tft display interface microcontroller brands
This note will discuss the considerations made when choosing a microcontroller that will work for your display. A few requirements need to be met depending on the display’s features, interface, and size. These can also be determined by the embedded IC in the display. An overview of the considerations when choosing a microcontroller can be seen below. It should be noted that these items are separated for definition but may serve the same purpose and be interconnected in the ecosystem of the controller.
Application and display specific peripheral requirements. I2C, SPI, UART, Parallel, MIPI, LVDS, HDMI etc. Determines pin connections and required architecture of the device.
Flash and RAM memory requirements. Minimum frame buffer memory is dependent on the size andresolution of the display. Location of memory (external or internal) can restrict interface speed and must becompatible with the chosen interface.
Communication speed requirements defined by the interface and intended application. Refresh rateis determined on the size of the display and location of memory. This will indicate which processors arecompatible.
A displays embedded IC can offer resources such as internal RAM, clock generators and power control.This can save resources otherwise needed to be provided externally. Check the datasheet of the display’s ICcontroller for device function specifics.
Availability of resources for programming and debugging the microcontroller. Online resources andexampleprograms to leverage from can a lot of save time. Compatibility with a familiarprogramming environment isadditionally beneficial.
The interface selection is dependent on the intended application of the display. Each display has a different interface or different choices for a connection interface. For smaller displays a 3/4-wire serial interface would be sufficient. For larger display’s with high resolution a faster interface should be chosen. A parallel RGB interface is capable of high-speed data transmission however requires many pin connections. If the intended application for the display is video a MIPI, LVDS or HDMI connection would be a good choice.
The available memory of a microcontroller often becomes a highlighted issue when determining which microcontroller to select. The microcontroller needs a minimum amount of RAM to hold the frame buffer of the display. Even small displays require more RAM than a typical microcontroller possess. To verify that your microcontroller will have enough memory, it is important to calculate the frame buffer.
The minimum RAM required for the frame buffer in this example would then be 768kB. It is important to note that external RAM can be provided for the frame buffer if the microcontroller does not provide it internally. Clocking speed should be verified if using external RAM as the microcontroller cannot access external RAM as quickly. The clock frequency constrained by external RAM sometimes does not meet the minimum requirements of some very high-speed interfaces (ex. DSI-MIPI). Additionally, the display can contain some form of RAM depending on the IC controller inside the display. This can be verified on the specification sheet of the IC.
The speed of the microcontroller is heavily dependent on the interface used in the application. The minimum and maximum of the clock frequency is specified in the datasheet of the display and in the specification sheet of the display’s controller IC. The frame rate is typically around 50-60Hz, which is the median oscillation frequency to refresh the display to maintain an image. The display will often provide an internal high frequency clock that can be initialized to certain frequencies.
It is important to verify in the controller data sheet which resources are provided by the internal IC of the display. Some key information to look for would be: Does the display have sufficient RAM or does this need to be provided? Does the display have an internal oscillator for clock generation for the interface chosen? An additional graphics controller can be used to interface the display with the microcontroller to meet these requirements. Features like these can be utilized to avoid additional cost, space, and memory of your application.
After a brief consideration of intended application and interface of the display you can get some idea of which microcontroller processor and architecture you will need. There are a few different microcontroller processors to choose from. The main choices are ARM, AVR, PIC, and 8051. The difference between them is the bit size of the processor, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit or 64-bit data . The data bit width is the amount of data that can be sent at a time. This determines the speed of data transfer and thus compatible applications and interfaces.
The AVR has an 8-bit processor and is a RISC type microcontroller. This type of processor is compatible with low speed interfaces (SPI, I2C) and smaller displays. A common AVR microcontroller board is the Arduino which has the embedded 8-bit ATMEL RISC processors. These processors are widely popular which provide the benefit of numerous online resources and availability. The Arduino processors (ATmega/SAM3X) are typically available in most microcontroller programming environments. Additionally, Arduino offers 32-bit AVR development boards which function closely to the ARM processors.
The AVR microcontrollers are constrained by the low frequency, internal memory availability and power costs. AVR’s cannot use external program memory but some may allow expansion of external SRAM. These microcontrollers alone would be incompatible for high frequency applications such as video, large displays, or capacitive touch panels.
