6inch HD e-Paper HAT
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Note: Due to the 6-inch e-Paper screen being big, the glass panel and FPC is fragile, please be careful when use it for development. we recommend you reinforce the FPC with scotch tape when developing. Please connect all the cables before powering the device, the device cannot support hot-plug.
There are two versions, one is a raw panel and the other is a HAT version. Driver board (IT8951) is required for the raw panel, if you are the first time to buy this e-paper, recommend you choose the HAT version which comes with the driver board.
Overview
Introduction
- 6inch e-Paper HAT uses IT8951 as a controller, it can be controlled by USB/SPI/I80/I2C interface with the resolution of 1448 × 1072, 6inch EPD (Electronic Paper Display) display.
- It has the advantages of low power consumption, wide viewing angle, and clear display under direct sunlight, and is often used in display applications such as shelf labels and industrial instruments.
Features
- No backlight, keeps displaying last content for a long time even when power down.
- Low power consumption, basically power is only required for refreshing.
- Its design is based on the Raspberry Pi 40PIN GPIO interface, suitable for the Raspberry Pi series.
- Lead out USB/SPI/I80/I2C control interface, which can be connected to main control boards such as Raspberry/Nucleo.
- Provide online information manuals (example programs such as Raspberry/STM32).
Specification
- Operating voltage: 5V
- Interface: USB/SPI/I80/I2C
- Outline dimension: 138.4mm X 101.8mm X 1.01mm
- Display size: 122.356mm X 90.584mm
- Dot pitch: 0.0845mm X 0.0845mm
- Resolution: 1448 X 1072
- Display color: black, white
- Grayscale: 2-16 (1-4 bit)
- Full refresh time: <1s
- Refresh power: 0.6W (typ.)
- Standby power: 0.3W (typ.)
- Viewing angle: >170°
- Operating temperature: 0 ~ 50 ℃
- Storage temperature: -25 ~ 70 ℃
Note:
Refresh time: The refresh time is the experimental results, the actual refresh time will have errors, and the actual effect shall prevail. There will be a flickering effect during the global refresh process, this is a normal phenomenon.
Refresh power consumption: The power consumption data is the experimental results. The actual power consumption will have a certain error due to the existence of the driver board and the actual use situation. The actual effect shall prevail.
Refresh in a low temperature environment may appear color cast, it need to be static in the environment of 25℃ for 6 hours before refresh.
Working Principle
The electronic paper in this product uses the "microcapsule electrophoresis display" technology. The principle is that the charged nanoparticles suspended in the liquid are migrated by the electric field. The e-paper screen displays patterns by reflecting ambient light and does not require a backlight. Under ambient light, the e-paper display screen is clearly visible, with a viewing angle of almost 180°. Therefore, the e-paper display is perfect for reading.
Working with Windows PC (USB)
For Windows computers, the method is as follows:
- Connect the e-Paper to the driver board.
- Connect the driver board to the PC by USB cable.
- Download and run the E-LINK-TCON-DEMO software, you can download the software from #Resources.
- Click connect.
- Check the "AutoSet" option, click "Open File" to select the picture, and click "OK" to confirm.
- Click Display to update the e-Paper.
- Note: If you want to use the USB interface to develop e-Paper on Windows, which need to contact the Waveshare team and sign NDA before you can get the E-LINK-TCON-DEMO source code.
Working with Raspberry Pi (SPI)
- Step 1: Hardware connection:
The following figure shows the hardware connection. Connect the IT8951 Driver HAT to GPIO of Raspberry Pi, and communicate with Raspberry PI via the SPI interface.
You can also connect by wires, as shown in the following table:
| IT8951 Driver HAT | Raspberry Pi (BCM) | Description |
| 5V | 5V | 5V power input |
| GND | GND | Ground |
| MISO | P9 | MISO Pin of SPI |
| MOSI | P10 | MOSI Pin of SPI |
| SCK | P11 | SCK Pin of SPI |
| CS | P8 | Chip selection of SPI (Low active) |
| RST | P17 | Reset pin (Low active) |
| HRDY | P24 | Busy status pin (Low when busy) |
- Step 2: Set the DIP switch to SPI mode.
