tft display arduino widgets brands
In this article, you will learn how to use TFT LCDs by Arduino boards. From basic commands to professional designs and technics are all explained here. At the end of this article, you can :Write texts and numbers with your desired font.
In electronic’s projects, creating an interface between user and system is very important. This interface could be created by displaying useful data, a menu, and ease of access. A beautiful design is also very important.
There are several components to achieve this. LEDs, 7-segments, Character and Graphic displays, and full-color TFT LCDs. The right component for your projects depends on the amount of data to be displayed, type of user interaction, and processor capacity.
TFT LCD is a variant of a liquid-crystal display (LCD) that uses thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in contrast to passive matrix LCDs or simple, direct-driven LCDs with a few segments.
In Arduino-based projects, the processor frequency is low. So it is not possible to display complex, high definition images and high-speed motions. Therefore, full-color TFT LCDs can only be used to display simple data and commands.
In this article, we have used libraries and advanced technics to display data, charts, menu, etc. with a professional design. This can move your project presentation to a higher level.
Size of displays affects your project parameters. Bigger Display is not always better. if you want to display high-resolution images and signs, you should choose a big size display with higher resolution. But it decreases the speed of your processing, needs more space and also needs more current to run.
After choosing the right display, It’s time to choose the right controller. If you want to display characters, tests, numbers and static images and the speed of display is not important, the Atmega328 Arduino boards (such as Arduino UNO) are a proper choice. If the size of your code is big, The UNO board may not be enough. You can use Arduino Mega2560 instead. And if you want to show high resolution images and motions with high speed, you should use the ARM core Arduino boards such as Arduino DUE.
In electronics/computer hardware a display driver is usually a semiconductor integrated circuit (but may alternatively comprise a state machine made of discrete logic and other components) which provides an interface function between a microprocessor, microcontroller, ASIC or general-purpose peripheral interface and a particular type of display device, e.g. LCD, LED, OLED, ePaper, CRT, Vacuum fluorescent or Nixie.
The display driver will typically accept commands and data using an industry-standard general-purpose serial or parallel interface, such as TTL, CMOS, RS232, SPI, I2C, etc. and generate signals with suitable voltage, current, timing and demultiplexing to make the display show the desired text or image.
The LCDs manufacturers use different drivers in their products. Some of them are more popular and some of them are very unknown. To run your display easily, you should use Arduino LCDs libraries and add them to your code. Otherwise running the display may be very difficult. There are many free libraries you can find on the internet but the important point about the libraries is their compatibility with the LCD’s driver. The driver of your LCD must be known by your library. In this article, we use the Adafruit GFX library and MCUFRIEND KBV library and example codes. You can download them from the following links.
You must add the library and then upload the code. If it is the first time you run an Arduino board, don’t worry. Just follow these steps:Go to www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software and download the software of your OS. Install the IDE software as instructed.
The second adds a library that supports drivers of MCUFRIEND Arduino display shields.#include "TouchScreen.h" // only when you want to use touch screen#include "bitmap_mono.h" // when you want to display a bitmap image from library#include "bitmap_RGB.h" // when you want to display a bitmap image from library#include "Fonts/FreeSans9pt7b.h" // when you want other fonts#include "Fonts/FreeSans12pt7b.h" // when you want other fonts#include "Fonts/FreeSerif12pt7b.h" // when you want other fonts#include "FreeDefaultFonts.h" // when you want other fonts#include "SPI.h" // using sdcard for display bitmap image#include "SD.h"
By these two functions, You can find out the resolution of the display. Just add them to the code and put the outputs in a uint16_t variable. Then read it from the Serial port by Serial.println();. First add Serial.begin(9600); in setup().
