Displays
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A screen is a major accessory for the boards.
With colour and touch, it provides a powerful and interactive interface to the sketches. |
TFT Screens with Touch
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Standard screens come with 8- or 16-parallel bus for data and 4 pins for commands, or with SPI or I²C protocols.
Most of the time, the LCD controllers feature basic pixel management. However, some controllers are full GPUs, with elaborate graphic primitives and embedded fonts. So I started exploring standard screens and released the LCD_screen Library Suite, which is the continuation of the former Serial_LCD, but for screens managed directly. |
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E-Ink and Reflective Displays
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The TFT screens face two major concerns: power consumption and readability.
To cope with those concerns, very interesting technologies are emerging, bringing ultra low power consumption and improved readability. Let's mention e-ink displays and reflective displays. |
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Monochrome LCD
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Monochrome LCD provides an easy introduction to displays.
My first display was a 4 lines by 20 characters LCD with I²C connection. It is very easy to interface and doesn't require a large broadband to operate. I'm still using it for my fischertechnik models. Similar monochrome screens offer a 128 x 64 graphic area. Most of the times, they operate at 5 V and are being replaced by OLED displays running at 3.3 V. |
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