nextion lcd display factory

A few weeks ago, I wrote this article about using a text variable as an array, either an array of strings or an array of numbers, using the covx conversion function in addition for the latter, to extract single elements with the help of the spstr function. It"s a convenient and almost a "one fits all" solution for most use cases and many of the demo projects or the sample code attached to the Nextion Sunday Blog articles made use of it, sometimes even without mentioning it explicitly since it"s almost self-explaining. Then, I got a message from a reader, writing: "... Why then didn"t you use it for the combined sine / cosine lookup table in the flicker free turbo gauge project?"105 editions of the Nextion Sunday blog in a little over two years - time to look back and forth at the same time. Was all the stuff I wrote about interesting for my readers? Is it possible at all to satisfy everybody - hobbyists, makers, and professionals - at the same time? Are people (re-)using the many many HMI demo projects and code snippets? Is anybody interested in the explanation of all the underlying basics like the algorithms for calculating square roots and trigonometric functions with Nextion"s purely integer based language? Are optimized code snippets which allow to save a few milliseconds here and there helpful to other developers?Looking through the different Nextion user groups on social networks, the Nextion user forum and a few not so official but Nextion related forums can be surprising. Sometimes, Nextion newbies ask questions or have issues although the required function is well (in a condensed manner for the experienced developer, I admit) documented on the Nextion Instruction Set page, accessible through the menu of this website. On top of that, there is for sure one of my more than 100 Sunday blog articles which deals not only with that function, but goes often even beyond the usual usage of it. Apparently, I should sometimes move away from always trying to push the limits and listen to the "back to the roots!" calls by my potential readers...Do you remember the (almost) full screen sized flicker free and ultra rapid gauge we designed in June? And this without using the built-in Gauge component? If not, it"s time to read this article first, to understand today"s improvements. The June 2022 version does its job perfectly, the needle movement is quick and smooth, and other components can be added close to the outer circle without flickering since there is no background which needs constantly to be redrawn. But there was a minor and only esthetic weak point: The needle was a 1px thin line, sometimes difficult to see. Thus, already a short time after publishing, some readers contacted me and asked if there were a way to make the needle thicker, at least 2 pixels.Recently, when playing with a ESP32 based NodeMCU 32S and especially with its WiFi configuration, I did as (I guess) everybody does: I loaded an example sketch to learn more about the Wifi library. When you set up the ESP32 as an access point, creating its own wireless network, everything is pretty straightforward. You can easily hard code the Wifi name (SSID) and the password. But what about the client mode ? Perhaps one needs to use it in different environments. And then, a hard coded network name and password are definitively not the best solution. Thus, I thought, why not use a Nextion HMI for a dynamic WiFi setup functionality?Although the Nextion MIDI I/O interface  has been primarily designed as an add-on for Nextion HMI screens to transform these in fully autonomous MIDI devices as shown in previous blog posts here, it is also of great use for any Arduino based electronic music project! Many MIDI projects for Arduino suffer from a lack good hardware support. There are sophisticated code, excellent libraries and an infinity of use cases, but afterwards, things tend not to work in a rather rough environment in the studio or on stage. That"s because two resistors and a few Dupont wires on a breadboard besides the Arduino are not really an interface which could drive your Synth, Sequencer, or Drum machine over a 5m long MIDI cable.

This document goes through various features of the current Nextion Editor. The Nextion Editor is used to rapidly create Human Machine Interface GUIs for Nextion HMI devices. As such the GUI can be created within Hours instead of Weeks, and Days instead of Months. So while we won’t be covering basics such as opening a file, we will point out somethings that might prove helpful to know, or reminders need be made.

Note: Nextion Editor has undergone an extensive overhaul in support of the new Intelligent Series (similarly with v0.33 when the Enhanced Series was introduced), including additional features incorporated. As such, the new Nextion Editor is not expected to retain every previous behaviour exactly. Legacy Nextion devices (and safely those with firmware before v0.38) will need an Intermediary upgrade (v0.42 TFTs supplied in FAQs) applied to the legacy device BEFORE upgrading to the LTS Edition or v0.58 and later Nextion Editors (please see the FAQs here). With the new, then there are indeed new behaviours and new possibilities. Should complete code compatibility be of any major concern, then the Nextion Editor LTS Edition (based on v0.53) should be used instead to retain your code compatibility. The LTS Edition will unfortunately not have any of the new bells and whistles of the new Nextion Editor.