fillScreen function change the color of screen to t color. The t should be a 16bit variable containing UTFT color code.#define BLACK 0x0000#define NAVY 0x000F#define DARKGREEN 0x03E0#define DARKCYAN 0x03EF#define MAROON 0x7800#define PURPLE 0x780F#define OLIVE 0x7BE0#define LIGHTGREY 0xC618#define DARKGREY 0x7BEF#define BLUE 0x001F#define GREEN 0x07E0#define CYAN 0x07FF#define RED 0xF800#define MAGENTA 0xF81F#define YELLOW 0xFFE0#define WHITE 0xFFFF#define ORANGE 0xFD20#define GREENYELLOW 0xAFE5#define PINK 0xF81F
Drawing Linestft.drawFastVLine(x,y,h,t);//drawFastVLine(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t h, uint16_t t)tft.drawFastHLine(x,y,w,t);//drawFastHLine(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t w, uint16_t t)tft.drawLine(xi,yi,xj,yj,t);//drawLine(int16_t x0, int16_t y0, int16_t x1, int16_t y1, uint16_t t)
drawLinefunction draws a line that starts in xi and yi locationends is in xj and yj and the color is t.for (uint16_t a=0; a<5; a++){ tft.drawFastVLine(x+a, y, h, t);}for (uint16_t a=0; a<5; a++){ tft.drawFastHLine(x, y+a, w, t);}for (uint16_t a=0; a<5; a++){ tft.drawLine(xi+a, yi, xj+a, yj, t);}for (uint16_t a=0; a<5; a++){ tft.drawLine(xi, yi+a, xj, yj+a, t);}
These three blocks of code draw lines like the previous code with 5-pixel thickness.tft.fillRect(x,y,w,h,t);//fillRect(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t w, int16_t h, uint16_t t)tft.drawRect(x,y,w,h,t);//drawRect(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t w, int16_t h, uint16_t t)tft.fillRoundRect(x,y,w,h,r,t);//fillRoundRect (int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t w, int16_t h, uint8_t R , uint16_t t)tft.drawRoundRect(x,y,w,h,r,t);//drawRoundRect(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t w, int16_t h, uint8_t R , uint16_t t)
Drawing Circlestft.drawCircle(x,y,r,t); //drawCircle(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t r, uint16_t t)tft.fillCircle(x,y,r,t); //fillCircle(int16_t x, int16_t y, int16_t r, uint16_t t)
fillCirclefunction draws a filled circle in x and y location and r radius and t color.for (int p = 0; p < 4000; p++){ j = 120 * (sin(PI * p / 2000));i = 120 * (cos(PI * p / 2000));j2 = 60 * (sin(PI * p / 2000));i2 = 60 * (cos(PI * p / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 160, j2 + 160, i + 160, j + 160, col[n]);}
Drawing Trianglestft.drawTriangle(x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3,t);//drawTriangle(int16_t x1, int16_t y1, int16_t x2, int16_t y2, int16_t x3, int16_t y3,// uint16_t t)tft.fillTriangle(x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3,t);//fillTriangle(int16_t x1, int16_t y1, int16_t x2, int16_t y2, int16_t x3, int16_t y3,// uint16_t t)
This code sets the cursor position to of x and ytft.setTextColor(t); //setTextColor(uint16_t t)tft.setTextColor(t,b); //setTextColor(uint16_t t, uint16_t b)
The second function just displays the string.showmsgXY(x,y,sz,&FreeSans9pt7b,"www.Electropeak.com");//void showmsgXY(int x, int y, int sz, const GFXfont *f, const char *msg)void showmsgXY(int x, int y, int sz, const GFXfont *f, const char *msg){ uint16_t x1, y1;uint16_t wid, ht;tft.setFont(f);tft.setCursor(x, y);tft.setTextColor(0x0000);tft.setTextSize(sz);tft.print(msg);}
This function changes the font of the text. You should add this function and font libraries.for (int j = 0; j < 20; j++) {tft.setCursor(145, 290);int color = tft.color565(r -= 12, g -= 12, b -= 12);tft.setTextColor(color);tft.print("www.Electropeak.com");delay(30);}
First you should convert your image to hex code. Download the software from the following link. if you don’t want to change the settings of the software, you must invert the color of the image and make the image horizontally mirrored and rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise. Now add it to the software and convert it. Open the exported file and copy the hex code to Arduino IDE. x and y are locations of the image. sx and sy are sizes of image. you can change the color of the image in the last input.
