oled displays for 6582

[cimo]

hi

i ve found a seller for oled 4X20 displays that can fit the MB6582, the price is about 35 euros w/out shipping, i ve never bought oled displays, do you think is it a good price?

simone

[Wilba]

I think I paid about AU$45 (about 27 Euro).

They should work fine but since I redesigned the control surface PCB to suit thicker LCDs with LED backlight, the front of the thinner PLED is going to be further behind the frontpanel (i.e. greater gap). Just a caution.

[stryd_one]

...which is probably a good thing because it allows for a plexi (or similar) plate to protect the screen...

[cimo]

ok, thanks for the infos, i ve written a mail to the seller to see if they have any discount for bulk orders, i see so many people (like me) have forgotten to join the bulk order for the lcd and maybe, although it is a more expensive choice, we can creat a new buying group..

so first i wait for the answer then eventually i will post in the bulk orders forum..

they also have nice 128X64 oled screens...

simone

[Wilba]

...which is probably a good thing because it allows for a plexi (or similar) plate to protect the screen...

You will have (on average) a 2.5mm gap with backlit LCD, and 6.2mm gap with PLED.

Having the PLED display 7.7mm behind the frontpanel front surface is going to look a bit strange.

If I were to use a PLED again for the current control surface, I would do it the same way as last time, mounting it in the gap (above the control surface PCB) and using two extra PCBs to mount the buttons/LEDs above the display's PCB. I do have two spare extra PCBs (from the prototype) but it should be possible to make ones out of prototyping board so long as you mount the switches/LEDs on the copper side so that it's flat (no solder/pins) where it mounts close to the LCD's PCBs.

I redesign to suit thicker LCD displays and partially undo the bad design of buttons/LEDs overlapping the LCD's PCB and the need for two different tactile switch shaft lengths and the more complex construction. I'm not wanting to spoil people's dream of using a PLED, just advising people of the issues.

[DrBunsen]

i ve written a mail to the seller to see if they have any discount for bulk orders,

Woohoo!!

Wilba, would a set of 5mm PCB spacers do the trick?

[cimo]

hi

yes i thought that long machine screws with some bolts would do the trick. ???

[Wilba]

Are you suggesting using 5mm spacers between control surface PCB and panel, and mounting the PLED behind the control surface PCB? i.e. reducing 10mm gap to 5mm? It would work if you could find the right tactile switches and rotary encoders.

[cimo]

hi

about the encoders it ll be quite easy to trim the shaft a little bit

about the switches, i assume that we need 13-5=8 mm tall ones:

http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBrowseAction.do?D=tactile%20switch&Nr=AND%28avl%3auk%2csearchDiscon_uk%3aN%29&Ntk=I18NAll&Nty=1&Ntt=tactile%20switch&Dx=mode%20matchpartial&Ntx=mode%20matchpartial&N=0&name=SiteStandard&forwardingPage=line&R=4791542&callingPage=/jsp/search/search.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1367360965.1187532730@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdkaddlkgmldjhcefeceeldgkidhgf.0&cacheID=uknetscape

now the pled is 9.3 mm deep, the crystalfontz is 13.6 mm deep, that makes 4.3 mm of difference so that the bezel will be at .7 mm closer to the panel than in the original, so it should be around 1.8 mm.Sounds good to me!!

Let s see what they ll say, i hope they will answer tomorrow

Simone

[Wilba]

Trimming the shaft isn't the problem, the height of an encoder base is typically >5mm plus there's the bushing.

... so you can't use 5mm spacers.

Unfortunately I have to say it's not looking good for using PLEDs mounted from behind the PCB (unless you like a big gap)... and mounting them in front of the PCB would involve fiddly little extra boards for the SID and select buttons/LEDs. The more you talk about it, the more you highlight the design flaw in my control surface PCB - works well as a one-off but for people wanting to use different kinds of displays it's restrictive. (But I've been saying that from the start!)

In future I'll always design it so the displays never overlap anything and can be mounted as close to the panel as desired. ;)

[cimo]

The more you talk about it, the more you highlight the design flaw in my control surface PCB

we love your flaws !!! ;-)

dunno if it is worthy going on with this but, for sake of sake...

i can have bigger holes so that the bushing can peep out of the front panel, all the knobs i ve used have a wider and empty base so that the bushing can be covered by the knob itself..  then if not 5 mm it can probably be made with 6 mm spacers so i get  that extra mm to have a 3mm smoked acrylic panel

and if not.. then extra boards!! how did you fix them to the pcb? on the same screws of the lcd?

txx for the support

simone

EDIT: i ve overlooked a quite important factor, this display seems to have  a PT6880 controller, any idea if they can be used?

