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DS90UH947-Q1: Setting pattern generator for DE only LCD

Part Number: DS90UH947-Q1
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: ALP

I have a DS90UH947 connected to a DS90UH948 which is connected to an LCD via LVDS.  The LCD is DE only so no hsynch or vsynch.  I'm trying to use the pattern generator in Analog LaunchPAD with internal timing to show color bars on the LCD.  My LCD is 1920 x 1080 24-bit color.  The pixel clock is 70.93 nominal which is my first problem.  According to app note SNLAG132G, the pixel clock is set by a divider using M and N and the internal 200 MHz clock.  When I leave M at 1 and change N, the calculated pixel clock values make sense.  For example, setting N = 3 would be 200 MHz * (1/3) = 66.7 MHz which is the value in the GUI.  But anytime I change the M value, the calculated value is wrong.  For example, setting M to 2 and N to 6 should be 200 MHz * (2/6) = 66.7 MHz, but the GUI shows 266.7 MHz.  Also the default M/N values of 1/2 show "Invalid" in the GUI.  After playing around with the M/N values, the closest I can get to 70.93 MHz is with M/N set to 2/23.  That should be 200 MHz * (2/23) = 17.4 MHz, but the GUI shows 69.6 MHz.

My second problem is setting the Synch Width values.  My LCD datasheet shows that the horizontal blanking interval is 105 pixel clocks, and the vertical blanking interval is 30 lines.  If I set the M/N to 2/23, the hsynch to 105, and the vsynch to 30, I get an error message stating that the "Sum of Active Lines....must be less than Total Lines."  

Based on these results, I don't trust the GUI calculation of the pixel clock when M is anything other than 1.  So I set M/N to 1/3 which is 66.7 MHz.  That's still in the LCD range of 60 to 75 MHz.  Then I set the hsynch to 105 and vsynch to 30.  The "Status" area shows a frame rate of 26.9 when it should be 60 Hz.  And when I enable it nothing happens.  In fact the only way I can get anything to show up on the screen is with M/N set to 1/2, hsynch set to 44, and vsynch set to 5.  With those values I see color bars on the top half or so of the LCD but with lots of blinking and crossover between the colors.

  • Hi Tony,

    Thank you for referencing the app note and describing the different M/N values in the GUI. For your first issue, there are certain values of N that cannot be accessed. N values of 0 and 1 are reserved. When the M value is greater than 1, the nominal internal oscillator switches to 800MHz. This is why the GUI displayed a value of 266.7MHz (800*2/6).

    What are the HTOTAL and VTOTAL for the LCD you are using?

    Regards,

    Jack Scherlag

  • Jack,

    Thanks for explaining about the M value defining the source as 200 MHz or 800 MHz.  I saw several references to 200 vs 800 in the app note, but I couldn't find anything stating how to select 200 or 800.  Below are the timing values from the LCD datasheet:

    If I'm reading this correctly, the HTOTAL value you're asking about is their symbol Th which is 1065 pixel clocks (Tc).  One pixel clock (Tc) is 14.1 ns.  So HTOTAL is 1065 * 14.1 * 10^-9 = 15.0165 us.  I believe VTOTAL is their symbol Tv which is 1110 * Th = 1110 * 15.017 us = 16.668 ms.

  • Hi Tony,

    Could you try inputting the video timing parameters into ALP along with an M/N ratio of 7/79? ALP will still throw the warning but should still program the patgen. From the above table, I got: HTOTAL 1065, VTOTAL 1110, HSync 105, and VSync 30.

    Regards,

    Jack

  • Jack,

    First, I discovered I have either have a ground problem or a loose wire.  When I accidentally moved the wire harness going to the LCD, I suddenly saw a full set of color bars on the LCD.  But the strange thing is that this was with the default setup of M/N set to 1/2 which is supposedly invalid.

    I tried the changes you suggested in various combinations.  Generally what I found is that if I set the M/N values to anything other than 1/2, nothing is shown on the LCD.  As long as I have M/N set to 1/2, changing the HSynch, VSynch, Sync Width, etc. makes no discernable difference.  Even changing the Active Area values didn't change anything.

    Tony

  • Hi Tony,

    Turns out that ALP will not program the video values if it detect a warning. Would you be able to try increasing HTOTAL and VTOTAL by a couple of pixels to get ALP to program the 947?

    Regards,

    Jack

  • Jack,

    I don't see anything in ALPS named HTOTAL or VTOTAL.  Which values are you referring to?

    Tony

  • Hi Tony,

    I am referring to the total area values for the horizontal and vertical.

    Regards,

    Jack