Valve open source the Steam Machine e-ink screen so you can make your own

125 pointsposted 2 hours ago
by ahlCVA
(gamingonlinux.com)

17 Comments

RataNova

26 minutes ago

I wish more hardware companies treated these kinds of optional add-ons as something the community can run with instead of either productizing them badly or locking them away completely...

anticorporate

an hour ago

I'd love to see an easy guide to doing this with the Framework Desktop form factor. I didn't buy any of the silly little squares for the front of mine since I figured I could 3D print some later, but six months in still haven't gotten around to it.

RataNova

24 minutes ago

A little e-ink status tile for temps, build status, now playing, or just a static label would be much more interesting than most decorative inserts

phren0logy

24 minutes ago

Same, but the front is important for airflow in the Framework Desktop, so I don't think covering it with an e-ink screen would work. But maybe with some space between the screen and the fan intake?

foax

an hour ago

This is so cool! Coincidentally, I'm currently building something in a similar vein that pushes system metrics out to an Android app so an old phone or tablet can be used as a case screen. The app has widget plugins that expose a repo of metrics received and a GL surface, that can then be used to display fancy visualisations.

Check it out here: https://github.com/xfoa/humours. It's not finished yet, but the basic functionality works. It just has one widget at the moment that draws a spinning cube with temps, etc.

RataNova

21 minutes ago

The main thing I'd worry about is long-term reliability

rbanffy

24 minutes ago

Is the Steam Machine a decently priced desktop compared to the "generic" ones?

artisinal

21 minutes ago

For a small gaming box it is a good price.

If you don’t care that much about size, HDMI-CEC or SteamOS there are faster alternatives for the price.

voidUpdate

18 minutes ago

Especially since, afaik, you plug it in and it just works. No messing around with installing operating systems, setting up users (aside from signing into steam) or anything. It's essentially a console that plays PC games, but it's also a PC for the purposes of upgradability and ability to do other, non-console stuff with it

romaniv

41 minutes ago

"Valve will not be making and providing their own e-ink display for the Steam Machine"

Too bad. The picture in the articles looks awesome. Like a device from some alternate reality. Neither retro nor the standard flat-panel LCD.

I don't want to mod a pre-build $1,049 device. I want it to be good our of the box and I'd rather pay more to get more. (If it was a $3K top-of-midrange machine, I would buy it in a second.)

jdiff

23 minutes ago

You're not modding a pre-built $1049 device. The faceplates are removable and swappable with no disassembly needed, and this fancy one connects via bluetooth and is powered via a battery. Entirely non-invasive.

ray_v

an hour ago

It would have justified the price had they included this in the base model - this is the next best thing I suppose. Valve is really coming out as the good guy here in the video game industry and we should really support and applaud all that they're doing to hold the line for consumers and fans.

voidUpdate

an hour ago

Given computer part prices recently because of new datacenters, I think the price is already justified, as they don't want to sell it at a loss

stavros

an hour ago

Yes but saying "it would have justified the price if they had included extra expensive things" is the same as saying "it should be cheaper". Sure, but stuff costs.

Fokamul

4 minutes ago

Clickbait, I want to make an actual eInk display myself. Not just buy one from Adafruit.