Post by thread:[PIC]: PIC DVD Player Using IDE DVD Drive

Has anyone attempted or created a DVD player with a PIC as the heart, a TFT LCD and a cheap PC DVD IDE drive for the disk unit? I know ST Microelectronics has some nice MPEG decoders. I figure you can get the chips for about $80 total, a 8" TFT LCD panel from eBay for $40, a new DVD IDE drive for $30, etc. You can make a nice car player for the kids for under $200. Anyone know of anything out there? Thanks, Mike -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList spam_OUTpiclist-unsubscribe-requestTakeThisOuTmitvma.mit.edu

I don't mean to shoot you down in flames, but RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT... 1) I doubt the PIC could handle the data rate required for a DVD mpeg stream 2) I doubt there is an mpeg decoder which will eat data straight from the ide dvd 3) You may even have trouble finding a DVD decoder - instead you'll need to get a MPEG decoder, then apply to whatever DVD organisation handles the DVD encryption codes and purchase one for some exorbant cost - not to mention they probably want to certify your device, which means that no decrypted mpeg signal could be present at the board level - so you're probably going to have trouble there. Maybe there are DVD decoders with the appropiate decryption on chip... 4) Cheap large TFT lcds don't come with controllers, and aren't compatible with any tv standard. 5) You can get a DVD player for $100, a car AC adaptor for $25, and a small LCD with TV in for $75 or so - and you'll have saved yourself weeks of development for something which might be used 50 hrs in the next 2 years. 6) You could get a cheap computer with a dvd and a decoder card, buy one of your cheap LCDs and hack together a controller card. Spend maybe 2-3 hundred, and you can add your navigation and other software (games, etc). Throw a TV tuner card in there and it becomes more entertaining. But then, don't let me stop you - you might be thinking of something completely different than what I'm thinking of. -Adam CAUTION: Problems in implementation are larger than they may appear. Michael Strauss wrote: {Quote hidden}> > Has anyone attempted or created a DVD player with a PIC as the heart, a TFT > LCD and a cheap PC DVD IDE drive for the disk unit? I know ST > Microelectronics has some nice MPEG decoders. > > I figure you can get the chips for about $80 total, a 8" TFT LCD panel from > eBay for $40, a new DVD IDE drive for $30, etc. You can make a nice car > player for the kids for under $200. > > Anyone know of anything out there? > > Thanks, > Mike > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList > .....piclist-unsubscribe-requestKILLspam@spam@mitvma.mit.edu -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList piclist-unsubscribe-requestKILLspammitvma.mit.edu

Hi Mike, DVD navigation is much more involved than the simple track selection of an Audio CD player. Most DVD reference design I came across uses a 32-bit CPU and megabytes of memory to implement the "navi". I've seen a lot of made-in-China DVD players retailing for less than US$200 in the Asia Pacific region. Many should've been imported into the US, as I've seen their booths in the CES 2000, Las Vegas. Go for some of the more establish ones, e.g. Shinco, SAST as their engineering is fully supported by ESS Technology or C-Cube of the US. You can rip out the system board and DVD drive (yes, most are IDE drives) and integrate it into your in-car player. Cheers, Peter {Original Message removed}

Mike, I have a really cheap DVD player that sells for $100 (US) at Best Buy. It's made by Oritron (really high tech here). I opened it up once because I too had ideas of making a portable DVD player. The case itself is smaller than most VCRs and inside there is a standard 5-1/4" DVD drive and a circuit board about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the case. I don't think it would take much to convert it to 12V DC operation. Be warned however that, although this is such a high tech manufacturer, there are fatal firmware bugs in the player (gasp!). I often have to unplug my player from the wall and plug it back in to reset the darn thing. Best of luck, Ken -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads

>I have a really cheap DVD player that sells for $100 (US) at Best Buy. >It's made by Oritron (really high tech here). I opened it up once because >I too had ideas of making a portable DVD player. The case itself is >smaller than most VCRs and inside there is a standard 5-1/4" DVD drive and >a circuit board about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the case. I don't think it >would take much to convert it to 12V DC operation. Be warned however that, >although this is such a high tech manufacturer, there are fatal firmware >bugs in the player (gasp!). I often have to unplug my player from the wall >and plug it back in to reset the darn thing. So bad I can't find it in Brazil :o) Anyway, the DVD stream is just too much for a PIC processor. And even if you use the decode circuits, the pic will only "start" the player, so I think it's a complete net loss of time and money. A ferrari isn't suited for trucking, and a beetle is not suited to race, either. --------------8<-------Corte aqui-------8<-------------- All the best!!! Alexandre Souza .....xandinhoKILLspam.....interlink.com.br Linux User #85093 --------------8<-------Corte aqui-------8<-------------- -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics