PicoVGA01

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PicoVGA01 P1080468-720px.jpg

PicoVGA

PicoVGA uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to drive a VGA/TV display. PicoVGA was designed by Miroslav Nemecek.

The RP2040 processor contains 264 KB of RAM. This is not much for higher resolution image output and therefore RAM needs to be very sparing. In technical practice and for retro games (the processor does not have the power for more advanced games), 8-bit graphics output in R3G3B2 format (i.e. red 3 bits, green 3 bits and blue 2 bits) is fully sufficient. Output in 16 or 24 bits is not meaningful in normal practice, as the Raspberry Pico does not have enough memory or power to provide such large amounts of data in areas other than short demos. Using the dithering technique, interesting display results can be achieved even with 8-bit output.

PicoVGA diagram.jpg

Features

  • Raspberry Pi Pico
    • Automatic overclocking of processor
    • Library uses the 2nd core, main program uses 1st core
  • VGA
    • 8-bit output in R:G:B 3:3:2 format (256 colors)
    • VGA progressive output up to 1280x960 resolution
    • Automatic configuration video mode timings
    • Composite sync
  • Video formats
    • 1 base layer and 3 overlay layers with transparency
    • 30 frame buffer formats: graphics, tiles, text, special
    • Colour palettes
    • Screen split into segments of different formats
    • RLE compression
    • Transparency with selectable key colour
    • Hardware sprites
    • Output layers to different color bits (color planes)
  • PWM mono audio output
  • Joystick connector(s)
    • JOYPAD or 9-pin "Atari" Joystick
  • Fits into 100x76mm extruded aluminum enclosure
  • (4) 4-40 mounting holes

Connectors

J1/J3 Pico Breakout Headers

  • 2 of 1x20 headers

PicoVGA1 J1 J3.PNG

Pico Pin Use

  • 8 spare pins
  • JOYPAD has more buttons than Atari Joystick (8 vs 5)
Pico Pin Pico Signal PicoMite Pico Pin Pico Signal PicoMite DB-9 JOYSTICK
1 GP0 BLU_LO 40 VBUS USB_PWR
2 GP1 BLU_HI 39 VSYS 5V
3 GND GND 38 GND GND
4 GP2 GRN_LO 37 VEN3 VEN3
5 GP3 GRN_MID 36 V3OUT +3.3V J6-7 NOT USED
6 GP4 GRN_HI 35 ADCREF ADCREF
7 GP5 RED_LO 34 GP28 SPARE
8 GND GND 33 GND GND
9 GP6 RED_MID 32 GP27 JOYPAD_UP
10 GP7 RED_HI 31 GP26 JOYPAD_UPPER_RIGHT J6-5 PADDLEB
11 GP8 CSYNC 30 RUN RUN
12 GP9 SPARE 29 GP22 JOYPAD_DOWN J6-9 PADDLEA
13 GND GND 28 GND GND
14 GP10 SPARE 27 GP21 JOYPAD_CENTER_FIRE J6-4 RIGHT
15 GP11 SPARE 26 GP20 JOYPAD_LEFT J6-3 LEFT
16 GP12 SPARE 25 AUDIO AUDIO_MONO
17 GP13 SPARE 24 GP18 JOYPAD_FIRE J6-2 DOWN
18 GND GND 23 GND GND J6-8 GND
19 GP14 SPARE 22 GP17 JOYPAD_RIGHT J6-6 FIRE
20 GP15 SPARE 21 GP16 JOYPAD_UPPER_LEFT J6-1 UP

J2 - Mono Audio

  • 3.5mm stereo jack
  • Use with external amplified speakers
  • Mono signal on both speakers

PicoVGA1 Audio J2.PNG

J4 - 5V USB B

  • Power the card in an enclosure
  • 5V power
  • Full-size USB B
  • No USB signals

PicoVGA1 DC J4.PNG

J5 - JOYPAD

P1826-CROPPED-720PX.jpg

  • Optional 1x12 Header matches pinout of Land Boards JOYPAD card
    • 8 switches
      • Up, Down, Left, Right, Fire, Center Fire, Upper Left, Upper Right
  • JOYPAD card can be built without pull-up resistors
  • 1:1 cable between PicoVGA01 and JOYOAD cards
    • Can use 10 pin Dupont housings (don't need VCC connections)

