User Guide
HDMIPi in its case without bezel
Introduction
HDMIPi was conceived as a portable (9”), affordable, high-definition HDMI screen for the
Raspberry Pi®. It will also work with most HDMI devices, e.g. computers, DSLR cameras,
video cameras etc.
A Kickstarter campaign was run in November 2013 to fund its development. Some ideas
we hadn't originally considered came out of the crowd-funding campaign. Namely...
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Adding a second HDMI port
Facility to put a Raspberry Pi® in the case
Being able to power the Raspberry Pi® and LCD with just one PSU
Being able to power the driver board from either 5.2V or 12V
...all of which make HDMIPi a unique and desirable product for use with the Raspberry Pi ®.
We hope you will enjoy using your HDMIPi screen, whatever you're going to use it with.
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HDMIPi Features
HDMIPi is a 9 inch 1280 x 800 LCD screen and driver board designed specifically for the
Raspberry Pi®.The complete kit also includes a Pimoroni-designed case which can hold
the screen, driver board and a Raspberry Pi® computer. All of this can be powered from a
single 5.2V, 2A micro-USB power supply and good quality USB to micro-usb cable.
HDMIPi Driver Board
The HDMIPi driver board has...
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Two HDMI ports. HDMI1 for internal connection to an embedded Raspberry Pi ® and
HDMI2 for connecting an external device. These are switchable, so you can have
two devices attached and toggle between them.
One USB-A port for providing a 5V, 1A supply to power an embedded Raspberry
Pi®.
Five control buttons. Their functions are described in the next section.
A 12V 1.6 mm barrel connector for powering the system from 12V
A 5.2V micro-USB connector for powering the system from 5.2V (do not connect
power supplies to both power inputs at the same time).
A 3.5mm stereo audio socket, which breaks out the sound from HDMI. You can
connect speakers or headphones to this.
A ribbon connector to connect the driver board to the LCD.
Solder pads and firmware support for a VGA port (not supplied) if you wish to add
one.
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Controlling Your HDMIPi
Control Buttons
Rather like a full-size PC monitor, HDMIPi is controlled using buttons and an On-Screen
Display (OSD) menu system. The HDMIPi driver board has five control buttons on it.
1. SOURCE – used for switching between input sources. Press once and wait a few
seconds to toggle between HDMI1, HDMI2 & VGA inputs. This button is also used
as the <Back> button when navigating the OSD Menu system.
2. DOWN – used within the OSD Menu system for navigation and adjusting settings.
3. MENU – used to access the OSD Menu. Also used as the <ENTER> button when in
the menu system.
4. UP – used within the OSD Menu system for navigation and adjusting settings.
5. POWER – used to power the LCD on and off (does not affect power to the Pi). This
is its only function.
On-Screen Display (OSD) Control Menus
You control the appearance of the output on the HDMIPi LCD screen using the On-Screen
Display menu. Pressing the MENU button brings up the Main OSD Menu...
You can see the list of sub-menus in the picture. The first sub-menu
is the 'Color' menu. To access it from here, press the MENU button
again (it acts as the <ENTER> button within the menu system). To
choose a different sub-menu, use the UP and DOWN buttons.
We'll now have a walk-through of each of the sub-menus in turn.
Color Menu
Main OSD Menu
The Color Menu is where you go to control all aspects of color,
brightness and contrast. Here are all the options available to you.
HDMIPi is shipped with all settings on middle values.
You will probably want to change these to suit your own taste and
working environment. Values are adjusted with the UP & DOWN
buttons. When satisfied, press the MENU button to store the value.
Color > Contrast > value 0-100
Color > Brightness > value 0-100
Color > Color Adjust > red > value 0-100
Color > Color Adjust > green > value 0-100
Color > Color Adjust > blue > value 0-100
Color > Color Temp > values: 9300, 6500, 5800, sRGB, USER
Color Menu
http://hdmipi.com
HDMIPi is in USER mode by default. There are some preset color
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temperature values, but if you choose one of these, you will not be able to adjust the
red/green/blue values until you select USER mode again. Changing to one of the presets
will not destroy your USER settings. You can go back to them as and when you wish by
selecting USER mode.