The ARM microprocessors have a RISC architecture. They offer 32-bit or 64-bit processors and are great options for high speed interfaces (Parallel, LVDS, MIPI, HDMI) and high-resolution displays. Common ARM processors can be found from STMicroelectronics and Raspberry Pi. The most common version of the ARM processors is the “Microcontroller” Arm-M group which include the Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M4 series.
The ARM processors are compatible with most displays and connection interfaces. These microcontrollers have become increasingly popular, so the cost has become comparable between the ARM and the AVR types. These processors provide the speed, but it is recommended to verify the available RAM as these boards vary widely on included features.
The PIC architecture consists of 8, 16, and 32-bit processors developed by Microchip. The PIC 32-bit series of microcontrollers have been geared toward graphical embedded applications and there are a lot of resources online for these devices. There is a huge variety of PIC controllers which make them easily available. These microcontrollers are known for being low cost and are comparable to the ARM processors. The drawback of the PIC controllers is using Microchips programming environment, but this is based on preference.
The Intel MCS-51, more commonly known as the 8051 microcontrollers have a CISC architecture and an 8-bit processor. These processors differ in architecture from the previous and are programmed using a combination of C and assembly languages. The program memory is read only and does not have an on-board ISP. A special programming device is needed to rewrite the EEPROM or flash memory. These processors are typically small, low cost and low powered. This can make them favorable for battery powered devices. These processors are commonly used to initialize TFT displays and are combined with a graphics controller to provide the required resources such as RAM and clock frequency.
Development environments and online resources become considerably valuable when creating an application for your display. A brand new or uncommon microcontroller will have very few resources for reference. Even knowledgeable engineers can find frustrations with the manufacturers programming environments. There are many microcontroller choices that will support your display with similar and overlapping features. Choosing a microcontroller with an available FAQ, application notes or is accessible on a familiar programming platform can save a lot of time.
A TFT LCD display module consists of a TFT LCD panel, one or more COG (chip-on-glass) or COB (chip-on-board) driver ICs, a backlight, and an interface. Several TFT display interface technologies exist today. Picking the right interface depends on specific end-product concerns. There are several types of TFT display interfaces which have been designed in the last number of years for various screen sizes, including LVDS, (Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) parallel, SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) RGB and so on. Here is an overview of these display interfaces to give you a better idea of the variety of TFT LCD displays that are taking center stage.
SPI LCD Interface: Serial Peripheral Interface allows serial (one bit at a time) exchange of data between two devices. It has an advantage over parallel ones, that of simpler wiring. SPI also can have longer cables, since there is much less interaction or crosstalk in the cable. The downside of SPI is that you can"t read from the TFT LCD display, you can only write on it and it is slow. That"s why you normally see smaller TFT LCD screens use SPI.
MCU Parallel Interface: Many modern MCUs have built-in LCD controller function. There are two types that are commonly used, 6800 and 8080. Generally, MCU/Parallel interface consist of data signal(4/8/9/16 bits) and control signal. MCU interface is simple, but requires display RAM.
RGB Interface: RGB interface is a special kind of parallel interface. It requires no display RAM. MCU directly updates the TFT screen, sending Red Green & Blue sub-pixel data (16/18/24 bits) and timing signals. RGB interface provides high speed communication to TFT LCD, but it needs more data wires and controlling is more complex.
LVDS Interface: Low-voltage differential signaling is an electrical digital signaling standard. Devices with LVDS interface can communicate at very high speeds over inexpensive twisted-pair copper cables. It is much less susceptible to EMI and crosstalk issues, allowing the transmitting device to be located farther from TFT LCD display.
UART/RS232/RS485: These serial interfaces are used in Topway"s Smart TFT LCD display module. Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) is a block of circuitry responsible for implementing serial communication. Essentially, the UART acts as an intermediary between parallel and serial interfaces. On one end of UART is a bus of eight-or-so data lines (plus some control pins), on the other is the two serial wires – RX and TX.
HDMI Interface: High Definition Multimedia Interface is a connector and cable definition that supports high-quality and high-bandwidth streams of video and audio between devices.
MIPI DSI: MIPI Display Serial Interface defines a high-speed serial interface bewteen host processor and display module. The interface facilitates a high performance, low power and low EMI way to render brilliant color for the most dempanding image and video scenes.
