motorcycle tft display free sample

This new library is a standalone library that contains the TFT driver as well as the graphics functions and fonts that were in the GFX library. This library has significant performance improvements when used with an UNO (or ATmega328 based Arduino) and MEGA.

Examples are included with the library, including graphics test programs. The example sketch TFT_Rainbow_one shows different ways of using the font support functions. This library now supports the "print" library so the formatting features of the "print" library can be used, for example to print to the TFT in Hexadecimal, for example:

To use the F_AS_T performance option the ILI9341 based display must be connected to an MEGA as follows:MEGA +5V to display pin 1 (VCC) and pin 8 (LED) UNO 0V (GND) to display pin 2 (GND)

TFT_ILI9341 library updated on 1st July 2015 to version 12, this latest version is attached here to step 8:Minor bug when rendering letter "T" in font 4 without background fixed

Let us start with the basics first; refresh the knowledge about TN and LCD displays in general, later we will talk about TFTs (Thin Film Transistors), how they differ from regular monochrome LCD displays. Then we will go on to the ghosting effect, so we will not only discuss the technology behind the construction of the TFT, but also some phenomena, like the ghosting effect, or grayscale inversion, that are important to understand when using an LCD TFT display.

Next, we will look at different technologies of the TFT LCD displays like TN, IPS, VA, and of course about transmissive and transflective LCD displays, because TFT displays also can be transmissive and transflective. In the last part we will talk about backlight.

Let us start with a short review of the most basic liquid crystal cell, which is the TN (twisted nematic) display. On the picture above, we can see that the light can be transmit through the cell or blocked by the liquid crystal cell using voltage. If you want to learn more about monochrome LCD displays and the basics of LCD displays, follow this link.

What is a TFT LCD display and how it is different from a monochrome LCD display? TFT is called an active display. Active, means we have one or more transistors in every cell, in every pixel and in every subpixel. TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, transistors that are very small and very thin and are built into the pixel, so they are not somewhere outside in a controller, but they are in the pixel itself. For example, in a 55-inch TV set, the TFT display contains millions of transistors in the pixels. We do not see them, because they are very small and hidden, if we zoom in, however, we can see them in every corner of each pixel, like on the picture below.

On the picture above we can see subpixels, that are basic RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colors and a black part, with the transistors and electronic circuits. We just need to know that we have pixels, and subpixels, and each subpixel has transistors. This makes the display active, and thus is called  the TFT display. TFT displays are usually color displays, but there are also monochrome TFT displays, that are active, and have transistors, but have no colors. The colors in the TFT LCD display are typically added by color filters on each subpixel. Usually the filters are RGB, but we also have RGBW (Red, Green, Blue, White) LCD displays with added subpixels without the filter (White) to make the display brighter.

Going a little bit deeper, into the TFT cell, there is a part inside well known to us from the monochrome LCD display Riverdi University lecture. We have a cell, liquid crystal, polarizers, an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) layer for the electrodes, and additionally an electronic circuit. Usually, the electronic circuit consists of one transistor and some capacitors to sustain the pixel state when we switch the pixel OFF and ON. In a TFT LCD display the pixels are much more complicated because apart from building the liquid crystal part, we also need to build an electronic part.

That is why TFT LCD display technologies are very expensive to manufacture. If you are familiar with electronics, you know that the transistor is a kind of switch, and it allows us to switch the pixel ON and OFF. Because it is built into the pixel itself, it can be done very quickly and be very well controlled. We can control the exact state of every pixel not only the ON and OFF states, but also all the states in between. We can switch the light of the cells ON and OFF in several steps. Usually for TFT LCD displays it will be 8-bit steps per color, so we have 256 steps of brightness for every color, and every subpixel. Because we have three subpixels, we have a 24-bit color range, that means over 16 million combinations, we can, at least theoretically, show on our TFT LCD display over 16 million distinct colors using RGB pixels.

Now that we know how the TFT LCD display works, we can now learn some practical things one of which is LCD TFT ghosting. We know how the image is created, but what happens when we have the image on the screen for a prolonged time, and how to prevent it. In LCD displays we have something called LCD ghosting. We do not see it very often, but in some displays this phenomenon still exists.

