I saw these noted, and add my vote to them:
1. Dumb serial display (RS232, etc..)
2. Auto ambient noise to adjust loudness of music.. (Of course, the tricky part is trying to make it NOT listen to itself to try and raise the volumn over itself..)

Me.

If Im right in thinking what you mean by RS232 display, was there not an LCD option on the empeg main board? So you could have LCD (character) and VFD?

Does the CPU have proper LCD TFT style interfacing ability outta the box?

The CPU has some LCD interfacing out of the box; however, full 16-bit TFT isn't possible because LCD data lines 8-15 are multiplexed onto other GPIO lines (which we use on the empeg as GPIOs).

There is a pad-out next to the CPU which will take a 0.5mm pitch connector that can be bought from farnell - this contains all the LCD signals available, namely - Pixel clock, line clock, frame clock, AC bias (valid signal for TFT I think), and LCD D0-D7.

The VFD uses D0 only, and we run in a 4bpp mode. In theory you could add 3 slave displays to the empeg by using D1, D2 and D3 - all the other signals would be common

Hugo

So what you'resaying isss....
.... we could have 4 separate displays on 1 empeg ?

or we could connect some other (bigger / wider) display to it ?

Not sure what all you said means...

With an extra PSU and software work you could have 4 displays on a single empeg, yes.

Bigger/wider is more hassle, but still possible. The player wouldn't drive a higher res display though, not as-is.

Hugo

So, we can connect a remote LCD display to the Empeg by installing a connector to the motherboard inside the unit? What type of display do I look for? Do you have a specific one that you could recommend? Is the hardware connection all that is necessary, or does it also need to be enabled through software? Would this be the same resolution as the VFD? And could a backlit display be used? I am highly interested in this feature, and would appreciate any details. Thanks

I didn't say remote; the lines are 3.3v logic, run pretty fast, and come directly from the CPU. One slip and you could toast the CPU. There's also no software support for it.

However, you could in theory put something like a 320x240 16 greyscale passive matrix display on this connector.

We've never tried it. However, the Rio Central uses the same(ish) CPU and a 480x320 16 greyscale LCD and that works just fine.

Hugo

oh, yeah. I forgot the lines run directly from the CPU. One wrong move and you're porked - uh... I mean your CPU is toast. Wasn't there a way to buffer the lines? Is this done with transistors or something?

There are plenty of linedriver/buffer chips around that will do the trick. They are integrated circuits, guess they all build on transistors in the end.

TommyE