Upload your image and download the converted file that the UTFT libraries can process. Now copy the hex code to Arduino IDE. x and y are locations of the image. sx and sy are size of the image.
In this template, We just used a string and 8 filled circles that change their colors in order. To draw circles around a static point, You can use sin(); and cos(); functions. you should define the PI number. To change colors, you can use color565(); function and replace your RGB code.#include "Adafruit_GFX.h"#include "MCUFRIEND_kbv.h"MCUFRIEND_kbv tft;#include "Fonts/FreeSans9pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSans12pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSerif12pt7b.h"#include "FreeDefaultFonts.h"#define PI 3.1415926535897932384626433832795int col[8];void showmsgXY(int x, int y, int sz, const GFXfont *f, const char *msg){int16_t x1, y1;uint16_t wid, ht;tft.setFont(f);tft.setCursor(x, y);tft.setTextColor(0x0000);tft.setTextSize(sz);tft.print(msg);}void setup() {tft.reset();Serial.begin(9600);uint16_t ID = tft.readID();tft.begin(ID);tft.setRotation(1);tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.fillScreen(0xffff);showmsgXY(170, 250, 2, &FreeSans9pt7b, "Loading...");col[0] = tft.color565(155, 0, 50);col[1] = tft.color565(170, 30, 80);col[2] = tft.color565(195, 60, 110);col[3] = tft.color565(215, 90, 140);col[4] = tft.color565(230, 120, 170);col[5] = tft.color565(250, 150, 200);col[6] = tft.color565(255, 180, 220);col[7] = tft.color565(255, 210, 240);}void loop() {for (int i = 8; i > 0; i--) {tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-i * PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-i * PI / 4)), 10, col[0]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 1)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 1)*PI / 4)), 10, col[1]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 2)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 2)*PI / 4)), 10, col[2]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 3)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 3)*PI / 4)), 10, col[3]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 4)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 4)*PI / 4)), 10, col[4]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 5)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 5)*PI / 4)), 10, col[5]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 6)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 6)*PI / 4)), 10, col[6]); delay(15);tft.fillCircle(240 + 40 * (cos(-(i + 7)*PI / 4)), 120 + 40 * (sin(-(i + 7)*PI / 4)), 10, col[7]); delay(15);}}
In this template, We converted a.jpg image to.c file and added to the code, wrote a string and used the fade code to display. Then we used scroll code to move the screen left. Download the.h file and add it to the folder of the Arduino sketch.#include "Adafruit_GFX.h" // Core graphics library#include "MCUFRIEND_kbv.h" // Hardware-specific libraryMCUFRIEND_kbv tft;#include "Ard_Logo.h"#define BLACK 0x0000#define RED 0xF800#define GREEN 0x07E0#define WHITE 0xFFFF#define GREY 0x8410#include "Fonts/FreeSans9pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSans12pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSerif12pt7b.h"#include "FreeDefaultFonts.h"void showmsgXY(int x, int y, int sz, const GFXfont *f, const char *msg){int16_t x1, y1;uint16_t wid, ht;tft.setFont(f);tft.setCursor(x, y);tft.setTextSize(sz);tft.println(msg);}uint8_t r = 255, g = 255, b = 255;uint16_t color;void setup(){Serial.begin(9600);uint16_t ID = tft.readID();tft.begin(ID);tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.setRotation(1);}void loop(void){tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.fillScreen(WHITE);tft.drawRGBBitmap(100, 50, Logo, 350, 200);delay(1000);tft.setTextSize(2);for (int j = 0; j < 20; j++) {color = tft.color565(r -= 12, g -= 12, b -= 12);tft.setTextColor(color);showmsgXY(95, 280, 1, &FreeSans12pt7b, "ELECTROPEAK PRESENTS");delay(20);}delay(1000);for (int i = 0; i < 480; i++) {tft.vertScroll(0, 480, i);tft.drawFastVLine(i, 0, 320, 0xffff); // vertical linedelay(5);}while (1);}
In this template, We used draw lines, filled circles, and string display functions.#include "Adafruit_GFX.h"#include "MCUFRIEND_kbv.h"MCUFRIEND_kbv tft;uint16_t ox=0,oy=0;int ave=0, avec=0, avet=0;////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////void aveg(void){int z=0;Serial.println(ave);Serial.println(avec);avet=ave/avec;Serial.println(avet);avet=avet*32;for (int i=0; i<24; i++){for (uint16_t a=0; a<3; a++){tft.drawLine(avet+a, z, avet+a, z+10, 0xFB21);} // thickfor (uint16_t a=0; a<2; a++){ tft.drawLine(avet-a, z, avet-a, z+10, 0xFB21);} delay(100); z=z+20; } } ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// void dchart_10x10(uint16_t nx,uint16_t ny) { ave+=nx; avec++; nx=nx*32; ny=ny*48; tft.drawCircle(nx, ny, 10, 0x0517); tft.drawCircle(nx, ny, 9, 0x0517); tft.fillCircle(nx, ny, 7, 0x0517); delay (100); ox=nx; oy=ny; } /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// void dotchart_10x10(uint16_t nx,uint16_t ny) { ave+=nx; avec++; nx=nx*32; ny=ny*48; int