Mini LCD display/VFD for basic info/navigation
#1
Hello everyone, I'm new here and it's my first post!

I've made quite a few XBMC systems here and there, but soon I plan to make a dedicated system as part of my AV system for XBMC. I find the UI to be great on the screen/monitor out but I want to take it a step further. I'm looking to have XBMC running in a box around the size of a Hi-Fi separate, and whether it would be based on Windows PC hardware, a Raspberry Pi or anything else, is not confirmed yet but I am attracted to the idea of a PC since I reckon it would be the most flexible and powerful.

I want to have a monitor out feed (HDMI) on the back of the unit for video which is simple enough (acting like a regular XBMC install on any other PC) but I want to have a small screen on the front of the unit itself too. Ideally, I would want the screen to be a TFT/LCD screen rather than a VFD (unless I can get a pretty big VFD with about 5 rows) so I can control the interface of the media centre without using the monitor out. The purpose of this would be for dedicated music listening, without the use of a monitor. I would want a screen that can provide me with basic navigation of my XBMC library, along with displaying metadata of my FLAC files, i.e. track name / length / artist / album and artwork would be nice too... (obviously not with VFD)

Right, from my limited knowledge, I know that there are a few things such as Imon and lcdproc that may be able to assist me, but I'm still clueless, hence the registration here! I have never tried something this advanced before, but I guess I am pretty determined and willing to go quite far to get this working as I think the potential finished product could be astonishing. I have no idea how to configure this sort of display as an informational screen for XBMC to interact with, and I initially thought of just using a small LCD as a second screen output but it don't seem to be too ideal that way due to boot up processes etc.

I currently own the Pioneer N-50 network audio player / streamer and I guess I'm trying to recreate it with more functionality in terms of video playback and external monitor output (and a much bigger screen!)
In the future, I might even rip the N50 apart and mod it to run XBMC lol.

Any ideas?

Thanks for your time
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#2
Buy an iPad or an Android tablet.. Wasting time on old tech is futile Smile
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#3
Hi everybody,
I'm interested too, I mainly use XBMC for music so not having to turn on the TV is a plus

I have a tablet but I think that a small monitor like the one I have on my set top box would be handy

so, suggestions?

tnx Alberto
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#4
More trouble than it's worth. Have Antec Micro Fusion case. You have to use XBMC to IMON to get it to work and a lot of the time it crashes. Have to reboot the whole computer sometimes, just to make it work again. I don't think they really make to many cases with the lcd anymore, not new ones anyway. Use the XBMC remote app on your phone or tablet.
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Mini LCD display/VFD for basic info/navigation0