This Editor Guide will refer exclusively to the new and current Nextion Editor and not the LTS Edition. Where an item within the guide may be specific to a particular Nextion series, the following icons will be used to represent the series: For the Basic T Series

Requirements* Windows Operating System (XP or higher). Users must know and be able to use their Windows OS. Windows OS support is beyond the scope of Nextion. Note: Installations on other Operating Systems may have been accomplished successfully, but is not officially supported and beyond the scope of any manual.

* Basic programming skills are prerequisite. The Nextion Instruction Set is made up of ASCII text based commands inbound, and significant first byte binary Return Data. A component’s Touch Event “Send Component ID” can be used to defer programming tasks to the user’s MCU.

* As such, quickly creating an HMI GUI for Nextion does not demand extreme skills – but basic programming skill are expected. When programming logic Nextion side, then users should have a foundation in programming.

* Over 68,000 MCUs (any MCU with an internal UART module or two digital pins to bit-bang a Software Serial) can be used with Nextion in over 130 programing languages. MCU side programming is beyond the scope of Nextion and remains within the user’s domain and duty to know and understand their chosen MCU and chosen MCU side programming languages.

* Uploading your completed Nextion HMI project can be accomplished either by microSD card or over TTL Serial. As there are dozens of manufactures for each of these, it is the user’s domain and duty to know their device installation, configuration and operation.

There are two versions of the nextion-setup available for download.1) The EXE version is installed through the Windows MSI for a more automated installation. Only one version of the Nextion Editor may be registered at a time via the EXE version. When updating within the Nextion Editor, Auto Update will install the EXE version

2) The ZIP version can be unzipped into a user chosen folder and run directly from that folder. For maintaining multiple versions of the Nextion Editor, the ZIP version is recommended. When updating within the Nextion Editor, Manual Update will launch your web browser to the download page so you may download the ZIP version

Other settings in the Nextion Editor can be configured in Configuration under the Settings menu. The default font of the Nextion Editor can now be changed to suit your taste. The default timeout of 100ms for the Debug Simulator can be adjusted from 20ms to 5000ms. Code hints, highlighting, description, tooltips and auto-complete can be set individually for the Editor and the Debug Simulator. Default path for eeprom and sd files can be customized to suit your taste. When needed, you can reset these settings by selecting the Reset layout under the Settings menu.

In the Display Tab of the Nextion Editor on starting the Editor, there is a section for listing the most Recent Projects. The number of recent projects tracked is by default 10, and can be increased. Right-clicking a project allows you to select from the following:* Open the file: if the project file exists, then opens in the Editor

Here, Users can create a New project, Open an existing project, Save the current project, Save as to rename and save the currently loaded project, Close Project to close their current project, and Exit the Nextion Editor. Import Project will append an existing project into the current project – usually with resulting naming and renumbering issues. As such, it is recommended to import individual pages if required.

With the new TFT File Output, users can select where the TFT file should be placed (which folder, sd card drive, other). A valid HMI without compile errors is required to generate a valid TFT output file. The option to open the output folder location in Windows Explorer can be made by clicking only open the output folder link. The old folder location C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Nextion Editor\bianyi will still contain previously compiled TFTs from elder Editor versions, and only if this is used as the TFT File Output location, will the new TFT for the current project be added here.

The Backup Directory has been renamed to Version backup folder only keeps a copy of an older HMI project opened with a new version of the Nextion Editor launches Windows Explorer to the C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Nextion Editor\backup folder.

The Virtual EEPROM Folder located C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Nextion Editor\eeprom contains the eeprom.bin for the Enhanced/Intelligent series models.

The Virtual SD Card Folder located C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Nextion Editor\sdcard0 allows users of the Intelligent series models to copy project files here that will eventually be on their Nextion microSD card, allowing users to test their project in the Debug Simulator.

In the Configuration menuitem, the user can choose for the Nextion Editor and the Debug Simulator if code should be highlighted or not, if Auto-Complete should be on, if the descriptions for instruction parameters should be on or not, if the tooltips should be shown when the mouse is over the toolbar buttons.