To choose your product"s TFT LCD interface, besides above technical considerations, target use environment and bandwidth are two main factors as well. You can read more about how to choose LCD interfaces here, or consult with us. Topway has been manufacturing TFT LCD in the past 20s years. Our TFT LCD modules cover full spectrum of interfaces. And we surely can suggest a TFT LCD display that suits your use case.
This library is a professional graphical stack library to build Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) with any STM32, any LCD/TFT display and any LCD/TFT controller, taking advantage of STM32 hardware accelerations whenever possible.
The STemWin Library is a comprehensive solution that comes with a rich feature set, such as JPG, GIF and PNG decoding, many widgets (checkboxes, buttons…) and a VNC server enabling the remote display of local displays, as well as professional development tools, such as GUIBuilder to create GUIs with a simple drag and drop.
STemWin is distributed as part of STM32Cube software packages or in a standalone standard library-based version. Part Number Manufacturer Description ST Professional graphical stack library enabling the building up of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) (AN4323)
I have a small 3.5 in TFT LCD display from a Chinese manufacturer. It doesn"t have an integrated LCD controller. The documentation claims it is a "16 bit RGB/parallel interface" and it uses a Renesas R61581B0 driver chip.
These types of displays are very common and cheap. They sell for less than $15 a pop on Alibaba.com, but I don"t really have a high esteem for these manufacturers since they do not provide any good / consistent documentation, and their English is riddled with mistakes! But I did get the display, and the product looks and feels like it will do the job!
My question now is, how do I get started ? I have looked on the internet and cannot find a good starting point. I have a 32MHz microcontroller in mind, but I am stumped on how to interface it with the LCD.
Most display projects online that I"ve seen assume that the LCD module comes with an integrated controller , so the MCU"s job becomes pretty simple.. Provide image updates when necessary, and the controller will do the job of refreshing the LCD module at the required 60hz (or so)
This LCD module that I have has raw data lanes that I need to drive myself at 60hz. Are there any good documents on how to interface an MCU directly with such an LCD module?
Searching for the best TFT LCD module manufacturers in India? Well, that is admittedly a daunting task. With the growing number of TFT LCD display suppliers and manufacturers, it’s truly hard to pick which ones are reputable and which ones are not.
STONE Technologies is a proud manufacturer of superior quality TFT LCD modules and LCD screens. The company also provides intelligent HMI solutions that perfectly fit in with its excellent hardware offerings.
There is also a downloadable design software called STONE Designer. This is a completely free GUI design software you can use to create responsive digital module-ready user interfaces.
STONE TFT LCD modules come with a microcontroller unit that has a 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU. Such a module can easily be transformed into an HMI screen. Simple hexadecimal instructions can be used to control the module through the UART port. Furthermore, you can seamlessly develop STONE TFT LCD color user interface modules and add touch control, features to it.
You can also use a peripheral MCU to serially connect STONE’s HMI display via TTL. This way, your HMI display can supply event notifications and the peripheral MCU can then execute them. Moreover, this TTL-connected HMI display can further be linked to microcontrollers such as:
Becoming a reputable TFT LCD manufacturer is no piece of cake. It requires a company to pay attention to detail, have excellent manufacturing processes, the right TFT display technology, and a consumer’s mindset.
Hence, we’ve rounded up 7 famous and reputable Indian LCD module manufacturers. These companies all produce quality display and screen-related products such as:
Videocon Industries Ltd is a well-known Indian manufacturer of TFT display modules, color TVs, home appliances, and consumer electronics. Videocon is a large company based in Mumbai, India.
The company takes pride in being India’s pioneer in color TV production and retail. Before the advent of the TFT display module, Videocon has been the world’s third-largest picture tube (CRT) manufacturer.
Videocon is popular for its high-quality products. Videocon manufactures an LCD display screen for LCD TV sets. A lot of Indians trust Videocon’s television sets.
Videocon assembles and manufactures their TFT LCD module products in world-class factories. The company’s main factories are in India. However, they also have manufacturing plants in Mainland China, Mexico, Poland, and Italy.
All of Videocon’s TFT LCD display products passed strict quality control checks. Testing is done throughout the entire manufacturing and assembly process. Furthermore, quality checks are done from the raw materials phase until the products’ release.
