Alternative ribbon cables

[jeffry7]

Hi folks,

I have a raspberry pi and one of the official 7" displays. I also have a project where I would like to mount the display on the front of a metal box, (containing much electrical goodness including the PI).

The obvious thing that needs to be dealt with is the connection from interface board to the display. It would be nice if the support board was inside the box and the display was out and the barest of opening was there to allow the ribbon cable (with I note embedded chips) through. But this probably requires a longer cable (also with embedded circuitry).

Is such a thing available?

Alternately, can the ribbon cable between the interface board and the PI be longer? If so, how long?

Thanks!

[W. H. Heydt]

You can buy longer cables that will connect the Pi' DSI connector to the interface board. They're actually intended for use from CSI connector to a Pi camera. Caveats apply...
1. No one will guarantee they will work (though some people have used longer ones).
2. No one will guarantee that the assembled system will pass electronics emissions tests.

Adafruit has such cables in a variety of lengths. I don't know of any way to extend the connections between the display and the interface board.

[jeffry7]

Thank you for this thoughtful reply. It touches on topics that are important for my customer.

[rpdom]

Some people have used special adaptor boards which connect the display (or camera) to an HDMI cable to use as an extension. Note that this does not make the display/camera compatible with HDMI devices, it just uses that type of cable as it has the right number of connectors.

Distances of well over a meter have been achieved