FORGEPIMORONI £33.90 pimoroni.comMICK HELLSTROM approx £110 mickmake.comUnicorn
HAT HD
Pi Projector
If you’re feeling a bit more creative, or want to visualise
your data in an unusual way, the wide range of LED
matrix boards may be more fun. These are simple grids
of individually addressable LEDs, along with driver
circuitry to make them easy to code. After that, it’s up to
you. Create dynamic rainbow patterns, or combine with
a gyroscope or accelerometer to create interactive art.
The best thing about these displays is the incredible
range of shapes and sizes available: from tiny Pimoroni
Scroll pHATs for Raspberry Pi Zero, to the huge Unicorn
which features just 256 bright LEDs, but is 19 cm x 19 cm
in size and can be chained together to create a truly
massive display. There are even flexible displays
available so wearables can join in the fun.
This Unicorn HAT is a fun way to show data that fits
snugly on a standard Raspberry Pi B form factor. Using
the provided Python libraries, you can unleash your
artful side to create animations or find new ways to
represent data from sensors. Perfect for sound-to-light
projects. If your project needs text, think carefully.
Rudimentary scrolling text is possible but only really
suitable if you’re going for that aesthetic.
How about some movie magic?
Can you project from a
Raspberry Pi? Why yes, you
can. In fact, this kit produces a
much more high-quality display
than the common ‘nano
projectors’ that are now widely
available. Pi Projector came
about when maker Mick
Hellstrom happened across an
evaluation projector unit
produced by Texas Instruments.
The DLP2000 is a small board
featuring a low-resolution DLP
projector, the kind of projection
system used in digital cinemas
and higher-end home projectors. It was intended for use with a
BeagleBone Black as a design reference – but, one small piece
of PCB design later, Hellstrom managed to get it working with a
Raspberry Pi Zero.
A DLP2000 will cost you around £90 from a specialist
electronics retailer. You’ll need to add your own Raspberry Pi
Zero and purchase the Pi Projector board from Tindie, but it’ll
only set you back £4. Assembly is tricky due to space
restrictions, but the resulting image is surprisingly good, even in
daylight, as DLP produces a much better contrast range than
LCD. If assembly isn’t for you, try an LCD-based nano projector
instead. Either way, if projection would enhance your project,
this is a great way to do it.Above
Big screen fun from
a Raspberry Pi
Zero? Oh yes
Below
LED matrices come
in all shapes and
sizes, and can be
used to produce
beautiful effectsThere’s more than one way of connecting a display to
a Raspberry Pi computer:HDMI
The most common method, producing a display of up
to 1920×1080 pixels.DSI
Based on an industry-standard interface often found
inside monitors and TVs, this ribbon connector is used
by the official touchscreen.Composite
All Raspberry Pi models are capable of producing a
low-resolution standard composite signal, although
you may have to tweak settings for it to work.GPIO
Many displays, especially those with lower
resolutions, use the GPIO as an interface.KNOW YOUR CONNECTORS
These are simple
grids of individually
addressable LEDs”
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