Kindle -> External ePaper Display

jaw00001 · 07-28-2012, 01:46 AM

Hi All,

I'm checking to see if there's any prior art around converting a kindle into an external, USB-connected display for a PC. At the end of the day, what I want to have is a C# application running on a Windows machine that can display simple graphics (lines, rectangles, etc.) and characters on a jailbroken kindle. It doesn't have to be a full-blown graphics device from the perspective of Windows -- in fact, the easiest way that comes to mind would be to have it exposed as a USB drive and have a program running on the kindle that periodically picks up a file from a well-known location and renders it on the screen -- either HTML if there's a browser component on the Kindle that can be repurposed or some simple custom format.

Anyway, since I thought of it, I assume it's already been done, and done better than I could manage in a weekend. Anyone know where to find it?

(If you really want to know the end use of this, it's to display some navigation info on my boat, cheaply, and in full sunlight.)

HarryT · 07-28-2012, 05:05 AM

Moved to dev forum.

ixtab · 07-28-2012, 05:22 AM

You may be looking for something like this. Note: I haven't tested it. If this may be what you want, it's probably best to ask questions in that thread.

hawhill · 07-28-2012, 05:26 AM

Yep. That, or - shameless plug - use kindlevncviewer (on K3). Not sure if there are similar means for K4/K5, though.

But to the OP: Yep, it's been done before. Though I think nobody made it a fully-dedicated monitor, i.e. autostarting the application that cares for displaying stuff. But that would be simple to implement, just hook the app start into the boot scripts.

07-28-2012, 01:46 AM	#1
jaw00001 Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	Kindle -> External ePaper Display Hi All, I'm checking to see if there's any prior art around converting a kindle into an external, USB-connected display for a PC. At the end of the day, what I want to have is a C# application running on a Windows machine that can display simple graphics (lines, rectangles, etc.) and characters on a jailbroken kindle. It doesn't have to be a full-blown graphics device from the perspective of Windows -- in fact, the easiest way that comes to mind would be to have it exposed as a USB drive and have a program running on the kindle that periodically picks up a file from a well-known location and renders it on the screen -- either HTML if there's a browser component on the Kindle that can be repurposed or some simple custom format. Anyway, since I thought of it, I assume it's already been done, and done better than I could manage in a weekend. Anyone know where to find it? (If you really want to know the end use of this, it's to display some navigation info on my boat, cheaply, and in full sunlight.)

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07-28-2012, 05:05 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Moved to dev forum.

07-28-2012, 05:22 AM	#3
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736094 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	You may be looking for something like this. Note: I haven't tested it. If this may be what you want, it's probably best to ask questions in that thread.

07-28-2012, 05:26 AM	#4
hawhill Wizard Posts: 1,379 Karma: 2155307 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Goettingen, Germany Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Mini	Yep. That, or - shameless plug - use kindlevncviewer (on K3). Not sure if there are similar means for K4/K5, though. But to the OP: Yep, it's been done before. Though I think nobody made it a fully-dedicated monitor, i.e. autostarting the application that cares for displaying stuff. But that would be simple to implement, just hook the app start into the boot scripts.

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