Re: 128x128pixel wristwatch -- possible display?

From Wear-Hard Mailing list Archive (WH) Maintained by R. Paul McCarty

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This watch is made in China, as well as a few other video watches, and they
all play a very crappy video format called "NXV" or "NVX" or something like,
or they play the very popular (among Chinese manufacturers) "AMV" format
which is still pretty lousy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMV_video_format

Frame rates max out at about 16-24FPS and I don't know if it's a limitation
on the LCD or a limitation on the decoder/lcd controller chip.

If you buy them right, these things cost well under $100USD in the US. You
just need to watch out for scammers as well as unscrupulous sellers who
charge excessive amounts for shipping.

Another sore issue I have with these watches is the fact that the Chinese
electronics industry has taken to calling them "MP4 players" when they do no
such thing. There is not a one of them decoding MPEG-4 video... not a single
one. Cheap video players like this only play AMV format or similar.

I would like to know if these can be hacked into a display as well. You
would definitely need to replace the LCD controller with your own.

If someone could refresh my memory about whether the pins are exposed or
not, perhaps you could just use the PXA255 LCD controller on the Gumstix?

The most reputable buyer I found for this watch was Thinkgeek.com but they
have about a $40USD profit on the watch. If you order it from a Chinese
distributor, please make sure you know exactly how much shipping is going to
cost. And also google search the name of the business to find out if they
are ripping people off. Do not bother buying from eBay, a lot of people lose
money on scammers there.

It would be more interesting to find who makes the OLED display (I think
it's OLED). Surely one can get a sample from one of these manufacturers?

On 4/6/07, Brian Chabot <> wrote:
>
> Steve Barr wrote:
> > http://gadgetuniverse.com/product_detail.asp?SKU=TA+457
> > I can't tell if it can play a live feed through the USB port, but
> > perhaps the parts of the watch could be leveraged to make a wearable
> > display device.
>
> It doesn't look like it.
>
> According to the FAQ, the watch is detected as a USB Mass Storage
> device.  Also the battery life seems really crappy... about on par with
> most cell phones.  I'm sorry... but I expect my watch to last a little
> longer than 4 days.  (That's the time it'll go if you are just using the
> watch function and not watching movies.)
>
> Brian
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wear-Hard mailing list
> 
> http://www.haven.org/mailman/listinfo/wear-hard
>

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This watch is made in China, as well as a few other video watches, and they all play a very crappy video format called "NXV" or "NVX" or something like, or they play the very popular (among Chinese manufacturers) "AMV" format which is still pretty lousy. 
 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMV_video_format">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMV_video_format</a> Frame rates max out at about 16-24FPS and I don't know if it's a limitation on the LCD or a limitation on the decoder/lcd controller chip.
 If you buy them right, these things cost well under $100USD in the US. You just need to watch out for scammers as well as unscrupulous sellers who charge excessive amounts for shipping. Another sore issue I have with these watches is the fact that the Chinese electronics industry has taken to calling them "MP4 players" when they do no such thing. There is not a one of them decoding MPEG-4 video... not a single one. Cheap video players like this only play AMV format or similar.
 I would like to know if these can be hacked into a display as well. You would definitely need to replace the LCD controller with your own. If someone could refresh my memory about whether the pins are exposed or not, perhaps you could just use the PXA255 LCD controller on the Gumstix? 
 The most reputable buyer I found for this watch was <a href="http://Thinkgeek.com">Thinkgeek.com</a> but they have about a $40USD profit on the watch. If you order it from a Chinese distributor, please make sure you know exactly how much shipping is going to cost. And also google search the name of the business to find out if they are ripping people off. Do not bother buying from eBay, a lot of people lose money on scammers there. 
 It would be more interesting to find who makes the OLED display (I think it's OLED). Surely one can get a sample from one of these manufacturers? <div>On 4/6/07, 
Brian Chabot <<a href="mailto:"></a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Steve Barr wrote: > <a href="http://gadgetuniverse.com/product_detail.asp?SKU=TA+457">http://gadgetuniverse.com/product_detail.asp?SKU=TA+457</a> > I can't tell if it can play a live feed through the USB port, but
 > perhaps the parts of the watch could be leveraged to make a wearable > display device. It doesn't look like it. According to the FAQ, the watch is detected as a USB Mass Storage device.  Also the battery life seems really crappy... about on par with
 most cell phones.  I'm sorry... but I expect my watch to last a little longer than 4 days.  (That's the time it'll go if you are just using the watch function and not watching movies.) Brian 
 _______________________________________________ Wear-Hard mailing list <a href="mailto:"></a> <a href="http://www.haven.org/mailman/listinfo/wear-hard">http://www.haven.org/mailman/listinfo/wear-hard
</a> </blockquote></div>

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