If some elements of the picture i.e., your company logo is in the same place of the screen for a long period of time, for couple of weeks, months or a year, the crystals will memorize the state and later, when we change the image, we may see some ghosting of those elements. It really depends on many conditions like temperature and even the screen image that we display on the screen for longer periods of time. When you build your application, you can use some techniques to avoid it, like very rapid contrast change and of course to avoid the positioning the same image in the same position for a longer time.

You may have seen this phenomenon already as it is common in every display technology, and even companies like Apple put information on their websites, that users may encounter this phenomenon and how to fix it. It is called image ghosting or image persistence, and even Retina displays are not free of it.

Another issue present in TFT displays, especially TN LCD displays, is grayscale inversion. This is a phenomenon that changes the colors of the screen according to the viewing angle, and it is only one-sided. When buying a TFT LCD display, first we need to check what kind of technology it is. If it is an IPS display, like the Riverdi IPS display line, then we do not need to worry about the grayscale inversion because all the viewing angles will be the same and all of them will be very high, like 80, 85, or 89 degrees. But if you buy a more common or older display technology type, like the TN (twisted nematic) display, you need to think where it will be used, because one viewing angle will be out. It may be sometimes confusing, and you need to be careful as most factories define viewing direction of the screen and mistake this with the greyscale inversion side.

On the picture above, you can see further explanation of the grayscale inversion from Wikipedia. It says that some early panels and also nowadays TN displays, have grayscale inversion not necessary up-down, but it can be any angle, you need to check in the datasheet. The reason technologies like IPS (In-Plane Switching), used in the latest Riverdi displays, or VA, were developed, was to avoid this phenomenon. Also, we do not want to brag, but the Wikipedia definition references our website.

We know already that TN (twisted nematic) displays, suffer from grayscale inversion, which means the display has one viewing side, where the image color suddenly changes. It is tricky, and you need to be careful. On the picture above there is a part of the LCD TFT specification of a TN (twisted nematic) display, that has grayscale inversion, and if we go to this table, we can see the viewing angles. They are defined at 70, 70, 60 and 70 degrees, that is the maximum viewing angle, at which the user can see the image. Normally we may think that 70 degrees is better, so we will choose left and right side to be 70 degrees, and then up and down, and if we do not know the grayscale inversion phenomena, we may put our user on the bottom side which is also 70 degrees. The viewing direction will be then like a 6 o’clock direction, so we call it a 6 o’clock display. But you need to be careful! Looking at the specification, we can see that this display was defined as a 12 o’clock display, so it is best for it to be seen from a 12 o’clock direction. But we can find that the 12 o’clock has a lower viewing angle – 60 degrees. What does it mean? It means that on this side there will be no grayscale inversion. If we go to 40, 50, 60 degrees and even a little bit more, probably we will still see the image properly. Maybe with lower contrast, but the colors will not change. If we go from the bottom, from a 6 o’clock direction where we have the grayscale inversion, after 70 degrees or lower we will see a sudden color change, and of course this is something we want to avoid.

To summarize, when you buy older technology like TN and displays, which are still very popular, and Riverdi is selling them as well, you need to be careful where you put your display. If it is a handheld device, you will see the display from the bottom, but if you put it on a wall, you will see the display from the top, so you need to define it during the design phase, because later it is usually impossible or expensive to change the direction.

We will talk now about the other TFT technologies, that allow us to have wider viewing angles and more vivid colors. The most basic technology for monochrome and TFT LCD displays is twisted nematic (TN). As we already know, this kind of displays have a problem with grayscale inversion. On one side we have a higher retardation and will not get a clear image. That is why we have other technologies like VA (Vertical Alignment), where the liquid crystal is differently organized, and another variation of the TFT technology – IPS which is In-Plane Switching. The VA and IPS LCD displays do not have a problem with the viewing angles, you can see a clear image from all sides.