- Step 3: Install the C function library, open the Raspberry Pi terminal, and execute the following codes:
1. Install bcm2835 libraries (Recommended for Pi4 (faster)).
wget http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/bcm2835-1.60.tar.gz tar zxvf bcm2835-1.60.tar.gz cd bcm2835-1.60 ./configure make sudo make check sudo make install #For more details, you can refer to http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/
2. Install lg library (Recommended for Pi5, BCM library currently does not support Pi5).
#Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following commands: wget https://github.com/joan2937/lg/archive/master.zip unzip master.zip cd lg-master make sudo make install # For more details, you can refer to: https://github.com/gpiozero/lg
3. Install gpiod library (optional).
#Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following commands: sudo apt-get update sudo apt install gpiod libgpiod-dev
- Step 4: Enable SPI interface.
The Raspberry PI uses SPI to drive the IT8951 and then the e-Paper, hence, you need to open the SPI first:
Open the terminal command line and input:
sudo raspi-config
Choose Interfacing Options -> P4 -> SPI -> Yes.
If you use lg or gpiod library, you need to execute the following commands:
# Input the commands: sudo nano /boot/config.txt # Command out dtparam=spi=on and add dtoverlay=spi0-0cs
Input " sudo reboot " to reboot the Raspberry Pi to activate the configuration.
- Step 5: Download demo codes and compile them.
Method 1: Download from our website. (Recommended)
sudo apt-get install p7zip-full sudo wget https://files.waveshare.com/upload/8/80/IT8951_20200319_Release.7z 7z x IT8951_20200319_Release.7z -O./IT8951 cd IT8951/ sudo make clean sudo make -j4 # The BCM library is used by default, if you want to use other libraries, please change them in the Makefile or use the following commands: make -j4 LIB=LGPIO # for using lg library make -j4 LIB=GPIOD # for using gpiod library
Method 2: Download from GitHub.
git clone https://github.com/waveshare/IT8951-ePaper.git cd IT8951-ePaper/Raspberry sudo make clean sudo make -j4 # The BCM library is used by default, if you want to use other libraries, please change them in the Makefile or use the following commands: make -j4 LIB=LGPIO # for using lg library make -j4 LIB=GPIOD # for using gpiod library
- Check the VCOM value on the FPC.
Add the VCOM value as a parameter and take the display mode as a input parameter, this model is mode 0.
sudo ./epd -1.50 0
- Demo execution phenomenon:
1) First, the e-paper will refresh the 16 gray bars partially in sequence.
2) Then demonstrate the demo of drawing lines, circles, rectangles, characters, and numbers.
3) Then respectively demonstrate the demo of displaying BMP pictures in 1bp, 2bp, and 4bp modes.
4) Next, demonstrate the effect of fast refresh in A2 mode.
5) Then display a gif animation.
6) Then demonstrate a Demo that counts the frame rate.
7) Finally, the e-paper is whitened in Init mode for long-term storage.
Working with STM32 (SPI or I80)
Choose interface
- We recommend you to use SPI interface as the pins of SPI interface are less and easy to use
- If the speed of SPI interface is slow for you, you can choose I80 interface which is fast, however, too much pins
- Using I2C to drive (not recommended due to its slow speed).
Choose MCU
- Because IT8951 requires a big RAM for data, some of the STM32 boards don't have enought RAM without external SDRAM. Here we use Waveshare Open429I which has IS42S16400J (64-MBIT) SDAM on board.
SPI interface
- Follow the table below for hardware connection:
| IT8951 Driver HAT | STM32 | Description |
| 5V | 5V | 5V power input |
| GND | GND | Ground |
| MISO | PE13 | MISO Pin of SPI |
| MOSI | PE14 | MOSI Pin of SPI |
| SCK | PE12 | SCK Pin of SPI |
| CS | PE11 | Chip selection of SPI (Low active) |
| RST | PC5 | Reset pin (Low active) |
| HRDY | PA7 | Busy status pin (Low when busy) |
- Set the switch to SPI mode:
- Download demo codes from #Resources
- Unzip the demo codes and open the project by Keil. The path of the code is Open429I-C-6-IT8951-Demo\Project\6-IT8951\MDK-ARM\Project.uvproj.
- Compile the project, then open the IT8951.h file, check if the IT8951 Interface SPI is defined, then compile again and program it to STM32 board. After a few seconds, you can see that the e-paper starts to display pictures in a loop.