Finally, the default Font used for the Nextion Editor can be changed to suit the users taste. Resetting the font to the default Microsoft Sans Serif will return the Editor to its normal traditionally used font.

Reset layout will reset the Nextion Editor default panes back to their original positions. This is a useful starting point if you have somehow misplaced your pane or positioned it in some obscure unreachable position.

Selecting About Nextion Editor menuitem in the About menu will show the about box with the version of the Nextion Editor. Clicking the link will take you to the Nextion website where you can access the forums and other documentation.

Selecting Check for new version menuitem in the About Menu will show the Update dialog when a new version is available (see Downloading the Nextion Editor at the beginning of this Guide), or a dialog informing that you have the most recent version.

Compile is more of a building and assembly process. This is only stated so that users do not make the wrong expectations of native machine code when making feature requests and/or Bug Reports. Nextion remains closed source.

The Nextion Editor contains a built-in Simulator that can be accessed via the toolbar Debug. To be clear this is not a precision emulator and is intended to be sufficient to assist in debugging a users project. It in no way is meant to replicate the Nextion device exactly. (Any Windows OS is already sufficient to make such precision unattainable). The Debug Simulator will be covered in more detail in Section 3 of this Guide.

If a project is not currently loaded in the Nextion Editor, Debug will open a dialog to open a compiled *.TFT file directly. This is handy for loading demos or sharing ideas without surrendering your original source code. Although the Debug Simulator can run a *.TFT file from any Nextion Series or model supported by the version of the Nextion Editor, it is important that the same version of Nextion Editor and *.TFT file is used to successfully simulate. (ie: an older v0.36 project TFT file can not be used with the current version of the Nextion Editor.)

Selecting Upload will launch an Open dialog to select a *.TFT file before the Upload to Nextion Device dialog. Ensure the Nextion is connected via serial (typically via USB to TTL adapter) before upload or the Port may not be available to select. Auto search feature will look for your Nextion’s reply to the connect instruction, but realize that data is being sent on all serial ports that are searched (and may interfere with the other connected serial devices). A better choice is to select the correct Port and Baud Rate. Proper configuration of Serial adapters, Windows drivers, device conflicts, etc is beyond the scope of Nextion support and remains the domain of user responsibility to know their used Operating System and devices.

Once Nextion has responded to the connect instruction, the upload process will begin. Do not interrupt this process until completed. If the process has been interrupted, resetting the serial port may be required. When a partial *.TFT file has been uploaded and uploading over serial is no longer an option, then the user will need to upload via the microSD method. Refer to Section 4 of this guide.

The steps to configure your HMI project for your Nextion Series and Model are usually done at the time of creating a New project. When you need to make changes, Device will launch the following window with the Device tab selected. First select the Nextion Series: T for the Basic models, K for the Enhanced models, and P for the Intelligent models. Then select your Nextion Model. For example: the Multi-touch Capacitive Nextion NX8048K070_011C, Select K for the Enhanced series and then the select the NX8048K070_011 Nextion Model.

Selecting the DISPLAY tab, the user can select the orientation and the Character Encoding. 0° is the native viewing angle for the selected model. Users can choose alternative orientations (90°, 180° or 270°) but this will not be the native viewing angle.

Character Encoding is default iso-8859-1. Select from the character encodings that make sense for your HMI project to best display your local character sets. There are a selection of single byte and double byte character sets available.

Selecting ID to will toggle if the component .objnames are displayed in the upper left region of the component space. Yellow labelled components have a .vscope local, while black labelled components have a .vscope of global. (Hint: Event code is never global). When selecting multiple components, green labelled components indicate multiple components have been selected, while the one blue labelled component will be used as the baseline component. To change the baseline component while the group is still active selected, simply click on the already selected component you want to become the baseline component.

New to the Nextion Editor is the ability to Zoom the design canvas both in and out. Users can zoom from 20% to 600% using the slider, or increment steps using the + and – buttons on the ends of the slider. The value of the zoom is shown in percentage to the right of the Canvas Zoom. Clicking on the percentage zoomed allows you to reset the zoom back to an unzoomed 100% state. Note: Component dragging-by-edge (indicated by double ended arrow pointer) to move or resize components whether intended or accidental can cause an undesired snap-to effect in size and/or position where zoom is not at 100%. Calculation for the placement of component or edge must be to whole numbers and as such drag ending on partial-pixels can indeed effect component size, position or both.  In the event of undesired results, use the Undo (ctrl+z) to revert back to your previous unaltered state.