Image Setting Menu
Most of the Image Setting Menu adjustment has been disabled for
HDMIPi. Only Sharpness is adjustable by the user. Everything else
is factory set.
Image Setting > Sharpness > value 0-4
Clock, Phase, H. Position and V. Position are not user-adjustable on
HDMIPi
Image Setting
Menu
OSD Menu
The OSD sub-Menu controls features of the menu system itself,
such as its position on the screen and its language.
OSD Menu
OSD Menu > OSD H. Pos > value 0-100
OSD Menu > OSD V. Pos > value 0-100
OSD Menu > OSD Timer > value 0-100
OSD Menu > Language > English
OSD Menu > Language > Français
OSD Menu > Language > Deutsch
OSD Menu > Language > Traditional Chinese
OSD Menu > Language > Simplified Chinese
OSD Menu > Language > Japanese
Panel UD (up/down)
Choosing this option from the main menu will simply flip the LCD output vertically. If you
want to use HDMIPi the other way up, you'll need to flip it both vertically AND horizontally
to get 180 degree rotation.
Panel LR (left/right)
Choosing this option from the main menu will simply flip the LCD output horizontally. If you
want to use HDMIPi the other way up, you'll need to flip it both vertically AND horizontally
to get 180 degree rotation. If you want to use HDMIPi to 'mirror' camera output, horizontal
flip will enable you to do this easily without adjusting camera settings.
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Signal Source Menu
This menu tells the driver board which port to choose for the
incoming signal. It does pretty much the same thing as pressing the
source button, but gives you direct control instead of toggling
through the ports in turn.
Signal Source > VGA
Signal Source > HDMI1
Signal Source > HDMI2
Signal Source > Auto Search
(No VGA port by default)
(Internal HDMI port)
(External HDMI port)
(Search all ports for a signal)
Signal Source
Audio Menu
The Audio Menu controls the volume and mute of the sound going
to the 3.5mm stereo jack at the side of the HDMIPi case.
Audio > Volume > value 0-63
Audio > Mute > value ON/OFF
Audio Menu
Special Menu
This menu is disabled.
Factory Mode
Here be dragons. Enter this menu at your own risk and only if
you know what you are doing.
Factory Mode
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Optimising Settings for the Raspberry Pi
Native 1280 x 800
To get the best out of your Pi while using HDMIPi, you can make some adjustments to the
config.txt file to 'force' native 1280 x 800 mode. This will ensure full-screen utilisation in
NOOBS and Raspbian, both in the command line and in LXDE. This is the recommended
mode for most purposes when using HDMIPi with the Raspberry Pi.
You will need to make some additions to your your config.txt file...
From the login console, or LX Terminal, type...
sudo nano /boot/confg.txt
Add the following to the end of your config.txt...
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
hdmi_group=2 # HDMIPi for 1280 x 800
hdmi_drive=2 # for alternative modes get sound
hdmi_mode=28 # 1280 x 800 @ 60 Hz Specifcations
...ensuring that any NOOBS auto-generated lines are commented out. The end of the file
should look something like this...
Depending on your installation, you may not need the hdmi_ignore_edid line, but
hdmi_group=2 and hdmi_mode=28 are essential for full-screen 1280x800 native use.
After amending your config.txt, you'll need to reboot your Pi (sudo reboot) for the changes
to take effect.
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Full-screen HD Movie Mode 1080p
If you want to mostly watch HD videos on your HDMIPi, you can get rid of the 40-pixelwide black strips top and bottom by forcing full-screen 1080p. This rescales the image to
fill the screen. It will stretch it slightly in the vertical plane, but it's perfectly watchable.
