ezVID Serial Video Module

The ezVID is a serial video module made to be used with microcontrollers (such as Arduino) to add information to the video channel of a TV in order to write characters on it.

To use it, connect it in the following way :

Using it requires you to communicate with it using serial communication. Make sure you leave the correct amount of time between each command so the device doesn’t crash.

Below is a code example with comments where we do all commands, clear the screen, fill it with a background color, make a custom character and write down a message.

void setup()
{ 
  Serial.begin(9600);
  flushScreen();
  //Send command to create custom char, this should look like a little alien
  //place custom char in slot 0
  byte alianBytes[16] = {65,0,195,60,66,129,165,165,129,129,195,189,129,129,129,126};
  Serial.write(alianBytes,16);
  //After creating a custom char, delaying 45 seems to be the optimal amound
  //Data sheet says 17ms but it doesn
Unless otherwise stated, this code is released under the MIT License – Please use, change and share it.

That code would give the following result :

The complete datasheet seems to be unfindable over the internet (do not make the mistake of using the datasheet of ezVidModule v2, wich has a lot more features).
The first 7 pages of the datasheet can be found here : Datasheet p1-7. What is missing from this is below :

• Command 5:Clear screen : command code is 83 then add color code ({83, 12} would clear screen then paint background Cyan)
• Command 6:Place user defined character : command code is 85, the rest is the same as place built-in character

The timing is really important for the device to work correctly (add appropriate delay between calls).

• Reset : 17 ms
• Add User character definition : datasheet says 17ms but 45ms proved to work better
• Draw background color : 7 seconds
• Place built-in or custom character : 17ms
• Clear screen : 2 seconds or 7 if rewriting a background color