plus=0; float fplus=0; int sign=0; int y=0,x=0; y=oy; x=ox; float xmines, ymines; xmines=nx-ox; ymines=ny-oy; if (ox>nx){xmines=ox-nx;sign=1;}elsesign=0;for (int a=0; a<(ny-oy); a++){fplus+=xmines/ymines;plus=fplus;if (sign==1)tft.drawFastHLine(0, y, x-plus, 0xBFDF);elsetft.drawFastHLine(0, y, x+plus, 0xBFDF);y++;delay(5);}for (uint16_t a=0; a<2; a++){tft.drawLine(ox+a, oy, nx+a, ny, 0x01E8);} // thickfor (uint16_t a=0; a<2; a++){tft.drawLine(ox, oy+a, nx, ny+a, 0x01E8);}ox=nx;oy=ny;}////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////void setup() {tft.reset();Serial.begin(9600);uint16_t ID = tft.readID();tft.begin(ID);}void loop() {tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.fillScreen(0xffff);dotchart_10x10(3, 0);dotchart_10x10(2, 1);dotchart_10x10(4, 2);dotchart_10x10(4, 3);dotchart_10x10(5, 4);dotchart_10x10(3, 5);dotchart_10x10(6, 6);dotchart_10x10(7, 7);dotchart_10x10(9, 8);dotchart_10x10(8, 9);dotchart_10x10(10, 10);dchart_10x10(3, 0);dchart_10x10(2, 1);dchart_10x10(4, 2);dchart_10x10(4, 3);dchart_10x10(5, 4);dchart_10x10(3, 5);dchart_10x10(6, 6);dchart_10x10(7, 7);dchart_10x10(9, 8);dchart_10x10(8, 9);dchart_10x10(10, 10);tft.setRotation(1);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0x01E8);tft.setCursor(20, 20);tft.print("Average");int dl=20;for (int i=0;i<6;i++){for (uint16_t a=0; a<3; a++){tft.drawLine(dl, 40+a, dl+10, 40+a, 0xFB21);}dl+=16;}tft.setRotation(0);aveg();while(1);}
In this template, We added a converted image to code and then used two black and white arcs to create the pointer of volumes. Download the.h file and add it to the folder of the Arduino sketch.#include "Adafruit_GFX.h"#include "MCUFRIEND_kbv.h"MCUFRIEND_kbv tft;#include "Volume.h"#define BLACK 0x0000int a = 0,b = 4000,c = 1000,d = 3000;int s=2000;int j, j2;int i, i2;int White;void setup(){Serial.begin(9600);uint16_t ID = tft.readID();tft.begin(ID);tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.setRotation(1);}void loop(void){tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.fillScreen(BLACK);tft.drawRGBBitmap(0, 0, test, 480, 320);White = tft.color565(255, 255, 255);while(1){if (a < s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * a / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * a / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * a / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * a / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 62, j2 + 240, i + 62, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (a-300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (a-300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (a-300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (a-300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 62, j2 + 240, i + 62, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(50, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(50, 285);tft.print(a / 40); tft.print("%");a++;}if (b < s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * b / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * b / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * b / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * b / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 180, j2 + 240, i + 180, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (b-300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (b-300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (b-300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (b-300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 180, j2 + 240, i + 180, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(168, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(168, 285);tft.print(b / 40); tft.print("%");b++;}if (c < s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * c / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * c / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * c / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * c / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 297, j2 + 240, i + 297, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (c-300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (c-300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (c-300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (c-300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 297, j2 + 240, i + 297, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(286, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(286, 285);tft.print(c / 40); tft.print("%");c++;}if (d < s) { j = 14 * (sin(PI * d / 2000)); i = 14 * (cos(PI * d / 2000)); j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * d / 2000)); i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * d / 2000)); tft.drawLine(i2 + 414, j2 + 240, i + 414, j + 240, White); j = 14 * (sin(PI * (d-300) / 2000)); i = 14 * (cos(PI * (d-300) / 2000)); j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (d-300) / 2000)); i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (d-300) / 2000)); tft.drawLine(i2 + 414, j2 + 240, i + 414, j + 240, 0x0000); tft.fillRect(402, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.setTextColor(0xffff); tft.setCursor(402, 