Character generators

On-Screen Displays - easy to use character generators compatible with programmable electronics

Modular character generators are electronic accessories that will be useful to you whenever you want to create a display of static or dynamic text, vector or raster graphics. The modules are ready to use and do not require any additional equipment. The program operation is based on sending simple commands via the serial interface UART (3.3V), RS-232 or RS-485. In this way, character generators can be operated by even the simplest Arduino boards (e.g. Arduino Nano or Arduino Uno), but you can also easily connect them as external devices to larger electronic sets (STM32 Nucleo) and minicomputers (Raspberry Pi, Beagle Bone ). For this purpose, it is enough to use a small OSD PORT-22 converter, which you can buy in Botland for a few pennies. The converter will act as a base board for Arduino and similar modules. You will immediately have the interface you need to connect the device to other digital systems.

Ready-to-integrate character modules and OSD-50HD character generator

OSD Systems character generators are available in three versions: OSD-50HD, FG-50HD and SG-55HD. The first module does not include a housing - it consists only of a printed circuit board with two rows of female goldpin connectors. The device supports AHD, HD-CVI, HD-TVI (720p / 1080p) and CVBS (D1 / 960H) standards. It is able to work in PAL and NTSC systems. Serial communication has a standard or higher speed of up to 1,872,000 bits per second. This is very useful especially when we need to display rapidly changing subtitles and graphics in real time. The power parameters are the voltage of 3.3 V and 800 mA.

In this category you will also find modules ready for integration, such as the FG-50HD and SG-55HD character generators. The boards are already equipped in all needed connectors such as video input and output, power and communication input, and an array of buttons and LED indicators. The SG-55HD module, like the OSD-50HD, can display vector and raster graphics, has the ability to automatically update the software and the option to define fonts. The FG-50HD character generator is a specialized device designed primarily for cash registers. We have a set of built-in communication protocols for cash registers and digital scales. Thanks to this, we can work much faster. However, this character generator does not have graphics display options.

Character generators - what are they used for?

Character generators can work with fiscal devices (Posnet, Thermal, Elzab, Novitus or Innova printers), scales from manufacturers such as Axis, Radwag Rhewa or Mettler Toledo 8530, and also work with various work time recorders. Some of the presented modules are also able to handle banknote converters. Importantly, individual modules such as the OSD-50HD character generator are compatible with programmable electronics. They can be easily connected to minicomputers such as Arduino Nano or the STM32 Nucleo system. Thanks to this, the generators can be used to work with any screen information systems - On-Screen Display. They will be useful in the construction of platforms for controlling robots or drones, as well as in the projects of monitoring and automatic systems.