Did you get your hands on a Raspberry Pi and need a little monitor to complete your tiny desktop computer? Or maybe you just need a good field monitor. This TFT LCD from Lilliput is the answer to your problems! It runs on only 12VDC and takes several types of signal input, including HDMI. Also, the native resolution of the monitor is fairly high for an inexpensive 7" display at 800x480.
Simply power the screen with the included 12V wall wart adapter or car adapter and connect an HDMI or Composite video source and you're ready to go. The screen is lightweight and portable and has built-in brightness and contrast control, which is ideal for field use.
Note: This is not a touchscreen, the box is lying to you. The manual is also a dirty liar, saying it comes with a VGA/USB cable. Don't believe these lies.
We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
Based on 2 ratings:
4 of 5 found this helpful:
I wanted to check out the RPi world and wanted the most straightforward, reliable way to get there. Figuring that the native video from the Pi is HDMI, and that I'd want portability later, I bought the 7" monitor. It is impressive, reliable, and portable. At 1080p on the 7" screen, the text output at the start of a boot is SMALL (duh) but readable. The GUI looks great on it. I intend to use it when visiting friends to get them interested in RPi.
1 of 2 found this helpful:
Didn't use it on a Pi,but needed a small 12v monitor for an aprs (ham) system. With a very small W10 system and this monitor it all fit in a small box with backup battries
Is this compatible with retro consoles? Or will it only work with a sega dreamcast and consoles made afterwards?
Too bad this is the model without touchscreen. Any plans to carry the touchscreen version? You would make the Carputer guys happy!
Sure would.
we'll check into it for sure!
I played with a few of those on an earlier project. They're easy to rip appart and embbed in an enclosure. The display itself is not very good (but WAY better than any vga/composite lcd that can be found on ebay) but the brightness is good. Beware the weird resolution.
I've got a semi-busted one (the housing is fragile) acting as a picture frame, I'm planning to connect it to the Pi I've duct tapped to a usb hub.
Yep, I've had an earlier model, hoping to pass it 800x480 wide signal. It easily took a 4:3 resoltion and stretched it, but I couldn't get a native 1:1 lock on a wide resolution. I could get it almost correct after many days of tweaking resolutions and offsets, but it really wasn't worth the effort. Hopefully they fixed it in the newer models
And btw, it isn't listed under the LCD product group
why such a high price? Others sell for between $40-$80...
Why do people feel the need to complain about SparkFun's prices? SparkFun does what they do, and they charge what they charge, and you as a customer get to decide whether to buy or not. You can go and buy the "$40-$80" one. I'll buy from SparkFun because I know I'll get excellent service and support (which don't come for free) and I'll be part of a rocking community. Win!
I wasn't complaining about the price, I was just wondering what went it to it that made the price what it was. I was just asking a question, not something to take offense of or be mean about
*and also, why would that be a win? I simply asked a valid question because I did not know the difference between NTSC/PAL monitors and this. Winning was a fad and let it stay that way :-)
And if you look at Adafruit they have them for $160 and only a power cable Ps the difference between HDMI and NTSC is much better graphics and it is very noticeable when you're trying to see something on a small screen. Also there are more things going HDMI these days and NTSC cables are becoming harder and harder to get and no many things support it anymore
I can't wait to see the day when HDMI is taken over by something else.....oh the cycle of electronics.....
It has everything needed and it's HDMI. what do you expect out of a tv that is smaller than an iPad?
Compared to the 7" model from Adafruit, this model has:
Whether or not that's worth $50 more is up to you.
You must be thinking of their NTSC/PAL televisions. They have a new display that does 1024x600 with HDMI and VGA inputs, for US$150.
I assumed Sora & Lefty were comparing this to the NTSC/PAL model. Good to know about Ada's other model, though.
yeah sorry about that! I was unsure of the difference at the time!
I see....hmmm....
compare apples to apples. this isn't just a low-res VGA monitor. it had an HDMI input, remote, menu system, etc.
at "800 x 480 Resolution" it is pretty low res monitor, HDMI input or not. OK for standard def video, not good for computer input or HD
You can't necessarily look at JUST resolution. for instance, a 1920x1080 monitor that's 19" diagonal (assuming 16:9 aspect ratio) has a pixel density of 13450 per sq/in. however, this 7" monitor, with 'only' 800x480 resolution, has a higher pixel density, at 18355 pixels per sq/in.
Compare it to a 22" at the same resolution, and it's almost double the pixel density. this is why it's proportionately more expensive.
I agree this monitor seems a bit over-priced. I can purchase a 22", 1920x1080 with HDMI and VGA inputs, LED backlight for $139.99 at TigerDirect. I recognize that this display runs on 12V which is definitely a convenience factor but still...