Apart from the different organization of the liquid crystals, we also organize subpixels a little bit differently in a VA and IPS LCD displays. When we look closer at the TN display, we will just see the subpixels with color filters. If we look at the VA or IPS display they will have subpixels of subpixels. The subpixels are divided into smaller parts. In this way we can achieve even wider viewing angles and better colors for the user, but of course, it is more complicated and more expensive to do.

The picture above presents the TN display and grayscale inversion. For IPS or VA technology there is no such effect. The picture will be the same from all the sides we look so these technologies are popular where we need wide viewing angles, and TN is popular where we don’t need that, like in monitors. Other advantages of IPS LCD displays are they give accurate colors, and wide viewing angles. What is also important in practice, in our projects, is that the IPS LCD displays are less susceptible to mechanical force. When we apply mechanical force to the screen, and have an optically bonded touch screen, we push the display as well as squeeze the cells. When we have a TN display, every push on the cell changes the image suddenly, with the IPS LCD displays with in-plane switching, different liquid crystals organization, this effect is lesser. It is not completely removed but it is much less distinct. That is another reason IPS displays are very popular for smartphones, tablets, when we have the touchscreens usually optically bonded.

If we wanted to talk about disadvantages, there is a question mark over it, as some of them may be true, some of them do not rely on real cases, what kind of display, what kind of technology is it. Sometimes the IPS displays can have higher power consumption than others, in many cases however, not. They can be more expensive, but not necessarily. The new IPS panels can cost like TN panels, but IPS panels definitely have a longer response time. Again, it is not a rule, you can make IPS panels that are very fast, faster than TN panels, but if you want the fastest possible display, probably the TN panel will be the fastest. That is why the TN technology is still popular on the gaming market. Of course, you can find a lot of discussions on the internet, which technology is better, but it really depends on what you want to achieve.

Now, let us look at the backlight types. As we see here, on the picture above, we have four distinct types of backlight possible. The most common, 95 or 99 per cent of the TFT LCD displays on the market are the transmissive LCD display type, where we need the backlight from the back. If you remember from our Monochrome LCD Displays lecture, for transmissive LCD displays you need the backlight to be always on. If you switch the backlight off, you will not see anything. The same as for monochrome LCD displays, but less popular for TFT displays, we have the transflective LCD display type. They are not popular because usually for transflective TFT displays, the colors lack in brightness, and the displays are not very practical to use. You can see the screen, but the application is limited. Some transflective LCD displays are used by military, in applications where power consumption is paramount; where you can switch the backlight off and you agree to have lower image quality but still see the image. Power consumption and saving energy is most important in some kind of applications and you can use transflective LCD displays there. The reflective type of LCD displays are almost never used in TFT. There is one technology called Low Power Reflective Displays (LPRD) that is used in TFT but it is not popular. Lastly, we have a variation of reflective displays with frontlight, where we add frontlight to the reflective display and have the image even without external light.

Just a few words about Low Power Reflective Displays (LPRD). This kind of display uses environmental light, ambient light to reflect, and produce some colors. The colors are not perfect, not perfectly clear, but this technology is becoming increasingly popular because it allows to have color displays in battery powered applications. For example, a smartwatch would be a case for that technology, or an electrical bike or scooter, where we can not only have a standard monochrome LCD display but also a TFT LCD color display without the backlight; we can see the image even in

strong sunlight and not need backlight at all. So, this kind of TFL LCD display technology is getting more and more popular when we have outdoor LCD displays and need a low power consumption.

On the picture above, we have some examples of how transmissive and reflective LCD displays work in the sunlight. If we have a simple image, like a black and white pattern, then on a transmissive LCD display, even with 1000 candela brightness, the image probably will be lower quality than for a reflective LCD display; if we have sunlight, we have very strong light reflections on the surface of the screen. We have talked about contrast in more detail in the lecture Sunlight Readable Displays. So, reflective LCD displays are a better solution for outdoor applications than transmissive LCD displays, where you need a really strong backlight, 1000 candela or more, to be really seen outdoors.

To show you how the backlight of LCD displays is built, we took the picture above. You can see the edge backlight there, where we have LEDs here on the small PCB on the edge, and we have a diffuser that distributes the light to the whole surface of LCD screen.