EDIT II: it s ok it s compatible!!  :) :)

EDIT III: i see the holes are already big enough, we only need to trim that little pin (what is exactly the bushing??)  here a quick overview to the construction with the pled display

[cimo]

hi

i got an answer from the seller but it was so cheap that i asked for that to be confirmed, if those are the actual prices we have a good deal!

simone

[cimo]

hi

i got a reply, there was in reality a mistake but the actual price is still ok

from 10 to 49 pieces it is 275 SEK (29.3436 EUR) against the 315 SEK/1 piece ..

before starting a thread in the Bulk Orders i d like to know what Wilba thinks about this: it is only 5 Euros of difference and there are some construction difficulties as we know... but if there is interest in it we can give it a go!

simone

oops the link to the Oled LCD

http://www.fractronics.com/4x20-oled.shtml

[Wilba]

The "bushing" is the threaded part of the encoder.

I advise you to continue your cross-section diagram with proposed switches and LEDs and importantly the knobs, to make sure the rest will fit and look good at that different gap width. Hole size for switches are 3.5mm so a tactile switch which normally tapers from 3.5mm to 3.0mm should fit even at smaller gap sizes (the SID and select buttons on my prototype are like this).

However if you are determined to use PLEDs, then I still think the nicest solution is to mount the PLED inside a 10mm gap and put the buttons/LEDs above and below on two separate prototyping boards. Maybe people can get a pair made by BatchPCB or something, or if there's enough interest I'll arrange a prototyping panel of just these extra PCBs and distribute from here. You would still have to find the shorter tactile switches but that's a lot easier than redesigning for a different gap width.

[kieran]

Can anyone tell me what the advantages of PLED/OLED displays are over LCD/Backlit LCD?

From my reading, lifespan is a major issue with PLED/OLED and I'd love my MB-6582 to still work in tip top condition in 25 years time if at all possible. Furthermore, I've seen indications that the organic material in OLED displays is extremely sensitive to H₂0 (same might be true for LCD, not sure). Although the sensitivity to water and water vapour is typically taken care of in the display casing, if an OLED does excel and outdo its nominated ~5000 hours of use then maybe aging polymer, or outdoor, or humid environment use (e.g. equatorial residents) could see the quality of the display taper over time if manufacturing practises aren't flawless.

Some of these issues might just be blown out of proportion with real world use. After all, its a piece of synth equipment so its not going skydiving or doing anything overly adventurous, unless you plan to take your MB-6582 and play at an outdoor rave/concert to 50,000 ppl and it starts raining down Woodstock style.

So, what is the gobsmacking feature? Or is it just the appearance.. maybe I have to pay Wilba a visit and have a gander at the real thing. :)

[sneakthief]

OLED's look great - but I'll be damned if I ever use one again until I know that the implementation is rock-solid.

After buying 4 16x2 crystalfontz screens and having them all die within a couple of months, I'm a little more than wary.

Caveat Emptor!

[DragonMaster]

Sorry to post in an old topic, but just to specify about displays:

LCDs are the most reliable, just make sure you get one with a *LED* backlight.

Older and some new LCDs are backlit by EL foil connected to a DC -> AC 120V 400Hz inverter. It's dangerous, noisy and produces interference. Also, EL foil gets darker with time, that's not a great solution, considering that the backlight will fail and you'll be stuck with a dark screen unless you decide to fix it.

LCDs can have an OLED-kind effect by removing the polarized film on the top and putting some new one in place(Google or ask for more details). It will invert the colors. The background will be black and characters will be lit.

VFDs are an other option, much better looking than LCD, but suffer from degradation. However, recent and good quality models don't seem to suffer from much problems. I haven't done tons of research, but Noritake seems to be one of the biggest guys out there(if not the only one), their VFDs are pretty good from my experience (I guess they filed tons of patents...) They make LCD drop-in replacements, and it looks like they have great support for custom projects and tech support. I'm not affiliated with them, but their products look cool and well built.