Hello guys, awesome job on OSSC and OSSC pro! Love the device so far however there are 2 significant design flaws in each revision including the PRO version.
Issue #1
I don't want to be the one to ruin your fun but have you actually hold a component cable in your hand? Have you seen it?
Here are some pictures:
Or
Noticed something?
In each revision of OSSC component RCAs are
RGB which is incorrect order. The correct one is
RBG. This seems small but it is very annoying when you have all your cables manufactured with a standard but the device requires you to twist the RCAs in an unintended way, potentially compromising them in the long run. And thing looks like a mess. trust me, proper cable routing is important for both maintenance and cable protection & reliability.
Issue#2
Port locations are sub optimal. Really really bad from user perspective, especially if you have multiple devices that use the same type of connector. For older revisions for example if one is using component cable - you have to ensure that your individual RCA's are long enough to bend around 90 degrees to stick in the side of OSSC 3.5 jack via adapter or an extender. From electrical perspective the more converters/adapters/extenders one is using - the more signal degrades, pick's up noise etc. And it looks awful too.
Even more so if you try to plug in VGA with 3.5 audio. they are 180 degrees opposite of each other which makes some cables really bent and causes strain.
It is super cool that OSSC pro is going to have 5 inline RCAs for the component (too bad they are in the wrong order though) but I see the same design flaw that plagues raspberri devices, arduino and OSSC unfortunately.
If you look at electronic devices they have an established common sense port placement. For example on the back of tv's or av receivers ports are grouped together for the best convenience.
1. Front end of the device is usually where all action or frequent swaps happen and it has: on switch, other buttons and switches, display, ir port, card slots, controller ports, etc.
2. Back end is usually power input, video out, audio out, service connectors, exhaust ports etc.
Usually you never see cables plugging in the side of the tv box, dvd player, game console, dvr and so on.
The use of display on OSSC implies that it is front side so maybe, just maybe it is possible to consider a better design?
Like this:
_HDMI_TOSLINK/SPDIF_3.5_HDMI_3.5_VGA_COMPONENT_SCART_BLANK_POWER_
|_OUT______OUT_____OUT__IN___IN__IN______IN_______IN__ COVER|__IN___|
|___________________________________________________________________|
|____________________________________________________EXPANSION|_____|
|_______________________________________________________PORT________|
|___________________________________________________________________|
|___________________________________________________________________|
|___________________________________________________________________|
|_DISPLAY_SD CARD_IR PORT_BUTTON1_BUTTON2_STATUS LED_POWER BUTTON__|
Note how out's are separated from in's and power. Blank cover is used to install future expansions or additional ports.
Also VGA is close to the component's audio RCA and 3.5 in in order to use which ever is more comfortable for the user.
JTAG should be somewhere on the board but I think it is the least used connector for most users, so no point in placing it on the front panel or the back or the sides.
On the front end everything is pretty much classic - power in the right corner, status leds near the power.