In addition to the backlight, we have something that is called a frontlight. It is similar to backlight, it also uses the LEDs to put the light into it, but the frontlight needs to be transparent as we have the display behind. On the example on the picture above we can see an e-paper display. The e-paper display is also a TFT display variation, but it is not LCD (liquid crystal), it is a different technology, but the back of the display is the same and it is reflective. The example you see is the Kindle 4 eBook reader. It uses an e-paper display and a frontlight as well, so you can read eBooks even during the night.

According to the Bosch survey nearly 90 percent of riders use their smartphone to prepare or follow-up on trips. One third puts themselves in great danger using their smartphone even while riding. Bosch has developed the smartphone integration solution mySPIN to make the usage of smartphone content safe and more comfortable. Available in the powersports segment since 2018 – this includes for example so-called all-terrain vehicles or personal watercrafts – in BRP vehicles, mySPINnow will be introduced in the motorcycle segment for the first time. Ducati will introduce it together with Bosch’s also new 6.5-inch connectivity display without the split-screen option. “We want motorcyclists to be able to access smartphone content in an integrated and easy way while riding their bike. With the mySPIN platform and integrated connectivity cluster, we have found the right way to do it”, says Vincenzo De Silvio, Research and Development Director at Ducati. From 2021, the solution will also be introduced by Kawasaki.

MultiViu Sports is not only a new generation of displays for the motorcycle world,” says Patric Zimmermann, “it opens up new opportunities for the motorcycle industry. By having a joint back end and a front end that can be customized to a high degree, automotive display technology can be made available to motorcycles in a cost-efficient manner, even with small production runs.” The MultiViu Sports platform also shortens the time to market for manufacturers. Displays can go into production more quickly.

The developers at Continental have not only designed the platform to permit customization of image content. Suppliers can also integrate external services such as weather information or music streaming in cooperation with manufacturers. An app with an open design connects the rider’s smartphone with the motorcycle via Bluetooth Low Energy, taking customization another step further. Continental has also designed the platform to be ready for future technologies and types of user behavior. For example, forthcoming versions of the MultiViu Sports display will offer touchscreen functionality. A video of the display can be seen on the Continental Automotive YouTube channel.

Bosch has launched the world’s first fully integrated split screen for motorcycles. The 10.25-inch TFT display simultaneously displays both relevant vehicle information and riding content like navigation from smartphone apps without distracting the rider, something that used to only be available in premium cars. Additionally, the smartphone integration solution mySPIN brings the connected phone’s content to the motorcycle’s display.

Having surveyed 2,600 motorcycle riders, Bosch found 90% of riders use their smartphone to prepare or follow-up on trips and one third even puts themselves in great danger using their smartphone even while riding. Bosch has developed the smartphone integration solution mySPIN to make smartphone content safe and more comfortable.

Split screen on a 10.25-inch TFT display presenting both relevant vehicle information and riding content like navigation from smartphone apps without distracting the rider.

Yokohama, Japan – A freely programmable split screen that simultaneously displays vehicle information and app content from a smartphone was once reserved exclusively for premium cars. Bosch’s new integrated connectivity cluster is making this feature available for motorcycles in the form of a 10.25-inch TFT display. Additionally, the smartphone integration solution mySPIN brings the connected phone’s content to the motorcycle’s display. A representative Bosch survey among 2 600 motorcycle riders found that eight out of ten riders would welcome this function. “Our clusters in combination with mySPIN offer a new riding experience with more safety and convenience for motorcycle riders. For us, this is the next step in terms of connectivity for motorcycles”, says Geoff Liersch, President of the Two-Wheeler & Powersports unit at Bosch.

The new 10.25-inch TFT display debuts this year on BMW motorcycles. The display’s new dimensions show all relevant information at one glance without distracting the rider. Users decide on the content they wish to see on the screen, all of which can be controlled by the handlebar. The contents of a smartphone app, for example, are automatically adapted with mySPIN to show relevant information fitting the size of the motorcycle display. The split screen continues to show key indicators such as speed and warnings.