- The information will be printed as below (Baud rate 115200)
I80 interface
- Follow the table below for hardware connection:
| IT8951 Driver HAT | STM32 | Description |
| DBUS0~DBUS15 | PB0~PB15 | Data pins |
| HWE | PC1 | Write enable (Low active) |
| D/C | PC7 | Data/Command(Low for command) |
| CSEL | PC6 | Chip select enable (Low active) |
| HRD | PC3 | Read enable (Low active) |
| RST | PC0 | Reset pin (Low active) |
| BUSY | PA7 | Busy status pin (Low when busy) |
| GND | GND | Ground |
| VCC | 5V | 5V power input |
- Set the switch to I80.
- Download demo codes from #Resources.
- Unzip the demo codes and open the project by Keil. The path of the code is Open429I-C-6-IT8951-Demo\Project\6-IT8951\MDK-ARM\Project.uvproj.
- Compile the project, and open the IT8951.h file. Make sure IT8951_Interface_I80 is defined, click Recompile, and download. After a few seconds, you can see that the e-paper starts to display pictures in a loop.
- Information is printed to the serial port as below (baud rate 115200)
Make image arrays
For easily porting and using, we didn't use file system in the STM32 code. The image showed is saved as arrays. Here show you how to make the image arrays.
- You should firstly make an BMP file, the resolution of the e-Paper is 1448*1072, you had better resize your picture accoridng to the resolution (less or equal to).
- Open BMP convert software, Click File->Open..-> to open the picture as below:
- Click Image -> Convert to -> Gray256(8 BPP).
- Click File->Save As...-> Choose type "C" butmap file(*.c) -> input the file name and save
- Select 8 bit per pixel and OK to get the .c file
- Add the .c file to project and delect unuse information
/*********************************************************************
* SEGGER Microcontroller GmbH & Co. KG *
* Solutions for real time microcontroller applications *
* www.segger.com *
**********************************************************************
* *
* C-file generated by *
* *
* Bitmap Converter for emWin V5.22. *
* Compiled Jul 4 2013, 12:18:24 *
* (c) 1998 - 2013 Segger Microcontroller GmbH && Co. KG *
* *
**********************************************************************
* *
* Source file: zoo_800_600 *
* Dimensions: 800 * 600 *
* NumColors: 256 *
* *
**********************************************************************
*/
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "GUI.h"
#ifndef GUI_CONST_STORAGE
#define GUI_CONST_STORAGE const
#endif
extern GUI_CONST_STORAGE GUI_BITMAP bmzoo_800_600;
/*********************************************************************
*
* Palette
*
* Description
* The following are the entries of the palette table.
* The entries are stored as a 32-bit values of which 24 bits are
* actually used according to the following bit mask: 0xBBGGRR
*
* The lower 8 bits represent the Red component.
* The middle 8 bits represent the Green component.
* The highest 8 bits represent the Blue component.
*/
static GUI_CONST_STORAGE GUI_COLOR _Colorszoo_800_600[] = {
0x000000, 0x010101, 0x020202, 0x030303,
0x040404, 0x050505, 0x060606, 0x070707,
0x080808, 0x090909, 0x0A0A0A, 0x0B0B0B,
0x0C0C0C, 0x0D0D0D, 0x0E0E0E, 0x0F0F0F,
0x101010, 0x111111, 0x121212, 0x131313,
0x141414, 0x151515, 0x161616, 0x171717,
0x181818, 0x191919, 0x1A1A1A, 0x1B1B1B,