285); tft.print(d / 40); tft.print("%"); d++;} if (a > s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * a / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * a / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * a / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * a / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 62, j2 + 240, i + 62, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (a+300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (a+300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (a+300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (a+300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 62, j2 + 240, i + 62, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(50, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(50, 285);tft.print(a / 40); tft.print("%");a--;}if (b > s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * b / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * b / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * b / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * b / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 180, j2 + 240, i + 180, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (b+300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (b+300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (b+300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (b+300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 180, j2 + 240, i + 180, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(168, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(168, 285);tft.print(b / 40); tft.print("%");b--;}if (c > s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * c / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * c / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * c / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * c / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 297, j2 + 240, i + 297, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (c+300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (c+300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (c+300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (c+300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 297, j2 + 240, i + 297, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(286, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(286, 285);tft.print(c / 40); tft.print("%");c--;}if (d > s) {j = 14 * (sin(PI * d / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * d / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * d / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * d / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 414, j2 + 240, i + 414, j + 240, White);j = 14 * (sin(PI * (d+300) / 2000));i = 14 * (cos(PI * (d+300) / 2000));j2 = 1 * (sin(PI * (d+300) / 2000));i2 = 1 * (cos(PI * (d+300) / 2000));tft.drawLine(i2 + 414, j2 + 240, i + 414, j + 240, 0x0000);tft.fillRect(402, 285, 30, 30, 0x0000);tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(402, 285);tft.print(d / 40); tft.print("%");d--;}}}
In this template, We just display some images by RGBbitmap and bitmap functions. Just make a code for touchscreen and use this template. Download the.h file and add it to folder of the Arduino sketch.#include "Adafruit_GFX.h" // Core graphics library#include "MCUFRIEND_kbv.h" // Hardware-specific libraryMCUFRIEND_kbv tft;#define BLACK 0x0000#define RED 0xF800#define GREEN 0x07E0#define WHITE 0xFFFF#define GREY 0x8410#include "images.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSans9pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSans12pt7b.h"#include "Fonts/FreeSerif12pt7b.h"#include "FreeDefaultFonts.h"int a = 3000;int b = 4000;int j, j2;int i, i2;void showmsgXY(int x, int y, int sz, const GFXfont *f, const char *msg){int16_t x1, y1;uint16_t wid, ht;// tft.drawFastHLine(0, y, tft.width(), 0xffff);tft.setFont(f);tft.setCursor(x, y);tft.setTextColor(WHITE);tft.setTextSize(sz);tft.print(msg);delay(1000);}void setup(){Serial.begin(9600);uint16_t ID = tft.readID();tft.begin(ID);tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.setRotation(1);}void loop(void){tft.invertDisplay(true);tft.fillScreen(BLACK);tft.drawRGBBitmap(0, 0, test, 480, 320);tft.drawBitmap(20, 20, Line1, 45, 45, 0xffff);//batterytft.drawBitmap(65, 20, Line2, 45, 45, 0xffff);//wifitft.drawBitmap(125, 25, Line3, 45, 45, 0xffff);//mailtft.drawBitmap(185, 25, Line4, 45, 45, 0xffff);//instagramtft.drawBitmap(245, 25, Line6, 45, 45, 0xffff);//powertft.drawBitmap(20, 260, Line5, 45, 45, 0xffff);//twittertft.drawBitmap(410, 140, Line7, 45, 45, 0xffff);//raintft.setTextSize(6);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);tft.setCursor(280, 210);tft.print("20:45");tft.setTextSize(2);tft.setTextColor(0xffff);showmsgXY(330, 280, 1, &FreeSans12pt7b, "Saturday");showmsgXY(300, 305, 1, &FreeSans12pt7b, "6 October 2018");while (1);}
In this article, you will learn how to use TFT LCDs by Arduino boards. From basic commands to professional designs and technics are all explained here.
