PowerBook 145B LCD video output format?

PotatoFi

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
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I'm investigating alternative uses for the PowerBook 145. It's well-documented that these don't have their own way to output video, but I got to thinking about pulling video from the LCD output. Do we know anything about the video format or protocol that the 140/145/145B uses to talk to the Sharp LCD over the flex cable?
 

Kai Robinson

TinkerDifferent Board President 2023
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Sep 2, 2021
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It's a straight up parallel interface, either 6 or 8 bit depending on the colour depth and if it's active or passive matrix. @3lectr1c may be the person for this though.
 
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arroz

New Tinkerer
Jul 20, 2025
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Hi,

I'm sort of thinking about looking into doing something similar if I can't find a replacement panel for my 145. Having a controller like an RPI or a Pico controlling a more modern LCD grabbing the frame buffer from the parallel data, stuffed inside the display case (which is huge for current electronics these days). Did you find any useful info regarding the exact protocol these things use?

Thanks,

Miguel Arroz
 

AvadonDragon

Tinkerer
Jan 27, 2023
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I was looking into this a while ago but didn't make it very far due to lack of information availability. Right before I gave up though I got a tip that it MIGHT be in the Macintosh Portable developer notes which I never looked into.