Kronos with adjustable angle screen

[KK]

So does this logically suggest you could do a video out ?
to a touchscreen tablet or ...?

Nope, I'm simply using the existing hardware in the Kronos. The screen uses OMAP processors and dedicated ICs on Korg proprietary PCBs, which means it would be very complicated to adapt it to external devices.

[okkopekka]

Thats super cool!

Would u have a pic from the back side also?

[Mike Conway]

That is how ALL Kronos Keyboards should have been manufactured

Exactly what I was thinking. This is an amazing mod that never should have had to be a mod!

I was fortunate to learn this system on the OASYS tilt screen. I don't know if I would have had the patience to accomplish as much, with Kronos at a flat angle. I tilt the whole keyboard, which is my poor man's way of achieving KK's functionality.

[KK]

Thats super cool!

Would u have a pic from the back side also?

Hi okkopekka and thanks for your interest. I did a little pic collage below about the back part and to explain partly what is there. As you can see on the top part of the pic below, the LCD screen is deeply secured in the Kronos 2 with an additional metal plate (which is NOT in the earlier models). On the back of the screen is a small PCB which connects to the LCD through a FFC (flat flexible cable) ribbon. These components are meant to stay hidden and thus very fragile and sensitive to ESDs, etc. So for my mod to be entirely safe and functional I added a protective plate made of very robust plastic, a new ground cable for the screen and its control PCB, etc.

The whole thing might not be very aesthetic if let's say I would be looking from the back (it's about as cute as looking at the back of a Moog Modular or MiniMoog), but the main point of my mod is entirely about making the Kronos a lot more practical to work with. Note that in a minor mod enhancement later, I could use black paint or covering material to make the back part more aesthetic. In any case, since at gigs I mainly play standing up, I don't plan to use/open the screen at angle while facing the public, so the Kronos will just look like any other regular one - which also was very important to me for this mod.

[KK]

That is how ALL Kronos Keyboards should have been manufactured

Exactly what I was thinking. This is an amazing mod that never should have had to be a mod!

I was fortunate to learn this system on the OASYS tilt screen. I don't know if I would have had the patience to accomplish as much, with Kronos at a flat angle. I tilt the whole keyboard, which is my poor man's way of achieving KK's functionality.

Hello Mike and thank you for your comments. I am really enjoying the Kronos now with the screen right in my face. As I mentioned earlier, it was a risky mod but my old body parts are now very happy with it.

No more head/neck/back aches and I feel even more connected now with the machine. It's more inviting to play and/or start extensive sessions creating/editing sounds/samples/etc or just looking at the screen controls while playing.

[jones]

So does this logically suggest you could do a video out ?
to a touchscreen tablet or ...?

Nope, I'm simply using the existing hardware in the Kronos. The screen uses OMAP processors and dedicated ICs on Korg proprietary PCBs, which means it would be very complicated to adapt it to external devices.

Drat, so the only way would be to buy a second screen or , nah, not worth it.

[KK]

Drat, so the only way would be to buy a second screen or , nah, not worth it.

Hi jones,

Some people like to work with the Kronos from a PC equipped with the Kronos editor freeware, as its contents on the screen looks quite a bit similar. Other editing freeware for the Kronos are also interesting, like Chrutil's AL-1 & Polysix editor.

[KK]

A new short demo video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO-aDkBYoik

[Umut Erhan]

Cool KK! Do you think it's possible to get longer ffc ribbons and move the lcd & touch panel to my desk?

btw, photos are missing now in your posts.

[KK]

Cool KK! Do you think it's possible to get longer ffc ribbons and move the lcd & touch panel to my desk?

Hello,

About the FFCs, you can't go very long with them as the wires are extremely tiny, which means you add wire electric resistance (ohms) very quickly. I needed 30 cm FFCs for my mod, which means about three times the original length. To ensure not creating problems, I ordered FFCs with wider wires (smaller AWG number), otherwise I might have added too much resistance and possibly ended up with LCD/touch circuits out of calibration. Even with 30 cm ribbons, you don't go very far from the Kronos internals with all the ribbon turns needed to connect the LCD screen, so to go quite farther like you want you could end up needing some sort of compensation circuit.

[Umut Erhan]

Thanks for your answer. How about eliminating the resistive touch panel and using an Arduino that will simulate the touches via digital potentiometers let's say? I'm looking for a solution to control the Kronos screen from my computer desk without using sysex or midi. I checked the service manual and 4-wires coming from the touch panel are going directly to the same multiplexer as the sliders, knobs are going. I'm quite new at electronics though so I'm not sure if it would damage the board or not. Maybe using something like an optocoupler would help in that case? I don't know =)

If simulating the touch panel with Arduino works, then rest is quite easy: Communicate with Arduino using python and make an X-Y pad you can click with the mouse. Then the only missing thing is the image from the screen. I can use a webcam to capture the Kronos screen and layer it with the X-Y pad. Some distortion might be needed to size the image to the dimensions of our X-Y pad.

[KK]

Thanks for your answer. How about eliminating the resistive touch panel and using an Arduino that will simulate the touches via digital potentiometers let's say? I'm looking for a solution to control the Kronos screen from my computer desk without using sysex or midi. I checked the service manual and 4-wires coming from the touch panel are going directly to the same multiplexer as the sliders, knobs are going. I'm quite new at electronics though so I'm not sure if it would damage the board or not. Maybe using something like an optocoupler would help in that case? I don't know =)

If simulating the touch panel with Arduino works, then rest is quite easy: Communicate with Arduino using python and make an X-Y pad you can click with the mouse. Then the only missing thing is the image from the screen. I can use a webcam to capture the Kronos screen and layer it with the X-Y pad. Some distortion might be needed to size the image to the dimensions of our X-Y pad.

Personally, I would find it very tricky to fit X-Y coordinates for accurate control on an image coming from a webcam looking at the LCD - which is a lit source, thus can imply a blurry result. Unless the cam can freeze white balance or maybe you know how to handle this.

So of course, this is just my own view because I am not so good at cams and microcontrollers. Different people, different talents and that would be great if you can achieve the mod you mention. My only advice is : take your time to analyze your project and make sure it can work starting with simple tests first. If you know you can get a good external image of the LCD with a cam, are good with microcontrollers and so on, for sure I say go for it !

[KK]

Last weekend my Kronos got five years old, so it was time for me to inspect it and do any necessary maintenance. It was also one year already since I modified its screen so it can be adjusted at angle. Inspection revealed that all is fine except some expected hammer stop felt wear. About twenty keys needed that I add a bit of special felt tape which simply glues where original felt starts to break. This should fix everything for at least another year.

For the rest, all my previous mods continue to run just fine including the direct FTP connection, the color LEDs, the aftertouch threshold sub-circuit which makes it easier to trigger and the adjustable angle screen. The 250 GB Samsung SSD is also doing just fine every day and remains the boot/primary drive.

During this 5-year inspection/maintenance, for anyone curious here I thought to share a few pics of the internal components needed for the screen mod and a short video showing how it is easy to change its angle, from original position (still best for gigs where you play standing up) to angled view (while sitting down).

Short video : https://vimeo.com/638710362

[average_male]

Any chance you could update the original poster pictures? They got placeholder images now.

[KK]

Any chance you could update the original poster pictures? They got placeholder images now.

Done.