0x1C1C1C, 0x1D1D1D, 0x1E1E1E, 0x1F1F1F,
0x202020, 0x212121, 0x222222, 0x232323,
0x242424, 0x252525, 0x262626, 0x272727,
0x282828, 0x292929, 0x2A2A2A, 0x2B2B2B,
0x2C2C2C, 0x2D2D2D, 0x2E2E2E, 0x2F2F2F,
0x303030, 0x313131, 0x323232, 0x333333,
0x343434, 0x353535, 0x363636, 0x373737,
0x383838, 0x393939, 0x3A3A3A, 0x3B3B3B,
0x3C3C3C, 0x3D3D3D, 0x3E3E3E, 0x3F3F3F,
0x404040, 0x414141, 0x424242, 0x434343,
0x444444, 0x454545, 0x464646, 0x474747,
0x484848, 0x494949, 0x4A4A4A, 0x4B4B4B,
0x4C4C4C, 0x4D4D4D, 0x4E4E4E, 0x4F4F4F,
0x505050, 0x515151, 0x525252, 0x535353,
0x545454, 0x555555, 0x565656, 0x575757,
0x585858, 0x595959, 0x5A5A5A, 0x5B5B5B,
0x5C5C5C, 0x5D5D5D, 0x5E5E5E, 0x5F5F5F,
0x606060, 0x616161, 0x626262, 0x636363,
0x646464, 0x656565, 0x666666, 0x676767,
0x686868, 0x696969, 0x6A6A6A, 0x6B6B6B,
0x6C6C6C, 0x6D6D6D, 0x6E6E6E, 0x6F6F6F,
0x707070, 0x717171, 0x727272, 0x737373,
0x747474, 0x757575, 0x767676, 0x777777,
0x787878, 0x797979, 0x7A7A7A, 0x7B7B7B,
0x7C7C7C, 0x7D7D7D, 0x7E7E7E, 0x7F7F7F,
0x808080, 0x818181, 0x828282, 0x838383,
0x848484, 0x858585, 0x868686, 0x878787,
0x888888, 0x898989, 0x8A8A8A, 0x8B8B8B,
0x8C8C8C, 0x8D8D8D, 0x8E8E8E, 0x8F8F8F,
0x909090, 0x919191, 0x929292, 0x939393,
0x949494, 0x959595, 0x969696, 0x979797,
0x989898, 0x999999, 0x9A9A9A, 0x9B9B9B,
0x9C9C9C, 0x9D9D9D, 0x9E9E9E, 0x9F9F9F,
0xA0A0A0, 0xA1A1A1, 0xA2A2A2, 0xA3A3A3,
0xA4A4A4, 0xA5A5A5, 0xA6A6A6, 0xA7A7A7,
0xA8A8A8, 0xA9A9A9, 0xAAAAAA, 0xABABAB,
0xACACAC, 0xADADAD, 0xAEAEAE, 0xAFAFAF,
0xB0B0B0, 0xB1B1B1, 0xB2B2B2, 0xB3B3B3,
0xB4B4B4, 0xB5B5B5, 0xB6B6B6, 0xB7B7B7,
0xB8B8B8, 0xB9B9B9, 0xBABABA, 0xBBBBBB,
0xBCBCBC, 0xBDBDBD, 0xBEBEBE, 0xBFBFBF,
0xC0C0C0, 0xC1C1C1, 0xC2C2C2, 0xC3C3C3,
0xC4C4C4, 0xC5C5C5, 0xC6C6C6, 0xC7C7C7,
0xC8C8C8, 0xC9C9C9, 0xCACACA, 0xCBCBCB,
0xCCCCCC, 0xCDCDCD, 0xCECECE, 0xCFCFCF,
0xD0D0D0, 0xD1D1D1, 0xD2D2D2, 0xD3D3D3,
0xD4D4D4, 0xD5D5D5, 0xD6D6D6, 0xD7D7D7,
0xD8D8D8, 0xD9D9D9, 0xDADADA, 0xDBDBDB,
0xDCDCDC, 0xDDDDDD, 0xDEDEDE, 0xDFDFDF,
0xE0E0E0, 0xE1E1E1, 0xE2E2E2, 0xE3E3E3,
0xE4E4E4, 0xE5E5E5, 0xE6E6E6, 0xE7E7E7,
0xE8E8E8, 0xE9E9E9, 0xEAEAEA, 0xEBEBEB,
0xECECEC, 0xEDEDED, 0xEEEEEE, 0xEFEFEF,
0xF0F0F0, 0xF1F1F1, 0xF2F2F2, 0xF3F3F3,
0xF4F4F4, 0xF5F5F5, 0xF6F6F6, 0xF7F7F7,
0xF8F8F8, 0xF9F9F9, 0xFAFAFA, 0xFBFBFB,
0xFCFCFC, 0xFDFDFD, 0xFEFEFE, 0xFFFFFF
};
static GUI_CONST_STORAGE GUI_LOGPALETTE _Palzoo_800_600 = {
256, // Number of entries
0, // No transparency
&_Colorszoo_800_600[0]
};
GUI_CONST_STORAGE GUI_BITMAP bmzoo_800_600 = {
800, // xSize
600, // ySize
800, // BytesPerLine
8, // BitsPerPixel
_aczoo_800_600, // Pointer to picture data (indices)
&_Palzoo_800_600 // Pointer to palette
};
- Modify codes
static GUI_CONST_STORAGE unsigned char _aczoo_800_600[] = {
- to (you can rename the array)
const unsigned char zoo_800_600[] = {
- Modify IT8951.c file, for example:
extern const unsigned char zoo_800_600[];
void IT8951DisplayExample3()
{
IT8951LdImgInfo stLdImgInfo;
IT8951AreaImgInfo stAreaImgInfo;
TWord width = gstI80DevInfo.usPanelW;
TWord high = gstI80DevInfo.usPanelH;
TDWord i;
for (i = 0;i < width*high;i++)
{
gpFrameBuf[i] = zoo_800_600[i];
}
IT8951WaitForDisplayReady();
//Setting Load image information
stLdImgInfo.ulStartFBAddr = (TDWord)gpFrameBuf;
stLdImgInfo.usEndianType = IT8951_LDIMG_L_ENDIAN;
stLdImgInfo.usPixelFormat = IT8951_8BPP;
stLdImgInfo.usRotate = IT8951_ROTATE_0;