According to the Bosch survey nearly 90 percent of riders use their smartphone to prepare or follow-up on trips. One third puts themselves in great danger using their smartphone even while riding. Bosch has developed the smartphone integration solution mySPIN to make the usage of smartphone content safe and more comfortable. Available in the powersports segment since 2018 – this includes for example so-called all-terrain vehicles or personal watercrafts – in BRP vehicles, mySPIN now will be introduced in the motorcycle segment for the first time. Ducati will introduce it together with Bosch’s also new 6.5-inch connectivity display without the split-screen option.

The rider gets access to a rich service offering via various motorcycle-specific apps. With partners such as REVER to download, track and share exciting routes with a community of like-minded riders, Genius Maps and Sygic to find the way to a nearby hotel or restaurant and Dash Radio for free premium digital radio, mySPIN offers an enhanced riding experience. The app portfolio is continuously expanded on a global basis.

As the leading supplier of motorcycle safety systems Bosch’s top priority for years is to make motorcycle riding safer, but the company also wants to offer riders to a more convenient and exciting experience. Connectivity between the rider and motorcycle and its surroundings plays a crucial role. One example is Help Connect. The digitally connected emergency call system for motorcycles enhances road safety by enabling the fast, automatic dispatch of rescue services in the event of an accident. A further proof of how Bosch is making motorized two-wheelers fit for the requirements of tomorrow’s mobility.

The TFT Display Shield Board (CY8CKIT-028-TFT) has been designed such that a TFT display, audio devices, and sensors can interface with Infineon"s PSoC 6™ MCUs.

The TFT Display Shield Board is compatible with the PSoC 6™ WiFi-BT Pioneer Kit CY8CKIT-062-WiFi-BT and the PSoC 6™ BLE Pioneer Kit CY8CKIT-062-BLE. Refer to the respective kit guides for more details.

Simply install the free SUZUKI mySPIN app and connect your smartphone to transfer its display to the GT"s large full-color TFT LCD screen where you can view the contents of your phone, contacts, calendar, music and map apps. You can also install a selection of supported third-party apps optimized for use by motorcycle riders and take advantage of additional services that bring greater convenience and fun to the touring experience. These include navigation, rider assistance, music streaming, tracking, route sharing, and weather information services. SUZUKI mySPIN is compatible with iOS and Android™.

The system can notify you who is calling on the TFT LCD screen by accessing the contacts on your smartphone. It can also use your contacts list to place calls.

Display your current location on the TFT LCD screen and zoom in or out using the switches on the left handlebar. You can also search for destinations and display simple routing suggestions.

Third party apps open a world of further functionality and fun. Downloading these third-party apps within SUZUKI mySPIN adds features such as navigation, routing and time to destination functions, weather information and more. The combination of SUZUKI mySPIN and the TFT LCD screen makes for a richer and more pleasant riding experience that brings the rider and their GT even closer.

Simply use Bluetooth to connect with your motorcycle—which is equipped with Connectivity and TFT—and establish a connection to your communication system, if present. No matter whether you select winding or direct routes, verbal announcements and arrow indications that are easily visible in the TFT ensure that our app and your motorcycle will safely get you to your destination. Thanks to operation on the handlebars, you not only have navigation, telephony and music right at hand, but you also get an overview of the most important riding or vehicle data at the same time.

•The app is part of BMW Motorrad Connectivity and can only be used actively in combination with vehicles with a TFT display. The connection between smartphone, vehicle and communication system, if present, is established wirelessly via Bluetooth. Operation is possible using the multicontroller on the handlebars. To output music, telephony and navigation information, the use of the BMW Motorrad communication system is recommended.

A turn-by-turn arrow navigation system guides you to your destination on the 6.5-inch TFT display. Pending riding maneuvers, such as turns or roundabouts, appear together with a lane guidance.

The 10.25" TFT color display, on the other hand, opens up new worlds to you,  in terms of readability, menu navigation and operating concept. Its full-screen mode provides a fully interactive map view. In split screen mode you can rely on several functions at the same time, and you are able to control them in a straight-forward way using the multi-controller.