In electronic’s projects, creating an interface between user and system is very important. This interface could be created by displaying useful data, a menu, and ease of access. A beautiful design is also very important.
There are several components to achieve this. LEDs, 7-segments, Character and Graphic displays, and full-color TFT LCDs. The right component for your projects depends on the amount of data to be displayed, type of user interaction, and processor capacity.
TFT LCD is a variant of a liquid-crystal display (LCD) that uses thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in contrast to passive matrix LCDs or simple, direct-driven LCDs with a few segments.
In Arduino-based projects, the processor frequency is low. So it is not possible to display complex, high definition images and high-speed motions. Therefore, full-color TFT LCDs can only be used to display simple data and commands.
In this article, we have used libraries and advanced technics to display data, charts, menu, etc. with a professional design. This can move your project presentation to a higher level.
In electronic’s projects, creating an interface between user and system is very important. This interface could be created by displaying useful data, a menu, and ease of access. A beautiful design is also very important.
There are several components to achieve this. LEDs, 7-segments, Character and Graphic displays, and full-color TFT LCDs. The right component for your projects depends on the amount of data to be displayed, type of user interaction, and processor capacity.
TFT LCD is a variant of a liquid-crystal display (LCD) that uses thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in contrast to passive matrix LCDs or simple, direct-driven LCDs with a few segments.
In Arduino-based projects, the processor frequency is low. So it is not possible to display complex, high definition images and high-speed motions. Therefore, full-color TFT LCDs can only be used to display simple data and commands.
In this article, we have used libraries and advanced technics to display data, charts, menu, etc. with a professional design. This can move your project presentation to a higher level.
Size of displays affects your project parameters. Bigger Display is not always better. if you want to display high-resolution images and signs, you should choose a big size display with higher resolution. But it decreases the speed of your processing, needs more space and also needs more current to run.
After choosing the right display, It’s time to choose the right controller. If you want to display characters, tests, numbers and static images and the speed of display is not important, the Atmega328 Arduino boards (such as Arduino UNO) are a proper choice. If the size of your code is big, The UNO board may not be enough. You can use Arduino Mega2560 instead. And if you want to show high resolution images and motions with high speed, you should use the ARM core Arduino boards such as Arduino DUE.
In electronics/computer hardware a display driver is usually a semiconductor integrated circuit (but may alternatively comprise a state machine made of discrete logic and other components) which provides an interface function between a microprocessor, microcontroller, ASIC or general-purpose peripheral interface and a particular type of display device, e.g. LCD, LED, OLED, ePaper, CRT, Vacuum fluorescent or Nixie.
The display driver will typically accept commands and data using an industry-standard general-purpose serial or parallel interface, such as TTL, CMOS, RS232, SPI, I2C, etc. and generate signals with suitable voltage, current, timing and demultiplexing to make the display show the desired text or image.
