Post by johnleung on Apr 6, 2018 4:57:11 GMT -8
Hi
Having fascinated by what Gameudino3 can do, I have came across an idea to make something similar to a Nintendo Wii with ESP32 as the host, FT81x as the graphics controller, and RGB signal converted to HDMI with an encoder (Ch7035b) for HDTV. There is BLE available with ESP32 to receive motion data from off-the-shelf wrist band or smart watch. Sprite characters can be controlled by our arms or even ankles for leg. FT81x should be capable of output a 480p video (720x480@60Hz). This signal will be scaled up by the HDMI encoder to 720p (1280*720 @60hz) without match image degradation. Have made a board with another gfx controller (RA8876) with good result to drive a 1080p HDTV with Arduino. YouTube video is available here: youtu.be/MUeIY_gLn3c.
For static picture it is better to output a full 1080p video (1920x1080). However, for games with animation 720p is acceptable. My kid is playing with a Wii at the time of writing this message. We have a HDMI converter for it, and I can assure you that its resolution is even lower than 720p.
The final form factor of this device can be a thumb drive with all three devices bonded to a PCB of 30x60mm, HDMI male plug at one end and BLE/Wifi antenna at the other end.
Ever ported the Allegro Game library with sprite and BITAMP parts in RA8876+ch7035b combo. This can be done with FT81x as well. Comparing with RA8876, FT81x suits better for games because of its rotation engine. There are bonus like avi decoder, jpeg decoder too.
Of course it is not going to be the same horse power as an official Wii (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso_(microprocessor)). Hardware spec. with ESP32+FT81x+CH7035b combo is much lower than an Espresso processor. Nevertheless, project like this can fun, and it serves as a good exercise.
Before really spending hours on it what I would like to make sure is that, if ESP32 is a device with Flash space large enough for at least some playable games? Anyone has ever tried it?
Any idea is welcome here.
John