It would be nice if it did, but monitor pricing does not follow size. A 7" monitor won't be 1/9 the price of a 22" model, even though it's 1/9 the viewing area.
Cheapo screens like those probably use some sort of crappy TN-technology for their screens that have horrible viewing angles. I've got a netbook with a TN screen and even indoors the viewing angles suck, and it's terrible outside.
From what I've read about these Lilliputs, they use IPS screen technology which has much better viewing angles. It's the kind of stuff used in smartphones, etc.
It's a Samsung monitor with 170 degree horizontal and 160 degree vertical viewing angle. This isn't a POS monitor. The fact is computer monitors have dropped in price significantly over the last few years. I bought my Acer 24" LCD for $180 bucks two years ago and I loved it when I bought it and still love it now.
Much like tiny laptops that have similar features to desktops that cost more. You pay a premium for smaller sizes. To get the same resolution out of a 7" monitor as that of a 22" monitor means a much higher pixel density / expensive.
Is there any documentation that will explain the menu system and such?
we're going to scan in the user manual, and do a video demo coming up.
Ok! looking forward to it!
Agreed, this is ridiculous
But I have seen online that the price jumps about $50 when you go from 6" to 7", plus, I guess this has a remote and various other functions....but I still want an explanation!
EDIT Sorry, didn't realize that HDMI and the other features made the price jump so much!
You shouldn't apologize for asking reasonable questions. You have, however, run afoul of the Sparkfun Fanboy Club.
SparkFun is a wonderful company, but not every glittery thing they offer is gold. The "open source" hardware credo, while admirable, sometimes leave the customer as beta tester, and some of their Chinese imports are certainly lacking in quality.
That said, I am a regular customer and eagerly await my Sparkfun gift codes this Christmas!
haha me too!!! I can't wait for the gift cards!!
Oh yes, for USD179, right now Dell is selling 20" LCD monitor (HD LED, with DVI input).
Tis the season
Would this work with a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBone with a Video Cape?
I don't know about the beagleBone, but it most definitely works with the pi---anything with hdmi, composite, vga, or dvi output should work with this.
What does this display do when there is a noisy signal on the composite input? Does it display the noise or does it show a blue/black screen? The latter is a deal breaker for controlling RC rovers/aircraft via wireless video link.
It would also be nice to know what the lag is between the signal input and the display on screen, but that's harder to test.
Thanks!
I'm not exactly sure how it would handle noisy signal. There is a blue screen that shows up for a few seconds when there is no signal. The screen will then turn itself off until signal is detected.
As for lag, for what it's worth, I plugged it into the cable box HDMI and felt it was just as responsive as my 42" Samsung. It's picture and audio is pretty solid too.
Just grab your electric drill or electric mixer from home, plug it in, wrap the cord around the video lead a few times with a signal going through it, turn it on and see what happens! :)
Interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that. I will see what I can see.
Have you tried it yet?
Is very power hungry...
So since it does composite, has anybody tried it with an Apple ][? I'm mostly using it for other things, but it'd be a bonus win.
8W, 12V. Do you think it would work to power this with a battery pack? 8xAA maybe?
In case anyone is curious: yes, it works. I used this battery pack from adafruit (no equivalent here), which worked great: https://adafruit.com/products/875
Does this display support HDCP? What resolutions will it accept?
Does anyone know the response time?
what do you mean?
Anyone notice that the housing is fragile? I have a permanent dark spot on the bottom right of my screen, and if I even touch the housing at all, it makes that spot even darker. Seems like it's pressing on the screen somehow.
If you don't want to send it back to SparkFun, look for the screws on the back of the monitor and loosen them slightly one at a time. If you see a change in the dark spot, then leave that screw loosened a bit. If not, send it back to SparkFun!
Just received this item. So far looks great! Although the box it came in alludes to a touchscreen, sadly it is not. Would love to seen one available with touch.
does the monitor have small speakers?
yes, it has a single speaker.
good sound quality?
Does that wall-wart have those detachable Mains pins and a bunch of international ones, so they can be swapped for use in places other than the US?
Unfortunately, no. It comes with a car adapter a wall adapter and some video cables. It doesn't include a mini HDMI cable sadly. And it only comes with a standard North Anerican power plug set.
Will this sync to other resolutions? I have a project which generates a 640x480 60hz VGA signal, but I absolutely can't change this resolution(I barely have enough RAM for a buffer as it is)
I'm pretty sure it would. we have one sitting around, so we could try it out.
Would be useful to know if you can force a 4:3 aspect ratio to enable black bars on both sides instead of stretching the image horizontally.