nickgammon:
I managed to get colour output:
However memory is tight.
Sketch:
/*
VGA colour video generation
Author: Nick Gammon
Date: 22nd April 2012
Version: 1.0
Version 1.0: initial release
Connections:
D3 : Horizontal Sync (68 ohms in series) --> Pin 13 on DB15 socket
D4 : Red pixel output (470 ohms in series) --> Pin 1 on DB15 socket
D5 : Green pixel output (470 ohms in series) --> Pin 2 on DB15 socket
D6 : Blue pixel output (470 ohms in series) --> Pin 3 on DB15 socket
D10 : Vertical Sync (68 ohms in series) --> Pin 14 on DB15 socket
Gnd : --> Pins 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 on DB15 socket
Note: As written, this sketch has 34 bytes of free SRAM memory.
PERMISSION TO DISTRIBUTE
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software
and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied,
including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular
purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable
for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract,
tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software
or the use or other dealings in the software.
*/
#include <TimerHelpers.h>
#include <avr/pgmspace.h>
#include <avr/sleep.h>
const byte hSyncPin = 3; // <------- HSYNC
const byte redPin = 4; // <------- Red pixel data
const byte greenPin = 5; // <------- Green pixel data
const byte bluePin = 6; // <------- Blue pixel data
const byte vSyncPin = 10; // <------- VSYNC
const int horizontalBytes = 60; // 480 pixels wide
const int verticalPixels = 480; // 480 pixels high
// Timer 1 - Vertical sync
// output OC1B pin 16 (D10) <------- VSYNC
// Period: 16.64 mS (60 Hz)
// 1/60 * 1e6 = 16666.66 uS
// Pulse for 64 uS (2 x HSync width of 32 uS)
// Sync pulse: 2 lines
// Back porch: 33 lines
// Active video: 480 lines
// Front porch: 10 lines
// Total: 525 lines
// Timer 2 - Horizontal sync
// output OC2B pin 5 (D3) <------- HSYNC
// Period: 32 uS (31.25 kHz)
// (1/60) / 525 * 1e6 = 31.74 uS
// Pulse for 4 uS (96 times 39.68 nS)
// Sync pulse: 96 pixels
// Back porch: 48 pixels
// Active video: 640 pixels
// Front porch: 16 pixels
// Total: 800 pixels
// Pixel time = ((1/60) / 525 * 1e9) / 800 = 39.68 nS
// frequency = 1 / (((1/60) / 525 * 1e6) / 800) = 25.2 MHz
// However in practice, it we can only pump out pixels at 375 nS each because it
// takes 6 clock cycles to read one in from RAM and send it out the port.
const int verticalLines = verticalPixels / 16;
const int horizontalPixels = horizontalBytes * 8;
const byte verticalBackPorchLines = 35; // includes sync pulse?
const byte verticalFrontPorchLines = 525 - verticalBackPorchLines;
volatile int vLine;
volatile int messageLine;
volatile byte backPorchLinesToGo;
#define nop asm volatile ("nop\n\t")
// bitmap - gets sent to PORTD
// For D4/D5/D6 bits need to be shifted left 4 bits
// ie. 00BGR0000
char message [verticalLines] [horizontalBytes];
// ISR: Vsync pulse
ISR (TIMER1_OVF_vect)
{
vLine = 0;
messageLine = 0;
backPorchLinesToGo = verticalBackPorchLines;
} // end of TIMER1_OVF_vect
// ISR: Hsync pulse ... this interrupt merely wakes us up
ISR (TIMER2_OVF_vect)
{
} // end of TIMER2_OVF_vect
void setup()
{
// initial bitmap ... change to suit
for (int y = 0; y < verticalLines; y++)
for (int x = 0; x < horizontalBytes; x++)
message [y] [x] = (x + y) << 4;
// disable Timer 0
TIMSK0 = 0; // no interrupts on Timer 0
OCR0A = 0; // and turn it off
OCR0B = 0;
// Timer 1 - vertical sync pulses
pinMode (vSyncPin, OUTPUT);
Timer1::setMode (15, Timer1::PRESCALE_1024, Timer1::CLEAR_B_ON_COMPARE);
OCR1A = 259; // 16666 / 64 uS = 260 (less one)
OCR1B = 0; // 64 / 64 uS = 1 (less one)
TIFR1 = _BV (TOV1); // clear overflow flag
TIMSK1 = _BV (TOIE1); // interrupt on overflow on timer 1
// Timer 2 - horizontal sync pulses
pinMode (hSyncPin, OUTPUT);
Timer2::setMode (7, Timer2::PRESCALE_8, Timer2::CLEAR_B_ON_COMPARE);
OCR2A = 63; // 32 / 0.5 uS = 64 (less one)
OCR2B = 7; // 4 / 0.5 uS = 8 (less one)
TIFR2 = _BV (TOV2); // clear overflow flag
TIMSK2 = _BV (TOIE2); // interrupt on overflow on timer 2
// prepare to sleep between horizontal sync pulses
set_sleep_mode (SLEEP_MODE_IDLE);
// pins for outputting the colour information
pinMode (redPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode (greenPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode (bluePin, OUTPUT);
} // end of setup
// draw a single scan line
void doOneScanLine ()
{
// after vsync we do the back porch
if (backPorchLinesToGo)
{
backPorchLinesToGo--;
return;
} // end still doing back porch
// if all lines done, do the front porch
if (vLine >= verticalPixels)
return;
// pre-load pointer for speed
register char * messagePtr = & (message [messageLine] [0] );
delayMicroseconds (1);
// how many pixels to send
register byte i = horizontalBytes;
// blit pixel data to screen
while (i--)
PORTD = * messagePtr++;
// stretch final pixel
nop; nop; nop;
PORTD = 0; // back to black
// finished this line
vLine++;
// every 16 pixels it is time to move to a new line in our text
if ((vLine & 0xF) == 0)
messageLine++;
} // end of doOneScanLine
void loop()
{
// sleep to ensure we start up in a predictable way
sleep_mode ();
doOneScanLine ();
} // end of loop
Circuit:  (edit) Amended sketch slightly to add three "nop" instructions (no operation) after drawing the last pixel on the line. Without them, the final pixel is a bit narrow, as you can see in the photo.
Thanks for this, I managed to get this exact setup working.
