cga to vga converter uPython

Hi,

Async read of an entire line could certainly work, with the async line capture initially triggered from the sync  signal. Anyway, it's likely time to spend a week or two trying out some hardware (it doesn't cost a lot), to investigate what limits you will hit, and what you're comfortable coding with, to rule things in or out, because it seems that's a significant grey area currently, because expectations (Python, Arduino etc) are not aligned with what may be feasible (I feel) but it also depends on what you will be OK coding for.

I recall that Ben Heck did a project with FPGA to convert to VGA a while back. Might have been the Giant Game Boy episode.

That rings a bell. I recall I wanted to do a similar thing for a Game Gear I had lying around, but never had the time for it : ( 

rlaci said:

is there any arduino like reprogrammable fpga board for learning?

For a while, Arduino sold the MKR Vidor 4000 which was a SAMD21 based microcontroller board with an Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA on it. Unfortunately they discontinued it.

The Lattice Semiconductor iCEstick is back in stock (iCE40 FPGA) and might be worth a look as a starter board. It's a bit more lightweight when it comes to the software side and there is also an open source toolchain available for it.

Shawn Hymel uses one in Digikey's: Introduction to FPGA series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLg1AgA2Xoo&list=PLEBQazB0HUyT1WmMONxRZn9NmQ_9CIKhb

rlaci said:

what kind of programming languages FPGA-s using to program them and what is the whole approach to make it work?

Mainly Verilog or VHDL.

Whitney Knitter: 2-Minute FPGAs
/technologies/fpga-group/w/documents/5399/summer-of-fpgas-2-minute-fpgas-with-whitney-knitter

I think Ben did two shows with FPGA.

Ben Heck’s Giant Game Boy Episode -- Episode 225
/challenges-projects/element14-presents/benheck/ben-heck-exclusive/w/documents/1370/ben-heck-s-giant-game-boy-episode----episode-225

https://github.com/thebenheckshow/225-tbhs-Giant-Game-Boy/tree/master/DE0_GameBoy_DMG-01_VGA-master/Software

Ben Heck's FPGA LCD Driver Hack Episode -- Episode 169
/challenges-projects/element14-presents/benheck/ben-heck-exclusive/w/documents/18694/ben-heck-s-fpga-lcd-driver-hack-episode----episode-169

https://github.com/thebenheckshow/169-tbhs-FPGA-LCD-Driver-Hack

Amazing how expensive the iCEstick has become. I got it for about £25 a couple of years ago. Now it is >£120. Fortunately easy to replicate, since it's just a TQFP chip.

looks interesting and did not find by my own

Ouch! I must have got mine just in time then. You were lucky to get then a couple of years ago as they were very difficult to get hold of due to the supply chain issues.    

Something like the Olimex board might be a cheaper alternative these days: 
https://www.olimex.com/Products/FPGA/iCE40/

I was going to suggest this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006165197426.html

But the learning curve with the Olimex and iCE40 will be easier.

MK

how the speed of an fpga is measured, compared, what should i look for if selecting for a project?