These settings would need to be in your /boot/config.txt file instead of the 1280x800 set
above.
overscan_left=-35
overscan_right=-35
overscan_top=-40
overscan_bottom=-40
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16
# 1080p60
To play a video, and control where sound output is sent to…
omxplayer -o local flename.mp4
or
omxplayer -o hdmi flename.mp4
(sends audio to pi analog sound jack)
(audio to HDMI, --> HDMIPi 3.5mm jack)
800x600 'Scratch' mode
If you do a lot of Scratch work, HDMI mode 9, 800×600 might work best for you. This
makes Scratch pretty much full-screen.
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_drive=2
hdmi_mode=9
# HDMIPi for 800x600
# for alternative modes get sound
# 800x600 works well with scratch
Rotate & Flip Using Pi config.txt
If you want to rotate your screen output, for example to use HDMIPi in portrait orientation,
you can add one of the following to your confg.txt file, as shown above...
display_rotate=0
Normal
display_rotate=1
90 degrees
display_rotate=2
180 degrees
display_rotate=3
270 degrees
display_rotate=0x10000 horizontal flip
display_rotate=0x20000 vertical flip
Changing the Console Font Size
If you change the boot console font to VGA 16×28 it’s a more useful size. But if you then
change the HDMI mode it may end up being too big. So it’s quite useful to know how to
change it…
To change the console font size...
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sudo dpkg-reconfgure console-setup
Then go through the menu system, choosing…
UTF-8 > Guess optimal character set > VGA
then choose your font size (e.g. 16×28 for 1080p, 8×16 for 1280×800)
then OK. After a short while you should be returned to the console prompt.
Specifications
Driver Board
Chipset Realtek RTD2362
HDMI 1.4
LCD
1280 x 800 TN LCD
LED Backlight Lifetime, typical 20,000 hrs
Case
The HDMIPi case is laser-cut acrylic (Perspex). It is designed to be 'hackable'. Perspex
machines well if you use a fairly slow speed cutter.
Light scratches can be buffed out with a mild abrasive such as “T-Cut” or “Brasso”. If you
have a deeper scratch and an adventurous nature, Google 'flame polishing acrylic'. Failing
that, spares will be available.
External dimensions: 230 x 152 x 24 mm
Power Requirements
LCD screen only = 5 Watts.
Screen and Pi = 8 Watts.
HDMIPi has two power inputs.
1. 5.2 V micro-usb and
2. 12 V, 1.6mm centre-positive barrel connector.
For the micro-USB input, use only a good quality USB power supply (5.2V/2A
recommended) with a good USB cable. Noodle cables tend to have too much voltage drop
for high power applications. If you want to power both the screen and a Raspberry Pi from
one 5.2V supply, it needs to be able to deliver 2 Amps without the voltage sagging.
You cannot use a Raspberry Pi model B rev 1 inside the HDMIPi as it has no mount holes
(they are also more subject to voltage drop problems because of their polyfuses). It is
recommended not to use a rev 1 model B with HDMIPi unless you power it separately.
For the 12V input, your PSU needs to supply at least 1 Amp.
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General Safety & Care
Health and Safety
Liquid crystal is toxic. Do not ingest. If liquid crystal touches skin or clothes, wash off
immediately with soap and water.
Handling
The LCD panel contains glass. Do not subject it to mechanical shock or excessive force on
its surface.
The polariser attached to the display is easy to damage. Handle carefully to avoid
scratches or other damage.
To avoid contamination of the display surface, do not touch the module surface with bare
hands.
Protect from moisture.
Static Electricity
Be sure to ground module before turning on power or operating module.
Do not apply voltage which exceeds the absolute maximum rating value.
Cleaning
Do not wipe the polariser with a dry cloth or it might cause scratch(es).
Only use a soft cloth moistened with iso-propyl alcohol (IPA) to wipe the polariser. Other
chemicals might cause permanent damage to the polariser.
Language
This user guide is written in UK English. The American spelling of the word color has been
used for consistency with the menus.
Assembly Instructions
To be in a separate assembly guide video, available at http://hdmipi.com/instructions
Raspberry Pi® Is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation http://raspberrypi.org
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