Selecting the C on the toolbar will open the Program.s tab in the Design Canvas area.  To return to the Design Canvas, click the Display Tab.  The Project Start Up code section is a newly introduced concept allowing for users to define and initialize additional int globals (such as sys0=0).  At the moment only int 32 bit signed integers are supported.  Additionally project start up code can be added in this section to be run before the HMI runs using Nextion Instructions.

The page Lock and Unlock functions are only accessed by right clicking the highlighted page name and selecting Lock or Unlock. If the page has been locked with a password, the password must be entered to access the components and event code. There is no password recovery should the password becomes lost, so don’t use or don’t use. As an example, the keyboard pages are imported as locked, but do not use passwords (the keyboard pages are also a good coding example to review). When keyboard pages are imported by the Nextion Editor component .key attribute, reset system page option is included in the context menu, which is used to reload the keyboard page and proper orientation in the cases where the keyboard page may have been edited or display orientation options may have changed.

Nextion Editor now has four different built-in-keyboards that can be added to a project.  This allows for Text, Scrolling Text, Xfloat and Number component .txt and .val to be changed using a built in keyboard by the device user at runtime.  In order to add a built-in-keyboard to your project, the component must first be set to .vscope global, second the .key attribute needs to select your desired keyboard.  Selecting one of the keyboards will add the keyboard page to your project.  Choices are full qwerty style (keybdA), numeric keyboard (keybdB), speed dial style (keybdC), and Chinese Input (Pinyin) style (keybdAP).  The associated keyboard will load an appropriate font if not already included in the project and the keyboard page for the model size and orientation.   Should you choose to change model size or orientation, use the context-menu (right click) for the keyboard page and select Reset System Page to reload.

The Picture component will allow any picture resource to display in the Picture component. Example p0.pic=3. It is important that the picture resource matches the user defined size in .w and .h or the picture resource will over draw the picture component boundaries, or incorrectly insert adjoining data. The Picture component is useful to represent multi-states and animation sequences.

It is also note worthy to mention as a reminder: Nextion Resistive devices have only process a single touch – meaning first component pressed will be registered and no other component can register until the first component pressed is released. Nextion Capacitive devices are multi-touch devices registering up to 5 different touch components and they are registered in the order of pressed and released as they happen in sequence they occur up until when the 6th component is pressed and the sixth component will not register. This complexity is simply the nature of multi-touch and requires a higher degree of workflow planning for precision execution – Nextion still remains consecutive processing of events and a “next-event” will not be processed until the current event has completed.

The FileBrowser component is used to present a folder and file structure tiled in a filter capable browser.  The .dir attribute holds the folder path, and the .txt attribute holds the selected filename.  FileBrowser incorporates an .up() method to return to previous folder. Be sure to ensure an appropriate font has been included to your project for filenames to be displayed.

The Gmov component is used to present an animation, with up to 16 Gmov components on an HMI page.  Use the GMovMaker Tool to create an animation in the Nextion *.gmov format using supported *.jpg, *.bmp, *.png and *.gif source files.  The Gmov component contains an additional Play completed Event to trigger user code at the end of each iteration of the animation.

The Video component is used to present a movie, with up to 6 Video components on an HMI page.  Use the VideoBox Tool to convert a movie into the Nextion *.video format. The Video component contains an additional Play completed Event to trigger user code at the end of each iteration of the Video. Use the .from attribute as external file and .path attribute to use *.video files stored in ram or on Nextion’s microSD card.

The Audio component is used to present wav files that are stored in ram or microSD card.  Use the VideoBox Tool Audio tab to create audio resources in the Nextion *.wav format. The Audio component contains an additional Play completed Event to trigger user code at the end of each iteration of the Audio. Use the .from attribute as external file and .path attribute to use *.wav files stored in ram or on Nextion’s microSD card.

The ExPicture component is used to present pictures that are stored in ram or microSD card.  Use the PictureBox Tool to create picture resources in the Nextion *.xi format that can be stored in ram or on Nextion’s microSD card.