Videocon’s TFT display screens and TVs are affordable of good quality. The company knows how to manufacture quality TV sets at pocket-friendly prices since it is a pioneer in the Indian color TV industry.
Videocon’s mobile phone range is equipped with the latest touch LCD display technology. Smartphones are assembled in the company’s TFT touch screen factory. Hence, customers are ensured of high-performance mobile phones with a crisp touch screen LCD display.
To sum it up, Videocon Industries Limited is a strong TFT LCD display manufacturer. The company’s quality manufacturing plants, good end-products, and affordable prices make it among the famous TF LCD manufacturers in India.
The company started manufacturing televisions and telecom equipment in the 1980s. BPL joined forces with Japanese company Sanyo in 2006 to strengthen BPL’s consumer electronics brand, including TF-LCD display products and color televisions. The joint venture ended in 2007, leaving BPL to focus on its healthcare equipment sector.
1. BPL takes pride in its superior-quality television sets. The TVs are made with combinations of TFT-LCD display and LED output. The products are manufactured by third-party TFT LCD suppliers. Then, the TV parts are assembled at a plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.
2. BPL also takes the lead when it comes to medical display equipment. BPL uses different combinations of TFT display, VGA output, LED, and touch LCD display to manufacture the following devices:
3. The company upholds strict quality standards in all TFT LCD display products. This is achieved through quality tests at all stages of production and assembly. Even the third-party suppliers providing the raw materials for TFT-LCD modules are required to run through tests to ensure quality.
In a nutshell, BPL continues to be an industry leader in India’s consumer electronics and medical equipment industries. BPL provides households and health facilities with top-notch TFT-LCD display module sets used in televisions and health monitoring equipment. And in recent years, BPL has clearly shown no signs of slowing down.
Dixon’s creed is providing consumers with world-class products at affordable prices. Consequently, the company is among the top TFT LCD manufacturers in India because:
Dixon is proud to create its products in local factories. For instance, the company has an LCD display module factoryin Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. Furthermore, the company also operates three facilities in Uttarakhand and three more in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
In conclusion, Dixon Technologies (India) Limited is among India’s famous TFT LCD manufacturers simply because it provides original, feature-packed, high-quality, and pocket-friendly products to both tech companies and end-consumers.
Oriole Electronics is an electronics company based in Mumbai. It was established in 1972 and is among the famous long-standing TFT LCD manufacturers in India.
Oriole’s strongest quality lies in its extensive experience in the TFT LCD and electronics industry. The company’s experience puts them at an edge against many younger industry competitors. All these thanks to several insights and expertise the company collected since 1972.
Another Oriole advantage is its in-house Research and Development team. Oriole’s R&D team conceptualizes products for its customers. They also formulate quality control guidelines that are strictly implemented during the production and testing phases. All these things are done to ensure the highest quality of Oriole’s TFT, LCD modules, and other product ranges.
Speaking of quality, Oriole is also ISO 9001:2008 certified. This credential ultimately proves the company’s utmost dedication to quality processes. Also, this ensures consistent operations of Oriole’s TFT LCD display factory network throughout India.
To wrap it all up, Oriole Electronics is indeed a quality display module manufacturer in India. Superior quality products, customized services, and affordable rates – all of these are testaments to Oriole’s good reputation.
RandServ proudly provides and even encourages custom manufacturing services. The company responds to unique client needs by creating LCD display modules and designs according to customer requirements. RandServ lets clients specify custom shapes, display sizes, and interactive touch support integration.
Another good point of RandServ is its superior-quality product range. The company may be new to the industry, but its products are made with world-class technology and attention to detail. RandServ’s electronic, TFT, LCD, and LED technologies make their end-products among the most long-lasting and robust electronic/digital products in the Indian market today.
In conclusion, RandServ Systems deserves a spot in our 7 famous TFT LCD manufacturers list mainly because of three things – cutting-edge LCD and digital products, customized client services, and high regard for ethical business practices.
Royal Display India is a reputable TFT display supplier and manufacturer based in Mumbai. Royal Display is relatively new, being in the business since 2003. But the company didn’t let their newness stop them from growing into a successful LCD display supplier and manufacturer.
