Anyone installed a 'carputer' running Media Car?

20742 Views 106 Replies 13 Participants Last post by intuitionsys, Nov 25, 2004

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · Aug 3, 2004

I just stumbled across this yesterday. I think it would be sweet to have something like this running on the nav screen. MP3, ogg, mpg/avi/qt video, other apps like OBD II, a real GPS mapping solution, etc. etc.

Micro ATX motherboards are only about 11"x11" IIRC - maybe a good replacement size for the existing DVD player? I'm pretty sure you can get a touchscreen overlay for the existing nav screen.

You could even add an 802.11b/g bridge to upload new music & video from the comfort of your home!

I'll definitely be doing some more homework on this later...

Home page for Media Car:
http://users.skynet.be/media-car/software.html

Alternate 'skins' for it:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=18781

Forums:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=36

There's also a number of other applications out there similar to Media Car. Look around the forums link above.

Phil

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1 - 20 of 107 Posts

davezaristo

· #2 · Aug 3, 2004

Wow this looks really cool...

shajan

· #3 · Aug 4, 2004

Dude!! for the past week I've been thinking about the same thing!!

A touch screen overlay for the stock screen and a laptop or PC hooked up. I haven't been able to find the right size overlay though,

Good luck and keep us posted.

jimsbmw

· #4 · Aug 4, 2004

Well if you guys get this done, you must tell me how.

Jim

shajan

· #5 · Aug 4, 2004

Does anyone know what kind of input is used by the nav screen? I'm guessing RGB or RGBS.

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 4, 2004

shajan said:
Does anyone know what kind of input is used by the nav screen? I'm guessing RGB or RGBS.

From what I can tell it looks like RGB...

Phil

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shajan

· #7 · Aug 4, 2004

Hmm, looks a little more involved than simple RGB. There is RGB Sync and ground sync. The HP and VP are prolly horizontal and vertical position.

Any idea how the rear view camera hooks up to the LCD?

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 4, 2004

shajan said:
Hmm, looks a little more involved than simple RGB. There is RGB Sync and ground sync. The HP and VP are prolly horizontal and vertical position.

Any idea how the rear view camera hooks up to the LCD?

I believe it connects to the display controller the same way that the nav unit connects to it. The display controller appears to act as a source switch/multiplexer for the display. I can verify when I get home later...

Phil

shajan

· #9 · Aug 4, 2004

Phil, just noticed that you are from LI as well. Whereabouts??

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 4, 2004

shajan said:
Phil, just noticed that you are from LI as well. Whereabouts??

I'm in the Plainview area. How about yourself?

Phil

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 4, 2004

PhilP69 said:
shajan said:

Hmm, looks a little more involved than simple RGB. There is RGB Sync and ground sync. The HP and VP are prolly horizontal and vertical position.

Any idea how the rear view camera hooks up to the LCD?

Click to expand...

I believe it connects to the display controller the same way that the nav unit connects to it. The display controller appears to act as a source switch/multiplexer for the display. I can verify when I get home later...

Phil

Here's the rear view schematic. It looks like it uses analog direct to the display.

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shajan

· #12 · Aug 4, 2004

I'm in Garden City Park/New Hyde Park area.

Looks like it would be easier to connect through the camera input, but then there might be other issues.

If the NAV input is RGB, can we simply splice in the wires or do we need some sort of a switcher?

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 4, 2004

shajan said:
I'm in Garden City Park/New Hyde Park area.

Looks like it would be easier to connect through the camera input, but then there might be other issues.

If the NAV input is RGB, can we simply splice in the wires or do we need some sort of a switcher?

Ok - just down the road a piece!

If the RGB is compatible, I would think we definitly need a switch, maybe something like a KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) that you would use to connect 2 PC's to one monitor.

Phil

johnmax

· #14 · Aug 4, 2004

Can we run it into the Nav-TV box? That converts video into RGB for the screen.

PhilP69

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 5, 2004

johnmax said:
Can we run it into the Nav-TV box? That converts video into RGB for the screen.

That's definitely an option with some of the mini-ITX motherboards (http://www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_m_spec.jsp?motherboardId=81) out there as several of them have composite video outputs. The quality may be somewhat degraded (?), but the ease of installation might be a worthwhile tradeoff, especially considering the number of wires that would have to hacked into to get VGA to work.

Phil

shajan

· #16 · Aug 5, 2004

Hey Johnmax, as you have installed the NAV-TV, can you provide us with details on how it interfaces with the LCD screen? Such as wires to splice, etc.

Also, with NAV-TV, isit the only input that connects to the LCD? I mean, is the GPS hooked up to the NAV-TV as well?

I hope my questions make sense :?

johnmax

· #17 · Aug 5, 2004

Behind the display, you have to cut 4 wires (the RGB signal wires) and run them in and out of the Nav-Tv box via the supplied cable. It does not interface directly with the GPS, only the RGB signal from it. When you shift into reverse, the rear camera still displays even if you have the Nav-Tv video on. The Nav-Tv box switches your dvd or other video when on.

shajan

· #18 · Aug 5, 2004

Thanx John.

If it is straightforward RGB, it might be doable. I think it is possible to make a cable that converts RGB to VGA and vice versa. Then all we need is a VGA switch which could be had pretty cheap.

Any thoughts??

Ak1nza

· #19 · Aug 5, 2004

I had actually done a lot of research into this b4. I was really close to buying all the stuff but backed out in the end because I figured I probably wouldn't use it as much as I thought I would.

Anyways just wanna give a heads up on the stock navi screen. If you want to use a computer it's best to get one with a VGA input because otherwise the resolution using RGB wouldn't be high enough for you to read small text. Unless you don't plan to then you are set of course.

You can get touchscreen overlays here:

http://www.digitalww.com

I dunno if they are the right size or not though.

For those without the navi screen, a carputer is a great way to add navigation functions. You can buy a USB GPS antenna and software for around 100 bux or so.

Pics if anyone does it pls!!

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shajan

· #20 · Aug 5, 2004

AK, I don't care about small writing, basically just the interphase Phil posted at the beginning with big icons.

After searching all night, it looks like it will be tough. There is no cheap way to convert VGA to RGBS due to the composite sync.

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