The Attribute Pane contains the list of components included within the current design page in the Component drop down. Clicking on a component, or selecting it from the drop down will display the component’s available attributes. The left side contains the attribute name, the right side contains the attributes current value. Clicking on an attribute will display the attributes meaning and valid range/options at the bottom of the Attribute Pane. Double clicking a field with bring up resource editor for the attribute if attribute has such (ie: .pco opens color picker, .pic opens picture chooser).

Attributes that have ranges are evaluated in full during Nextion’s parsing of a complex expression and as such care is required. Nextion is stated as simplex expression, although these rules are often bent. Use care.

The various combinations of attribute choices provides a wide range of expected behaviours with too many combinations to cover in any manual(s). This combined with the Nextion Instruction Set creates the opportunity for very powerful HMIs.

The accepted picture types to import are *.jpg, *.png, non animated *.gif and *.bmp files. When importing a picture, the picture is converted into the 565 16 bit color format used by Nextion. In Basic and Enhanced models: Nextion is not a graphics card, as such transparency and in picture animation is not supported. In native 16-bit color, picture resources consume 16 bits per pixel, or width x height x 2 bytes.

When using cropping, a full screen image is strongly recommended for the background. This avoids pulling data from non-existent space – which will resemble randomized colors (data from other locations). Cropping can consume more cycles than using a picture, using a picture will consume more cycles than solid colors. When cycle time becomes to high to render, tearing and flickering will be the sign. Nextion is an HMI device and not designed for HD multi-media and streaming. That said, amazing effects can still be achieved with purposeful programming.

Properly formed monospaced ZI font resources from v0.53 (and prior) will have a width that is either equal to the height or a width that is half the height. Height will always be a multiple of 8 from 16 to 192. ZI fonts are monobit (pixel is either on or off) and Fixed Width. Hint: Generating a proportional font like Arial where W and @ are 24×24 and squeezing into a 12×24 space is like pouring 2 litres into a one litre bottle and expecting all 2 litres have been saved. Fonts that do not conform to the ZI size formula just stated can indeed have issues when it is rendered on the Nextion device.

Audio resources are imported into your HMI project through the Audio Resource Pane. An audio resource is added with Add, deleted with Delete, and swapped with Replace. Insert will add the imported audio resource before the currently highlighted audio resource. Use the Arrow Up and Arrow Down to renumber the audio resource number within the Audio Resource Pane. Double clicking on a selected Audio resource will preview/play the audio file in the Nextion Editor. Using Trash will delete all audio resources within the pane. Note that Delete will not delete a picture resource if it is being used with a component.

This is the main design space for the visual/touch components for the current Page. The Page’s page component is always .id 0 and always the most back layer. The mouse coordinates are displayed on the Status Bar aiding in precision placement. Selected components can be moved in one pixel offsets using the keyboard arrow keys. For best precision, use the component’s .x and .y attributes. Components selected with the left mouse click can be moved by dragging. Right clicking for context menu has the traditional cut, copy, paste, in place paste, delete, lock and unlock as well as grouping functions Create Group and Delete Group. Grouping will allow for multiple components to be reposition as if one component, another useful feature. Resizing a component can be achieved via edge dragging on any edge. There is a limit of 250 components (visual and non visual) allowed per page.

A Page’s non visual components (Variable, TouchCap, Timer, Audio and FileStream) will be listed in the area under the Design Canvas. This area is not displayed if no non-visual components are used in the page. There is a limit of 250 components (visual and non visual) allowed per page.

User Event Code can contain any valid Nextion Instruction. This section will not teach programming, but will quickly give an overview of the various types of Events where inserting user code is available. Event code is always local to page and never global.

The Output Pane contains details on the build process when Compile/Debug/Upload is selected. Compile needing to occur first, the user HMI is assembled into a usable TFT file for the selected Nextion Model. The first four lines of the output will list the total amount of Available Memory, Global SRAM Memory consumed by the HMI project, and then statistics for the total amount of Flash space the picture resources consumes, followed by the total amount of Flash space the ZI Font resources consumes. For the Intelligent series: a line will be displayed for each Gmov, Video and Audio with the total amount of Flash space each resource group consumes.

