ArduTV is an upcoming shield designed to make it easy for Arduino users to connect their projects to any HDMI display. By using an AMD Spartan-7 FPGA, it handles all graphics processing on its own, requiring just a single SPI connection from the host board. This design ensures the shield doesn’t take up much of the Arduino’s resources. At launch, it will support VGA resolution (640×480), with plans for higher resolutions through future firmware updates.
The shield is compatible with both the Arduino IDE and STM32Cube IDE, making it work with popular boards like the Arduino UNO and STM32 Nucleo. It uses a pass-through pin design, so other shields can still be added on top. Libraries for text and graphics output are already available, allowing users to easily create projects that display on larger screens, such as TVs or monitors. This makes ArduTV a great option for educational setups or anyone who wants to replace small LCDs with a bigger display.
The team behind ArduTV is preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowd Supply soon. ArduTV is fully open-source, meaning its hardware and firmware files will be available for users to explore and modify, once the campaign has ended. Examples like a simple Snake game or a Mandelbrot set demonstrate what’s possible with minimal coding effort. Whether it’s for classroom use or personal projects, ArduTV provides a straightforward way to bring HDMI displays into the Arduino ecosystem without needing extra components.