RasPiPico VGA J5 JOYPAD.PNG

// Init the JoyPad pins
// #define PB_UL 16		// Upper Left pushbutton
// #define PB_RT 17		// Right direction
// #define PB_FR 18		// Fire
// #define PB_LT 20		// Left direction
// #define PB_CF 21		// Center Fire
// #define PB_DN 22		// Down direction
// #define PB_UR 26		// Upper right
// #define PB_UP 27		// Up direction

J6 - Joystick (DB-9)

RasPiPico VGA J6 JOYSTICK.PNG


// Init the Joystick pins
// #define PB_UL 16		// Upper Left pushbutton
// #define PB_RT 17		// Right direction
// #define PB_FR 18		// Fire
// #define PB_LT 20		// Left direction
// #define PB_CF 21		// Center Fire
// #define PB_DN 22		// Down direction
// #define PB_UR 26		// Upper right

Atari Joystick

Atari joystick pinout.png

Amazon Atari Joystick.PNG

MSX Joystick

MSX Joystick Schematic Circuit 382px.png

J7 - 3.3V

  • 1x2 header
  • Additional power pins for external use

PicoVGA1 3V J7.PNG

Connector Views

  • Joystick/power

PicoVGA01 P1080474-720px.jpg

  • VGA/audio

PicoVGA01 P1080475-720px.jpg

PicoVGA01 Mechanicals

PicoVGA01 Mechs.PNG

Prototype Build Hardware

PicoVGA P1080432-720px.jpg

Raspberry Pi Pico Breakout Card

RasPiPico.PNG

VGA Adapter Card

VGAX49 P901-cropped-720px.jpg

RasPiPico VGA J1.PNG

RasPiPico VGA Wiring.PNG

Audio Filter Card

RasPiPico AUDIO Wiring.PNG

JoyPad

P1826-CROPPED-720PX.jpg

Prototype Build Wiring

Pico Pin GPIO Signal Name Color Dest Pin
1 GP0 B3 BLU VGAX49 13
2 GP1 B4 BLU VGAX49 12
3 GND GND BRN VGAX49 20
4 GP2 G3 GRN VGAX49 8
5 GP3 G4 GRN VGAX49 7
6 GP4 G5 GRN VGAX49 6
7 GP5 R2 RED VGAX49 3
9 GP6 R3 RED VGAX49 2
10 GP7 R4 RED VGAX49 1
11 GP8 CSYNC GRY VGAX49 17
21 GP16 BRN JOYPAD 10
22 GP17 ORG JOYPAD 9
23 GND GND GRN AUD-FILT 2
24 GP18 YEL JOYPAD 8
25 GP19 AUDIO GRY AUD-FILT 1 or 3
26 GP20 GRN JOYPAD 7
27 GP21 BLU JOYPAD 6
28 GND GND BLK JOYPAD 11
29 GP22 VIO JOYPAD 5
31 GP26 GRY JOYPAD 4
32 GP27 WHT JOYPAD 3

Software

The PicoVGA library is written in C/C++ and allows output from the Raspberry Pico to a VGA monitor or PAL/NTSC TV, with a focus on ease of use in technical and gaming applications. It provides 4 graphic overlay layers with transparency, nearly 30 frame buffer formats that can be freely combined with each other, making do with limited RAM memory size. The limitation of output to 8 bits also contributes to RAM saving.

PicoVGA examples

  • ProgramNameJS = My Joystick version of the programs
Ants - card game
	keyboard control: 'J' left, 'L' right, space select, 'D' discard, 'H' help, 'Q' quit

AntsJS - card game
	JoyPad control: left, right, centerFire=select, upperLeft=discard, Fire=help move, upperRight=quit

Balloons - sprite demo, floating balloons

Draw - draw graphics demo

Earth - rotating Earth globe

Eggs - game of Eggs+Chickens+Hens, variant of the Reversi game
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' up, 'J' left, 'K' down, 'H' help, 'Q' quit, 'P' 2 players, 'D' demo, space stone, Enter ok

EggsJS - game of Eggs+Chickens+Hens, variant of the Reversi game
	  JoyPad control: right, up, left, down, fire=help, upoerRight=quit, centerFire=stone, upperLeft=ok
	  keyboard control: 'P' 2 players, 'D' demo