Due to the nature of flash, it is possible that a compiled filesize may be under the MB size (ie: 1677216 bytes) and still be shy of the available and usable Flash on the Nextion Device. Nextion may report on upload the File is too big – this is not a hardware error but the working nature of Flash. Some allowance for wear-leveling and unusable flash pages have to be made, and even more so over time.

The Status Bar at the bottom contains three segments. The character encoding, the quick details of the Nextion Model selected, and the Design Canvas mouse coordinates. Clicking on Encoding will launch the DISPLAY tab of Device Settings. The Nextion Model details provide quick design specifications – limits of Project SRAM and Flash is useful to be mindful of.

Once you have completed designing your HMI project in the Nextion Editor and tested it with the Debug Simulator, it is now time to test it on your actual Nextion device. Note: With previous versions of the Nextion Editor, the Compile and Debug toolbar buttons created the project TFT file in the bianyi folder, note this has changed in favour of outputing your *.tft file directly to microSD card (or folder of your choice).

To upload via microSD card, first use the TFT file output under the File menu to generate your TFT file to your microSD card. You need to ensure that your microSD card is Windows formatted as FAT32, that there is only 1 *.tft file on the microSD card in the root folder, that the microSD card is less than 32GB in size (32GB microSD cards generally are), that the power to Nextion device is off when inserting and removing the microSD card, and that you allow time for any firmware updates to occur after powering your Nextion device back on. Note: not all microSD cards are designed for embedded use. example: Ultra High Speed microSD cards for use with high speed digital cameras. Not all manufacturers adhere to the same standards. It is a matter of finding microSD cards that work for you in a reliable manner. As an example, We have had good successes with Kingston 32GB class 10 HC microSD cards … there are many many others that work well.

Uploading over TTL Serial can be accomplished using the Upload toolbar button and selecting your configured COM port and baud rate. Keep in mind that Nextion devices are 5.0V devices (refer to your Nextion model’s Datasheet). As there are many many manufactures of USB to TTL Serial adapters, it remains within the User’s domain to understand their chosen TTL Serial Adapter to install, properly configure, and operate.

The Nextion Upload Protocol v1.1 has been published in the Nextion blog section. This allows users to upload their *.tft files over Serial without the Nextion Editor. As this is an advanced topic, it will not be covered in depth here. Please refer to the published Nextion Upload Protocol v1.1

The Nextion Editor ZI Font Creator has undergone an overhaul to introduce proportional fonts with anti-aliasing. Height must be between 16 and 254 and Custom can be chosen to set a height not listed in the dropdown (between 16 and 254). Choosing Anti-aliasing of fonts option will generate an anti-aliased font. Leaving anti-aliased not selected will generate a mono-bit font. Previous embedded 1:2 ratio with width=1/2height has been replaced in favour of proportional fonts. Fixed width fonts can still be generated from a fixed width font source (such as Consolas). Fonts created in the new Font Creator are not compatible with v0.53/LTS. Any installed font on your system can be used as a source for generating your ZI font.  ZI Fonts can now be limited to a specified range of characters, useful for subsetting your fonts to what is project required and reduce font resource space usage.  (56 pixel height UTF-8 could be a very large ZI file at 23,168,377 bytes)

If looking for the suitable nextion LCD display in bulk, it is a good idea. Buyers should consider buying lcd displays in bulk, which are a good option for them.

Buyers should consider buying lcd based on their specific needs and budget. If lcd is a good option for buyers, you should consider purchasing lcd from the wholesalers on Alibaba.

When looking for a suitable nextion lcd display, it is easy to find where the nextion LCD display is easy to clean. Due to the built-in lcd display, it is easy to find other displays that have easy-to-use settings.

Nextion is a Seamless Human Machine Interface (HMI) solution that provides a control and visualisation interface between a human and a process, machine, application or appliance. Nextion is mainly applied to IoT or consumer electronics field. It is the best solution to replace the traditional LCD and LED Nixie tube.

This solution includes hardware part - a series of TFT boards and software part - Nextion editor. Nextion TFT board uses only one serial port to do communicating. Let you get rid of the wiring trouble. We notice that most engineers spend much time in application development but get unpleasant results.

