How do I connect a car TFT screen to a raspberry pi 2b

Question

Let me start off by saying I am a noob at this stuff but a fast leaner. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while which is to make a portable gaming device with a raspberry pi. Now I have the raspberry pi but can not for the life of me figure out how to connect a TFT screen to it because the cables do not fit the pi itself. I have 8 lcd's with with 4 of them having a removable touchscreen, and one portable Blu-ray player. I have looked really hard to find someone using theses types of screens but almost all of them are using ones with a red, white, and yellow cables. I really want to use the Blu-ray player because I can also use the case and the rechargeable battery pack which is another issue because it pumps out 7.2v and I am afraid that it might short out the pi. Can anyone please help me with this?

shabaz · Answer

Hi Wayne,

For some ideas and some info see here:

Cheap portable LCD for Raspberry Pi

and

Small monitor options for R-Pi

In short if the displays have an RCA connector style interface (also known as composite video) then they can likely be attached to the Pi. Another alternative is HDMI.

There are other ways too, but they are more complicated and could require adaptors which are difficult to make, and may or may not function with the display drivers on the Pi today.

If you're using RCA, then an adaptor cable is needed which might be available ready-made or see here for pin wiring information:

Raspberry Pi 2 A/V output via RCA Question.

As you say, 7.2V will damage the pi. A regulator is needed (called a DC-DC converter) if you want to operate from a 7.2V battery. The output needs to provide 5V and offer a minimum of 1.5A perhaps (2A or higher would be preferable).

If you want a small display for the Pi that is better quality than via RCA, google for 'Pi SPI TFT'. Such displays attach to the large expansion connector on top of the Pi. There are various models from different manufacturers. For a bigger screen, see here: Raspberry Pi 7” Capacitive Touch Display: Assembly and Enclosure which attaches via a flat flex connector to the Pi.

mp2100 · Answer

Wayne, Maybe I am not understanding your question, but if a TFT screen you have uses the "Red, White and Yellow" cables, then yes, the Raspberry Pi can send video to that screen. This picture is just an example I grabbed from the internet. The yellow connector is Composite video that Shabaz mentioned. (Red and White are RCA connectors from stereo sound). (This picture is just to confirm if these are the connector shapes on your TFT screen) (sorry, it's a much bigger photo than I expected) The Raspberry Pi (model 2B) has a 3.5mm jack for Composite video. You need a cable to make it work with a TFT screen. Like this one: Allen