Fifteen - game
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' up, 'J' left, 'K' down, 'Q' new game

FifteenJS - game
	     JoyPad control: right, up, left, down, upperRight=new game

Flag - animation of flag fluttering in the wind

Ghost Racing - car racing game, racing with player's ghost copy, demonstration of 3D perspective projection
	keyboard control: 'I' gear up, 'K' gear down, 'J' turn left, 'L' turn right

Ghost RacingJS - car racing game, racing with player's ghost copy, demonstration of 3D perspective projection
	JoyPad control: up=gear up, down=gear down, left=turn left, right=turn right

Ginger House - picture fairy tale book
	keyboard control: 'J' previous page, 'L' next page

Ginger HouseJS - picture fairy tale book
	JoyPad control: left=previous page, right=next page

Hello - simple demonstration, print text "Hello world!" on the screen

Hypno - hypnotizing rotating pattern

Level Meter - demo of music volume level indication

Life - game, reproducing cells
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' up, 'J' left, 'K' down, 'C' copy, 'V' paste, 'D' clear,
		space flip state, Enter run life, 0..9 select slot

LifeJS - game, reproducing cells
	JoyPad control: right=right, up=up, left=left, dowb=down, upperLeft=copy, Fire=paste, centerFire=flip state, 
		UpperRight=run life
	keyboard control: 'D' clear, 0..9 select slot

Lines - moving line patterns

Mandelbrot - fractal pattern generator
	keyboard control: 'E' up, 'S' left, 'D' right, 'X' down, 'Q' zoom in, 'A' zoom out,
	'L' low resolution 132x100, 'M' medium resolution 264x200, 'H' high resolution 528x400,
	'I' integer arithmetics, 'F' float arithmetics, 'B' double arithmetics,
	'O' decrease number of steps, 'P' increase number of steps, 'U' increase system clock,
	'T' decrease system clock, space redraw

MandelbrotJS - fractal pattern generator
	JoyPad control: Up, left, right, down, Fire zoom in, upper left zoom out,
	keyboard control: 'L' low resolution 132x100, 'M' medium resolution 264x200, 'H' high resolution 528x400,
	'I' integer arithmetics, 'F' float arithmetics, 'B' double arithmetics,
	'O' decrease number of steps, 'P' increase number of steps, 'U' increase system clock,
	'T' decrease system clock, space redraw

Matrix Rain - simulation of Matrix code rain

Maze - game, simple maze with maze generator
	keyboard control: 'J' left, 'I' up, 'L' right, 'K' down, 'H' help (show door)

MazeJS - game, simple maze with maze generator
	JoyPad control: left, up, right, down, upperRight=help (show door)

Monoscope - test of various graphic modes
	keyboard control: '0'..'9', 'A'..'U' select videomode

Oscilloscope - demo oscilloscope simulator

Pacman - game of popular Pac-man
	keyboard control: 'J' left, 'I' up, 'L' right, 'K' down, 'A' pause

PacmanJS - game of popular Pac-man
	JoyPad control: left, up, right, down, upper right pause

Pi - calculate Pi at 4800 digits

Pixels - random pixels

Raytrace - ray tracing 3D demonstration of mirror spheres

Sokoban - game with 3000 puzzles and with their solutions
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' up, 'J' left, 'K' down, 'H' help (solution),
	'R' restart scene, 'Q' previous level, 'W' next level, 'P' info

SokobanJS - game with 3000 puzzles and with their solutions
	JoyPad control: right, up, left, down, upperLeft=previous level, fire=next level, uppperRight=restart scene, 
	keyboard 'H' help (solution), 'P' info

Spheres - draw random spheres

Spots - draw random dot spots

Tetris - game
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' turn, 'J' left, 'K' drop, 'A' pause

TetrisJS - game
	JoyPad control: right, center fire turn, left, down = drop, upper right = pause

Train - puzzle game with 50 levels and with their solutions
	keyboard control: 'L' right, 'I' up, 'J' left, 'K' down, 'H' help (solution), Enter OK, Esc escape, BS backspace

TrainJS - puzzle game with 50 levels and with their solutions
	JoyPad control: right, up, left, down, centerFire=OK, upperLeft=escape, fire=backspace, upperRight=help (solution), 

Twister - deformable block covered with 4 textures

Water surface - simulation of a rippling water surface

Assembly Sheet