In this situation, Nextion editor has mass components such as button, text, progress bar, slider, instrument panel etc. to enrich your interface design. And the drag-and-drop function ensures that you spend less time in programming, which will reduce your 99% development workloads. With the help of this WYSIWYG editor, GUI designing is a piece of cake.

This is a powerful 3.5"" HMI, which is member of Nextion family. Features include: a 3.5" TFT 480 x320 resistive touch screen display, 4M Flash, 2KByte RAM, 65k colors.

Unfortunately,  the µBITx community has fractured its user base amongst competing screen technologies.   There are many different types of LCD display screens and they are not compatible at all.

Differences between the Nextion and JackAl displays have been discussed on the BITX20 IO Group list following discussion about whether a Nextion screen used with the KD8CEC firmware could be ported across to the JackAl.  The simple answer is “No”!

Brian N8BDB notes that  it’s not going to be as simple as replacing a driver and rebuilding the application.  The Nextion display works in a very different way than the normal displays most people use for microprocessors like arduino and teensy.

Normally the display is a “dumb” device that just handles displaying the dots.  Software libraries are used to provide basic functionality like drawing lines, boxes, and text.  Touch events are handled completely separately by other libraries.

The Nextion display is the opposite.  The display has it’s own microcontroller, memory, etc. and the arduino communicates with it through a serial interface.  All of the buttons, text, gauges, etc. are prebuilt in the Nextion editor.  The application doesn’t know where they are on the screen.  It just has a name such as “button1” that is associated with a button on a particular screen for instance.  The application just sends a command to the display to change the text of “button1” to “abcd”.  It would require a significant rewrite of the JackAl UI code to make it work with a Nextion display.

The other thing as Jack pointed out is about resolution.  The Nextion displays most people have are much lower resolution than the display used by the JackAl board.  The 2.4″ and 2.8″ Nextion displays are 320×240.  The 5″ Nextion display ($60) is the closest one with similar resolution (800×480) and that is 33% more in price than the display ($40) that JackAl currently uses.  Even the 4.3″ Nextion display is only 480×272.

There are pros and cons of both screen types.  The Nextion costs a bit more per pixel because it has a processor on board, but the demand (in terms of memory and processing power) on the main µBITx is minimal.   The processor and screen communicate using a series of codes.   The Nextion (in theory) can be adapted to have quite different user interfaces for the same functions.  There are, in fact, at least two distinctly different versions of “look and feel” available already.   However, setting up these requires a fairly steep learning curve on the screen management environment.

On the other hand, the JackAl screen (along with all other types of LCD screens) is strongly tied into the firmware of the JackAl teensy processor and amending the “look and feel” of the display requires detailed knowledge of the processor, firmware and the screen programming environment on which the JackAl is built.  It is unlikely that the Nextion will be ported across to the JackAl environment any time soon.  Bite the bullet and buy a new screen!

Nextion Editor is a free human-machine interface (HMI) GUI development software for Nextion Basic Series, Enhanced Series, and Intelligent Series. The software offers an easy way to create an intuitive and superb touch user interface even for beginners. Add a static picture as a background, define functions by components, you can make a simple GUI in minutes. The easy Drag-and-Drop components and simple ASCII text-based instructions will dramatically reduce your HMI project development workloads and develop projects rapidly in a cost-effective way. The Nextion product is the best balance HMI solution between cost and benefit with a low and decreased learning curve.

Debug the HMI project at any time even without the Nextion Display.The instruction input area allows you to send any Nextion commands to check the feedback and interactions.

OverviewNextion is a Human Machine Interface （HMI） solution combining an onboard processor and memory touch display with Nextion Editor software for HMI GUI project development. Using the NEXTION Editor software, you can quickly develop the HMI GUI by drag-and-drop components (graphics, text, button, slider, etc.) and ASCII text-based instructions for coding how components interact at the display side. Nextion HMI display connects to peripheral MCU via TTL Serial (5V, TX, RX ,GND) to provide event notifications that peripheral MCU can act on, the peripheral MCU can easily update progress, and status back to Nextion display utilizing simple ASCII text-based instructions. Comparing with Basic Series, the Discovery Series has a better MCU performance, the same functionalities as Basic, and Lower Price. That’s Nextion Discovery Series Products.