stLdImgInfo.ulImgBufBaseAddr = gulImgBufAddr;
//Set Load Area
stAreaImgInfo.usX = 0;
stAreaImgInfo.usY = 0;
stAreaImgInfo.usWidth = width;
stAreaImgInfo.usHeight = high;
IT8951HostAreaPackedPixelWrite(&stLdImgInfo, &stAreaImgInfo);//Display function 2
IT8951DisplayArea(0,0, gstI80DevInfo.usPanelW, gstI80DevInfo.usPanelH, 2);
}
Precautions
Connection
Due to product upgrades, the hardware connections of the different E-paper HATs may be different compared to the picture, the specific FPC cable and pin numbers shall prevail:
- Check example 1
- Check example 2
DIP Switch
- At present, it is not recommended to drive via the I2C interface, it is recommended to use the USB, I80, or SPI interface to drive.
- Whether to drive via the USB interface, I80 interface, or SPI interface, you need to turn the DIP switch circled in red in the figure below to the right ON position, as shown in the figure below:
- If USB is used to connect the PC and the E-LINK-TCON-DEMO cannot recognize the IT8951 when connected to a PC by USB, please check whether both sides of the two dip switches marked by the red box are on, only when both dipswitches marked by the red box are on can the PC recognize it.
Choose SPI or I80 to Drive
- If you use a USB driver, you do not need to pay attention to the dip switch in the green box shown below:
- If you use the SPI driver or I80 driver, you need to pay attention to the dip switch in the green box shown below, if you dial to I80 side, it means to use the I80 driver, if you dial to SPI side, it means use SPI driver:
Demo Description
New Features
- 1. Using 4bpp to refresh 16 levels of grayscale images, the amount of data transferred by SPI is reduced to half of the original, avoiding the waste of RAM and transfer time caused by using 8bpp to refresh 16 levels of grayscale images in the previous version.
- 2. SPI transfer speed doubled, effective in Raspberry Pi 3 generation, Raspberry Pi 4 generation is not effective due to the increase of CPU main frequency.
- 3. The time interval for refreshing pictures is reduced to 1/4 of the original one. It takes about 10S to refresh a 16-level grayscale BMP picture to 10.3-inch e-Paper (D) using GC16 mode in the previous version of the demo, but only about 3S in this demo.
- 4. Avoid the memory leak caused by the allocation of cache after opening the bmp file in the previous version but not released.
- 5. Add 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, 8bpp mode support.
- 6. Add the A2 mode refresh demo, you can feel the A2 mode refresh speed.
- 7. Add support for drawing points, lines, circles, rectangles, writing characters, etc. Support grayscale selection of drawing characters and patterns, support 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, 8bpp, if you choose 1bpp, also support A2 mode refresh.
- 8. Add 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, and 8bpp refresh support for bmp pictures, if you choose 1bpp, also support A2 mode refresh.
- 9. Add the demo of displaying GIF pictures, which can write multiple pictures to IT8951 cache, and then directly refresh the data of different addresses in the cache to the ink screen when displaying, eliminating the data transfer process between RPi and IT8951, and refreshing the frame rate up to 7fps.
