Making text very readable without X server on a 3.5 inch backup camera monitor

Question

I setup a Pi with a car backup camera monitor and push button. It's for displaying a to-do list that I cycle through by pressing the button. I wrote it for the command-line so I don't have to use X-server to save on cpu usage. Unfortunately I can't read the text. Any suggestions on making the text big enough to read 3 feet away?

Python code:

# Import the required module.
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import os
# Set the mode of numbering the pins.
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
# GPIO pin 3 is the input.
GPIO.setup(3, GPIO.IN)
def clear_console():
    os.system('clear')
i = 0
to_do = ['Take out trash', 'Vacuum', 'Put papers away', 'Put books
away', 'Put electronics away', 'Put pens away']
clear_console()
print to_do[0]

last = 0
while 1:
    if not GPIO.input(3):
        if last != 0:
            clear_console()
            i += 1
            if i < len(to_do):
                print to_do[i]
            else:
                print "Congrats! You're finished."
    last = GPIO.input(3)

Answer 1

If you're using Raspbian (The default Raspberry Pi OS), then you can use this:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

Follow the steps, select "Let the system select a suitable font" and then select the font size you want.

Once you've gone through the setup tool, run sudo reboot

Hope this works :) (I usually use Arch Linux on my Pi, so this might not be the current method...)

(More info at eLinux)

Answer 2

Have you tried cranking down the resolution or playing with overscan settings? It's not clear if this is an HDMI or a composite connection, but you can find out more about standard video modes here and custom video modes in this thread.