README.md

Raspberry Pi 7" LCD emulator for rpi-backlight

This is an emulator for the Raspberry Pi 7" LCD to test and develop rpi-backlight without having a physical display connected or even running on the Pi.

Requirements

Python 3.5+ is required, along with the packages PySide2, watchdog and rpi-backlight>=2.0.0 (see below).

Installation

PySide2 wheels for x86/x64 are available on PyPI, so you can simply run:

$ pip3 install rpi-backlight-emulator

On ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) it's more complicated (and only the new Debian/Raspbian Buster will work, Stretch won't - you'd have to install PySide2 from source):

$ sudo apt install python3-pyside2.qtcore python3-pyside2.qtgui python3-pyside2.qtwidgets
$ pip3 install watchdog rpi-backlight>=2.0.0
$ pip3 install --no-deps rpi-backlight-emulator

Usage

Run:

$ rpi-backlight-emulator

Note: on Windows, you'll need administrator privileges to create symbolic links, which this program does - so you'll have to execute the above as administrator.

Next, open a Python shell and create a rpi_backlight.Backlight instance using the emulator:

>>> from rpi_backlight import Backlight
>>> backlight = Backlight(":emulator:")
>>>

Now, continue like you're connected to a real display!

You can make changes to the display using the emulator, they'll be reflected in the Python-API and vice versa.

Enable Show live screen to replace the static Raspbian Buster screenshot with a live preview of your monitor.

Screenshots

License

The source code and all other files in this repository are licensed under the MIT license, so you can easily use it in your own projects. See LICENSE for more information.