- 10. Add frame rate test demos to test the frame rate when refreshing different size areas, 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, 8bpp, A2 mode, and GC16 mode.
- 11. Support enhanced drive capability to avoid partial blurring of the screen display in some cases.
- 12. Support 4-byte alignment for 6-inch ePaper HAT and 6-inch HD ePaper HAT to avoid abnormal display when refreshed in 1bpp.
- 13. Demos need to enter VCOM when running, and at the end of the demo run, it will be fully painted white to protect the screen and extend the life of the screen.
- 14. Optimize the demo structure, reduce the coupling of the program, and standardize some functions, and variable naming.
Demo Description
Partially Refresh 16 Gray Bars From Light to Deep Gray Scale in Sequence
- Function name: DisplayColorPaletteExample
- This demo shows how to use 4bp, combined with GC16 mode, to partially refresh 16 grayscale bars from light to dark in sequence.
Draw Points, Lines, Circles, Rectangles and Characters
- Function name: DisplayCharacterPatternExample
- The demo demonstrates, how to draw points, lines, circles, rectangles, and write characters, supports 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, and 8bpp, and if 1bpp is used, A2 mode refresh is also supported.
Display BMP Pictures
- Function name: DisplayBMPExample
- The demo demonstrates how to refresh a bmp image, supporting 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, and 8bpp, and if 1bpp is used, A2 mode refresh is also supported.
A2 Mode Refresh Example
- Function name: DynamicRefreshExample
- This demo demonstrates how to use A2 mode for refreshing. In this demo, it will be refreshed multiple times, the refresh area will keep changing, and the area of the refresh area will gradually become larger, after multiple times of refreshing, the residual shadow will appear, and INIT mode will be used to clear the residual shadow. With this demo, you can feel the refresh speed of the A2 mode.
Display GIF Pictures
- Function name: DynamicGIFExample
- The demo demonstrates how to refresh a GIF image. In this demo, a GIF image is split into 7 bmp images beforehand, and the 7 bmp images are written to the cache of contiguous addresses of IT8951 in succession, and when displaying, the image data is read out from the cache of the IT8951 at the corresponding address and refreshed to the E-paper display. Since there is no RPi and IT8951 data transmission process, the refresh speed will be very fast, this Demo also demonstrates the limit speed of IT8951 refresh ink screen, about 7fps.
Frame Rate Test
- Function name: CheckFrameRateExample
- This demo is designed to facilitate testing the frame rate of refresh when refreshing different size areas, 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, 8bpp, and A2 mode, GC16 mode, in this demo, the time to refresh 10 frames of images will be counted automatically and the frame rate (fps) will be calculated automatically.
Related Description
Mode Description
IT8951 for different resolutions of the screen brushed into different firmware, different firmware has different refresh modes, see E-paper-mode-declaration for details, the modes used in the demo are INIT mode, GC16 mode, and A2 mode.
The following is a brief description of the relevant modes: The following is a brief description of the relevant modes:
| Mode | Features | 6inch/6inch HD | 7.8inch/9.7inch/10.3inch |
|---|---|---|---|
| INIT | Used to erase the display content, and clear the screen. It is recommended to use INIT mode to clear the screen after several A2 mode refreshes | Mode0 | Mode0 |
| GC16 | Adopt 16 levels of grayscale to refresh the screen display content, the best display effect | Mode2 | Mode2 |
| A2 | Only black and white can be refreshed, but the refresh speed is the fastest | Mode4 | Mode6 |
//basic mode definition
UBYTE INIT_Mode = 0;
UBYTE GC16_Mode = 2;
//A2_Mode's value is not fixed, is decided by the firmware's LUT
UBYTE A2_Mode = 6;
if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M641") == 0 ){
//6inch e-Paper HAT(800,600), 6inch HD e-Paper HAT(1448,1072), 6inch HD touch e-Paper HAT(1448,1072)
A2_Mode = 4;
Four_Byte_Align = true;
}else if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M841") == 0 ){
//9.7inch e-Paper HAT(1200,825)
A2_Mode = 6;
}else if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M841_TFA2812") == 0 ){
//7.8inch e-Paper HAT(1872,1404)
A2_Mode = 6;
}else if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M841_TFA5210") == 0 ){
//10.3inch e-Paper HAT(1872,1404)
A2_Mode = 6;
}else{
//default set to 6 as A2 Mode
A2_Mode = 6;
}
About bpp
bpp is Bits per pixel, it is the data that show the number of bits per pixel. Currently, all the gray e-Paper supports 1bpp, 2bpp, 4bpp, and 8bpp.