The LCDs manufacturers use different drivers in their products. Some of them are more popular and some of them are very unknown. To run your display easily, you should use Arduino LCDs libraries and add them to your code. Otherwise running the display may be very difficult. There are many free libraries you can find on the internet but the important point about the libraries is their compatibility with the LCD’s driver. The driver of your LCD must be known by your library. In this article, we use the Adafruit GFX library and MCUFRIEND KBV library and example codes. You can download them from the following links.
You must add the library and then upload the code. If it is the first time you run an Arduino board, don’t worry. Just follow these steps:Go to www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software and download the software of your OS. Install the IDE software as instructed.
By these two functions, You can find out the resolution of the display. Just add them to the code and put the outputs in a uint16_t variable. Then read it from the Serial port by Serial.println(); . First add Serial.begin(9600); in setup().
First you should convert your image to hex code. Download the software from the following link. if you don’t want to change the settings of the software, you must invert the color of the image and make the image horizontally mirrored and rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise. Now add it to the software and convert it. Open the exported file and copy the hex code to Arduino IDE. x and y are locations of the image. sx and sy are sizes of image. you can change the color of the image in the last input.
Upload your image and download the converted file that the UTFT libraries can process. Now copy the hex code to Arduino IDE. x and y are locations of the image. sx and sy are size of the image.
In this template, We converted a .jpg image to .c file and added to the code, wrote a string and used the fade code to display. Then we used scroll code to move the screen left. Download the .h file and add it to the folder of the Arduino sketch.
In this template, We used sin(); and cos(); functions to draw Arcs with our desired thickness and displayed number by text printing function. Then we converted an image to hex code and added them to the code and displayed the image by bitmap function. Then we used draw lines function to change the style of the image. Download the .h file and add it to the folder of the Arduino sketch.
In this template, We created a function which accepts numbers as input and displays them as a pie chart. We just use draw arc and filled circle functions.
In this template, We added a converted image to code and then used two black and white arcs to create the pointer of volumes. Download the .h file and add it to the folder of the Arduino sketch.
In this template, We added a converted image and use the arc and print function to create this gauge. Download the .h file and add it to folder of the Arduino sketch.
while (a < b) { Serial.println(a); j = 80 * (sin(PI * a / 2000)); i = 80 * (cos(PI * a / 2000)); j2 = 50 * (sin(PI * a / 2000)); i2 = 50 * (cos(PI * a / 2000)); tft.drawLine(i2 + 235, j2 + 169, i + 235, j + 169, tft.color565(0, 255, 255)); tft.fillRect(200, 153, 75, 33, 0x0000); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.setTextColor(0xffff); if ((a/20)>99)
while (b < a) { j = 80 * (sin(PI * a / 2000)); i = 80 * (cos(PI * a / 2000)); j2 = 50 * (sin(PI * a / 2000)); i2 = 50 * (cos(PI * a / 2000)); tft.drawLine(i2 + 235, j2 + 169, i + 235, j + 169, tft.color565(0, 0, 0)); tft.fillRect(200, 153, 75, 33, 0x0000); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.setTextColor(0xffff); if ((a/20)>99)
In this template, We display simple images one after each other very fast by bitmap function. So you can make your animation by this trick. Download the .h file and add it to folder of the Arduino sketch.
In this template, We just display some images by RGBbitmap and bitmap functions. Just make a code for touchscreen and use this template. Download the .h file and add it to folder of the Arduino sketch.
By these two functions, You can find out the resolution of the display. Just add them to the code and put the outputs in a uint16_t variable. Then read it from the Serial port by Serial.println();. First add Serial.begin(9600); in setup().
Compatibility: Because the logic level is 3.3V, it is compatible with 3.3V Arduino board, you generally need to add a level conversion circuit if you use a 5V Arduino Board (Arduino UNO R3 / Arduino Mega2560 / Arduino Leonardo).
Popular Create by 300+ developers, used by 100,000+ people and downloaded in every minute. LVGL is available in Arduino, PlatformIO, ESP32, MCUXpresso, Zephyr, NuttX, RT-Thread, ARM CMSIS-Pack and many more.
Cross-platform Has no external dependencies and can be compiled for any vendor"s any MCU or MPU, and (RT)OS to drive ePaper, OLED or TFT displays, or even monitors.
