Hi, I have been working on trying to implement VGA screen output on the Elbert V2 (and Mimas V2) boards. I got the demonstration program source code and I have been playing around with it. I really wanted to implement my own version rather than hacking about with the demo project (ElbertV2Top Model). I'm looking to implement displaying text and be able to update the font size and colours on the fly. Ultimately being able to write pong would also be cool! If anyone has any testing source code or examples I would be most appreciative. I noticed in the example program that a clock multiplier was generated using the IP_cores function from Xilinx in WebISE but the clocking wizard is not available for the FGPA device used on Elbert V2 the XC3S50A so how was that performed? Thanks Alex
Hi Alex, We did implement Ping Pong on Elbert V2/Mimas v2 a while ago and the code was based on Eric Eastwood's Ping Pong implementation in VHDL. Below is the demo video. It's been a while since we did this. So not sure the code is still available, but I'll check for sure. Our developer gave me the screenshot below when asked about the clocking wizard. Can you please check if you can find this in your copy of ISE. We use ISE 14.7. Thanks, Tom
Tom, Thanks for your response. It was very helpful. I am still working on learning VHDL and I will take a look at the pong demonstration. I couldn't find the clock wizard - your screen shot was very helpful. Kind regards Alex
I have written a blog post on how to get started driving the VGA port. I will add more information as I go - still learning myself! http://langster1980.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/driving-vga-port-using-elbert-v2-and_7.html
Hi Alex, Thanks for sharing the tutorial. I have shared added a link to the product page (http://numato.com/elbert-v2-spartan-3a-fpga-development-board.html) under "Tutorials" tab so others can find it easily. Btw, do you has a picture or video of the setup to share ? Thanks, Tom
Tom, I can share some photos and video of my setup - apologies should have thought of that already! Thanks for the promotion etc. Cheers Alex
No problem, I will share the videos and images with others as soon as available. Just wanted to touch a different subject. We just started a crowdfunding campaign for our new FPGA based open source HDMI/DisplayPort board. This may be worth taking a look if you would want to start experimenting with HDMI or DisplayPort some day. https://www.crowdsupply.com/numato-lab/opsis A couple of different firmware/RTL stacks are already avaialble at https://github.com/timvideos Here is a picture of the board. We would love to hear your opinions on the Opsis board and HDMI2USB project. The project home page is at http://hdmi2usb.tv/ Thanks, Tom
Tom, I had a good look at the Opsis board and it does look very impressive. It's not really something I can make use of at the moment. I barely do any video work or conferencing. I will promote it for you though as it looks excellent. Good luck with getting funding. I really should get to CCC one of these years! Cheers Alex
Thanks Alex, that would be really helpful. Opsis is designed to be used as a general purpose FPGA development board as well. So if you have any suggestions or comments that front, they are welcome too. Thanks, Tom
