Lo-tech RPi VGA Board – VGA Shield

Rion

Just wanted to give a shout out
to an alternative to VGA666 users. James the creator of the Lo-tech RPi VGA Board - VGA Shield for Raspberry Pi recently sent me a mail that it's finally back in stock.

Description
The Lo-tech RPi VGA Board provides VGA output capabilities to Raspberry Pi boards equipped with a 40-pin GPIO header. Works with most any LCD or CRT type display with a VGA connector.

The board uses an alternate GPIO mode that provides a parallel display interface, providing an independent second screen powered directly from the Raspberry Pi's GPU. It even works on the newest Raspberry Pi 4, so it makes a great companion for your MAME arcade!

ESD protection to IEC − 61000−4−2 Level 4
Buffered H- and V-Sync lines protect the
Raspberry Pi GPIO's 24-bit color / 1080p support
No external power required

mitu

That looks interesting. Any shops selling this in the EU ?

Rion

@mitu said in Lo-tech RPi VGA Board – VGA Shield:

That looks interesting. Any shops selling this in the EU ?

Yea looks like it texelec.com/shipping/

This is the Original Page for the Lo-tech RPi VGA Board but looks likes he is using texelec for shipping now.

mitu

@Rion said in Lo-tech RPi VGA Board – VGA Shield:

Yea looks like it texelec.com/shipping/

Well, they do ship, but I was actually thinking of an EU seller. Shipping + import taxes from the US would probably cost more than the VGA shield :).

Rion

@mitu Yea you are right. Have a look at my Edit in the post.
Going to send James a mail about this.

Edit: Shipping to EU is $39.49 without taxes.. $49,36 with taxes... Jikes..

XVO

I've got a question about using a VGA board on top of the gpio ports. Am I still be able to use some of the pins? For example I have a safe shutdown switch and script and I use the 3.3v to power a fan.

Thank you.

mitu

@XVO Most likely no. The VGA666 hat leaves some GPIO free, but I think you'll need an expander to be able to use them, since the hat blocks the header pins.

Rion

@XVO said in Lo-tech RPi VGA Board – VGA Shield:

I've got a question about using a VGA board on top of the gpio ports. Am I still be able to use some of the pins? For example I have a safe shutdown switch and script and I use the 3.3v to power a fan.

Thank you.

You could use an Argon One case with a gpio male to female extender. That's what I'm using. Just put the vga666/RPi VGA Board/Pi2Scart or what you are using inside a small elektronik box.

Crush

@mitu The webadress of the UK store is printed on the board :-p
https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/product/rpi-vga-board/
The price there is also low enough to be exempt from import tax, though they're out of stock a.t.m.

mitu

@Crush said in Lo-tech RPi VGA Board – VGA Shield:

The price there is also low enough to be exempt from import tax, though they're out of stock a.t.m.

My impression is, by looking at this post, that the distribution is entirely done via Texelec, from the US. I looked at the site and none of the products offered there are in stock, so ordering from it it's not an option.

J1mbo

Hi, I'm the owner of Lo-tech and creator of this board. Thanks for the OP and others for their interest in this board.

Distribution is indeed done through TexElec now.

However, if there is interest in a group buy then I would be very happy to facilitate this for EU buyers. We could also look at adapting the header although that would of course increase lead times.

Setiawan

Anyone have any experience with this board? It's interesting to see a VGA hat that supports 24 bit colour, was hoping to find someone that has done some kind of comparison between this and other solutions (VGA666, HDMI->VGA converters, RT Ultimate, etc).