Any idea how hard would it be to make a similar converter for the the machinedrum & monomachine or if it’d even be possible?
It should be possible. It has 128x64 display, only double the pixels compared to this one (128x32), is that right?
Though, it is not significantly easier than designing the first one:
the mechanical dimensions, LCD controller, OLED controller most likely will be all different.
So there is not much reuse of existing work for it to be less time consuming.
I am doubtful that it would pay back for me to do all the work.
Though, I might be wrong if there is enough/significant interest, and there exists an OLED with the right size & resolution that fits, I could design a module for those instruments as well.
Anyone else interested in OLED replacement module for Machinedrum, Monomachine, or Octatrack Mk1?
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After looking into it a few months ago, there has been demand for replacement screens for a long time for the Machinedrum, Monomachine, and Octatrack MK1 & people doing the mod (they all use the same display type (KS0108), but possibly different voltage? not sure).:
A while (5-10 years ago) others were able to get their hands on VFDs (vacuum fluorescent display) that use the same form factor & display protocol (KS0108). VFD is very similar to OLED in ghosting, contrast, and brightness.
Unfortunately, I contacted the manufacturer of these displays late last year and they have unfortunately skyrocketed in price ($350+) since these posts making them cost prohibitive.
For reference, these pre-modified VFDs used to be sold for sale online for a little under $300 here and other places:
Here also another guy that has made and is selling higher quality LCD panels, but they are still LCD.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155660572471?itmmeta=01HPHHXDHB5WHVK63GG390H5SV&hash=item243e17d737:g:HAMAAOSwUXFkxicy
You can see pretty clearly here his white panels are in fact LCD:
Currently I think most people default to using these KS0108 displays as they are cheapest right now but they all are still just LCD panels with bad viewing angles & ghosting:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/291836099801
Anyways, some info on the demand if you’re curious. I imagine designing a niche product like this is a big time commitment. But I think there would be a small market for it.
jw, thanks for sharing that info on VFDs and other offerings.
Not sure though, that it represents the current actual demand well… Maybe all those who wanted to upgrade, have already bought VFDs, and those who didn’t, won’t do it now and go for OLEDs anyway.
I had a bit of a look at it anyway, and the most appropriate screen that seems to be the only real option, is a 2.7" one, which is a tad smaller compared to the original 2.9" one.
Comparison of 2.9" LCD to 2.7" OLED (to a relative scale of one another now!)
height comparison:
and width comparison:
But I think that is around the same kind of size decrease that I had with the AK/A4/AR/AH original to a 2.23" OLED display.
Cannot promise anything yet, but possibly next month I can have a bit of a more detailed look at this.
What I can immediately say is, that the 2.7" screen is 20€ more expensive than the 2.23" one.
(Another option was 2.4", which costs just 10€ more compared to the 2.23").
And according to panelook.com there just aren’t any other 2:1 aspect ratio PMOLED displays between 2.4" and 3.2" sizes.
So I guess, I the price of such an OLED replacement unit for MM/MD/OT would reflect bump of 20€ at least. Let’s say 30€.
Does that (150€ + shipping) still sound reasonable to anyone?
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Another thread, maybe?
Yeah it might not hurt to make another thread to gauge interest. The price sounds reasonable to me, but like you said who know what the demand would be in reality. I’m obviously pretty biased as someone looking for an OLED solution haha!
is the photo above the size comparison of the original 2.9inch lcd vs the 2.7inch oled panel?
yes, that is exactly that.
Ah i see it took me a moment to realize they are not to scale.
Beautiful
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Hey man! Really great work, any chance you will decide to sell more of these screens in near future?
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Yes, enough people have asked and so I will do another batch soon(ish).
Late May or early June I should be able to ship (if no humps happen).
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Thank you for making more! I’m definitely a buyer when you’re ready.
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This looks amazing, my analog 4 screen is very dim and laggy… would love to replace it with an OLED.
I am wondering if anyone who got the display module(s) could share any comments, thoughts, criticism (of the module or of the process I suggested for doing the swap, or anything).
I finally have the time now to spend on the module design and improve some minor details, fix issues, etc.
And of course, for the HW side it must be done before ordering the 2nd batch.
I would be grateful for any nitpicks, suggestions, etc.
(there is already a list, that I have with “must-fix”/“want-to-improve”, but there might be something I have not thought of…)
Also, I would be happy to hear if swap was a struggle or easy - a reality check is highly appreciated.
Or even if You have postponed the swap… Any stats are good to know.
Let me know. Publicly or privately, however you like.
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Have a technical question but broader than the specific case of your modules. Do OLED screens usually need specific tweaks software/hardware wise if they were to replace non-oled screens? Like for example you could not just remove a switch screen and buy a similar sized oled one and replace it to have a switch oled?
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So far I have gotten one feedback which was kind of generic - that the display is much better than the original.
My dark interpretation of that is - nobody has done the swap actually 
… Well, besides the one I did myself.
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Well, the way I did it was, that I created a board with a microprocessor, which mimicks the original LCD, and for each command which gives specific segment of the display to be turned on/off, translate that action to the actual command, that the OLED understands and send it to the OLED.
Effectively I emulate LCD interface, so that the existing motherboard, that expects the LCD to be there thinks that the same LCD is there and is doing what it is supposed to do.
Making sense?
The interfaces/protocols that are used to write to those segments on LCD and on OLED are different.
If they would be identical, You could just drop OLED in there. That is a bit of a simplification, but anyway, you could get away without a microprocessor/microcontroller and do with much simpler electronics logic, or even with just the wiring (if all the signal/voltage levels would be the same).
I probably could go down the rabbithole about ALL the details…
I better not!
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Beautiful work. I don’t need it, but I want it. Keep it up. Very inspiring.
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