Style system 100 style properties(radius, opacity, gradient, border, shadow, etc.) to customize any part of the widgets (background, scrollbar, indicator, knob, etc) in any state.
The NuMaker-HMI-MA35D1-S1 is an evaluation board for Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 series microprocessors, and consists of three parts: a NuMaker-SOM-MA35D16A81 SOM board, a NuMaker-BASE-MA35D1B1 base board and a 7” TFT-LCD daughter...
As I can read your link, the shield is using D2-D8 and A0-A3, leaving some pins unused. So some Arduino pins are still free to use, just the shield is in the way to get connected there.
create intermediate shield (there are many, which allow you connect to arduinou on bottom and stack antother shield on top, draw your wires from there (and maybe even put some circuities on the middle shield, if you want
(something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/UNO-Prototype-DIY-shield-kit-for-Arduino-UNO-Universal-Extend-Board-UM-UNO/32555004112.html or any "arduino universal shield"
use pins D10-D13 as they are connected also to ISP header https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoISP and could be connected from there. As they are part of SPI interface
It is possible to connect more arduinos, there are so much different ways, that it is hard to write here all - choose one, that would suit you best. (anyway you would need some access to some pins anyway )
TcMenu supports a wide range of rendering devices, from HD44780 based units using our LiquidCrystal fork through to mono OLEDs and full colour TFT displays using Adafruit_GFX and TFT_eSPI library. Over to the left you see an example of rendering to OLED device with title widgets.
How a menu will look on the device will largely depend on which display is used. However, there are a few common features of all displays. They can generally all have a title, and the title can nearly always contain title widgets. Title widgets provide a way to present the graphical state of something within the system in a small icon, the most common would be the signal strength indicator, or a connection status icon. An example showing this is presented below:
In order to allow for a wide range of displays, we provide multiple extension points within the rendering class hierarchy, and keep as much functionality as possible in the core.
From the above diagram we can see that most graphical and LCD displays (except Uno cases) extend from at least the BaseGraphicalRenderer. And in fact all the true graphical displays extend from GraphicsDeviceRenderer and then have a custom drawable. The benefit of GraphicsDeviceRenderer is that does all the complex logic, and the drawable just has to implement the drawing glue code that calls into the library.
Type: BaseMenuRenderer in BaseRenderers.h - this just provides a few functions to help formatting items, taking over the display and handling dialogs.
In all cases the display plugins will create a global variable called renderer in your sketch. It will be at least of type MenuRenderer meaning that you can rely on an absolute base set of functionality. In most cases it will be of BaseGraphicalRenderer or GraphicsDeviceRenderer so you will be able to rely on nearly all functions being available.
Usually, the renderer is initialised during menu setup and this starts a task manager timer task that calls the display back frequently to check if anything needs drawing. It is this task that keeps the screen up-to-date.
It is also possible to present a simple dialog for either information, or Yes / No question onto almost all supported displays. Along with this you can optionally decide to let the dialog show on any remote connections, taking over the top of the display similar to an Alert Box.
The easiest way to use touch support, is from tcMenuDesigner where it can be automatically added to appropriate display devices, this just explains how designer adds touch support for those who want more information, or wish to do it manually.
You can draw to any of our displays using the same DeviceDrawable, it is implemented everywhere we have a graphical plugin, the code remains the same in more or less all cases. All the drawing possibilities are documented, read the full device drawable documentation.
Some displays are buffered by default, these include nearly all monochrome displays and the LTDC frame buffer support. However, TFT displays are typically not buffered into local memory as the memory requirements would be too high. However, if instead of buffering all 16-bit (or 32-bit) color information, we only buffer a palette then only 2 or 4 bits are needed per pixel. This reduces the memory requirement by about 4-8 times.
Further, we only tend to draw one thing at once, so if we also reduce the height of the buffer, for example, to handle the largest menu item height memory is reduced further. In the case of a 320x40 4 color palette buffer for Adafruit_GFX memory requirement is about 3200 bytes. For TFT_eSPI, the requirement would be about 6400 bytes as the buffers are 4 bit (16 color).