds to transfer the picture, let alone show it - but this may not bother you. The range of xbees is also very limited.

You might be better looking at something like an ethernet sheild. You could have it trigger and take a picture which is saved to an SD card (the ethernet shield has one built in). You can then have it send out an e-mail to say that there has been an intrusion. You could either attach the photo to the e-mail, or have it available on a webpage - just access the webpage and download the picture.

It would be much more portable that way as you could access it via the internet on any computer or phone with an internet connection.


It may also be possible to save the jpeg to the sd card, and then use the ethernet sheild to access a website such as this one:
http://api.online-convert.com/
Use that website to do the conversion. Then download the converted file to the SD card, and ship it across to the LCD via your xBee link for display to any lcd.

[Reply #6 on:]

Thanks for the tips Tom!

 I need it to work offline and with no PC near, so using ethernet wouldnt be a choice


Anyway, i have found a TFT display which uses Solomon´s SSD1926 chipset, which is capable of handling JPEG images.

Link for it is : http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/527324038/2_4_inch_round_tft_lcd.html

Chipset specifications: http://www.solomon-systech.com/en/product/display-system-solutions/image-processor/ssd1926/

I will see if i can find it somewhere else than alibaba.


BR

[Reply #7 on:]

I had another idea. Interfacing the arduino with an Android phone to show the picture!

I would carry the arduino receiver with me, and it would send the picture via BT to my phone.

Just wanted to share it in case it would help anyone on similar projects.


BR