A major factor that Royal Display holds in regard is value for money. The company keeps this in mind when creating and supplying display modules to their clients. Furthermore, Royal Display firmly believes that people need not shell out several bucks to get world-class quality products.
Another considerable advantage of Royal Display is its spacious manufacturing and warehousing units. Both are located in Maharashtra. The manufacturing unit boasts of specialized techniques used to produce modules for TFT, LCD, and OLED. Meanwhile, the warehouse unit is large enough to accommodate bulk orders from clients.
To wind this up, Royal Display is a young yet quality manufacturer for LCD modules and other related display screens in India. The company continues to grow with its plethora of quality display products coupled with many satisfied clients.
To conclude this post, we’ve rounded up 7 Famous TFT LCD Manufacturers in India. Some of them are industry pioneers, while some are novices. However, we’re sure all these reputable companies will be a good source of products for all your display module needs.
STONE provides a full range of 3.5 inches to 15.1 inches of small and medium-size standard quasi TFT LCD module, LCD display, TFT display module, display industry, industrial LCD screen, under the sunlight visually highlight TFT LCD display, industrial custom TFT screen, TFT LCD screen-wide temperature, industrial TFT LCD screen, touch screen industry. The TFT LCD module is very suitable for industrial control equipment, medical instruments, POS system, electronic consumer products, vehicles, and other products.
The display is a critical component in every project, impacting the case, firmware, electrical design, user interface, and even battery life. For these reasons, and because it is the most visible component of your product, it must be approved by the mechanical design team, management and marketing.Before these teams can approve, they need to see it in action. But it can take days or weeks to connect a display to your platform, initialize it and build a code library able to create believable demonstrations. Meanwhile, the whole project is on hold.Our 8051 development kit / demonstration board can solve this problem. Use it to get the display seen, demonstrated and approved for your project.
ER-DBTM080-2 is a microcontroller 8051(80C51) demonstration and development kit for ER-TFTM080-2 product that is 8 inch tft lcd display with RA8875 controller board.The kit includes MCU board controlled by STC12LE5A60S2,ISP(In System Programming) with USB port and cable to customize the demonstration that includes your own bitmap images,personalized fonts,symbols,icons and burn sketches,microSD card that is written graphic and text into it,the power adaptor,the adaptor board with various pitch dimension used to connect MCU board and display.Optional for 8080 8/16-bit,6800 8/16-bit parallel interface and I2C,3-wire,4-wire serial interface.
David Johnson-Davies has designed a "universal" board for driving common color TFT LCD panels, offering an I2C interface for easy connection to external hardware: the Universal TFT Display Backpack.
"This project is a microcontroller board, based on an ATtiny414, that can accommodate a range of different Adafruit and AliExpress color TFT displays," Johnson-Davies explains. "While working on my Tiny TFT Graphics Library I needed to test it with several different TFT displays on a prototyping board, and noticed that many of them, with a small number of exceptions, had one of two standard pin connection layouts.
"That gave me the idea of designing a breakout board that would take any of these displays, and be a great starting point for a variety of display-based projects."
The Tiny TFT Graphics Library,which received a major update this week, is entirely compatible with the Backpack board — though its microcontroller can also be programmed directly, for those who"d prefer, without use of the library. True "universal" compatibility on the hardware front may be pushing things, perhaps, but Johnson-Davies has tested the board with a range of common displays from 0.96" to 2.4" from Adafruit and AliExpress with great success — using an 11-pin and eight-pin header respectively for each family.
"The display connection header pin holes are staggered," Johnson-Davies notes, "so you can push the display in place, and it will stay firmly connected without soldering. This is especially useful if you want to try different displays in an application. Although you could drive these TFT displays from an 8-pin ATtiny processor such as the ATtiny402, I decided to base the board on a 14-pin device, such as the ATtiny414, to allow it to offer […] additional optional features."
Those features: I2C support, to allow the microcontroller to drive an external sensor or other compatible hardware in addition to the display" optional connections to backlight and SD card select pins, brought to an edge connector if you"d prefer to use them for some other purpose; and room for a crystal oscillator for clock projects.
Johnson-Davies has released the board"s Eagle design fileson GitHubunder an unspecified open-hardware license, promising compatibility with "any of the new 0-series, 1-series, or 2-series 14-pin microcontrollers" from the ATtiny404 up to the ATtiny3224.