East Rising 5" LCD with SSD1963, Touch, Flash and SD-card

The 5" LCD screen from East Rising  is an all-in-one screen module with touch, flash and SD-card. The SSD1963 is rather standard LCD controller compared to the RA8875, as it doesn't provide any graphic primitives. Both screen modules have the same LCD panel, only different controllers.

The screen module is available in a wide range a interfaces, including I²C, SPI and parallel, both 8080 and 6800. The SD-card offers two options, SD or SPI. 

The configuration of the screen is done when placing the order but can be change afterwards by removing and adding shunts and resistors.

The reviewed screen is an 8-bit parallel 8080 with SPI SRAM and SPI microSD-card. 

Many Pins

The SSD1963 controller from Solomon Systech provides the standard set of graphical features and doesn't include any font. 
However, the 8-bit parallel interface is very fast and provides better performance than the RA8875, especially for bitmap images an text. The only exception concerns geometric figures.

The only drawback is the number of pins required:
  • 2 pins for power and ground
  • 12 pins for the screen with 8-bit parallel and 5 controls lines for data/command, write, read, chip select, backlight
  • 4 pins for the touch controller including SPI
  • 5 pins for the SD-card including SPI and card detection
  • 4 pins for the Flash memory including SPI

The different SPI buses can be consolidated, saving the redundant CLK, MOSI and MISO lines.
The LCD_screen Library Suite adds support for this screen and leverages the speed of the 8-bit parallel connection.

Pros

  • High quality
  • Built-to-order with many options
  • Flat cable and 0.1" pins

Cons

  • Many pins required

Wrap-Up

  • High quality design and manufacturing
  • Built-to-order with many options
  • Great value

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