- 1bpp
- Each pixel occupies 1 bit.
- Can display 2(2^1=2) levels of grayscale, suitable for A2 mode (can only update 2 levels of grayscale in black and white).
- Each byte can store 8 pixels.
- Pixel points are stored in 1 byte in big-endian format:
- In IT8951, the little-endian format is used by default, and it is necessary to convert the big-endian format to the little-endian format.
- 2bpp
- Each pixel occupies 2 bits.
- Capable of displaying 4(2^2=4) levels of grayscale.
- Each byte can store 4 pixels.
- Pixel points are stored in per 1 byte in RAM in big-endian format:
- In IT8951, the little-endian format is used by default, and it is necessary to convert the big-endian format to the little-endian format.
- 4bpp
- Each pixel occupies 4 bits.
- Capable of displaying 16(2^4=16) levels of grayscale.
- Each byte can store 2 pixels.
- Pixel points are stored in per 1 byte in RAM in big-endian format:
- In IT8951, the little-endian format is used by default, and it is necessary to convert the big-endian format to the little-endian format.
- It is recommended to use 4bpp for a refreshing, which can display 16 levels of grayscale, and compared to 8bpp, the amount of transmitted data is reduced by half, the transmission speed is twice as fast, and there is no difference in display effect.
- 8bpp
- Each pixel occupies 8 bits.
- Can display 256 (2^8=256) levels of grayscale, but in IT8951 only the high 4 bits are taken, so only 16 levels of grayscale can be displayed.
- Each byte can store 1 pixel.
- Pixel points are stored in per 1 byte in RAM in big-endian format:
- In IT8951, the little-endian format is used by default, and it is necessary to convert the big-endian format to the little-endian format.
- To get the corresponding grayscale image from the original image. The specific operation in the program is: whether drawing points, drawing lines, or getting the image, each pixel point obtained is 1 byte (8 bits), if you want to get the corresponding grayscale, you only need to get the corresponding high bit of the byte. For example, if you want to get 2bpp pixel points, you only need to get the high 2 bits from the pixels of 8bpp (8 bits). The specific operation is shown in the following program, in which each byte in RAM is also converted from big-endian to little-endian.
UDOUBLE Addr = X * (Paint.BitsPerPixel) / 8 + Y * Paint.WidthByte;
switch( Paint.BitsPerPixel ){
case 8:{
Paint.Image[Addr] = Color & 0xF0;
break;
}
case 4:{
Paint.Image[Addr] &= ~( (0xF0) >> (7 - (X*4+3)%8 ) );
Paint.Image[Addr] |= (Color & 0xF0) >> (7 - (X*4+3)%8 );
break;
}
case 2:{
Paint.Image[Addr] &= ~( (0xC0) >> (7 - (X*2+1)%8 ) );
Paint.Image[Addr] |= (Color & 0xC0) >> (7 - (X*2+1)%8 );
break;
}
case 1:{
Paint.Image[Addr] &= ~( (0x80) >> (7 - X%8) );
Paint.Image[Addr] |= (Color & 0x80) >> (7 - X%8);
break;
}
}
4-byte Alignment Description
During the test, we find that when we use 1bpp mode to update the 6inch e-Paper and 6inch HD e-Paper, we should align the X (begin point) and W (width) of the update area to four bytes (32bits), otherwise, the image cannot be displayed.
if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M641") == 0 ){
//6inch e-Paper HAT(800,600), 6inch HD e-Paper HAT(1448,1072), 6inch HD touch e-Paper HAT(1448,1072)
A2_Mode = 4;
Four_Byte_Align = true;
}else if( strcmp(LUT_Version, "M841") == 0 ){
...
}
if(Four_Byte_Align == true){
In_4bp_Refresh_Area_Width = Panel_Width - (Panel_Width % 32);
}else{
In_4bp_Refresh_Area_Width = Panel_Width;
}
X_Start = Min_X < 32 ? 0 : Min_X - (Min_X % 32);
Debug("X_Start:%d\r\n",X_Start);
X_End = ( Max_X + (32 - (Max_X % 32)) ) > Touch_Pannel_Area_Width ? ( Max_X - (Max_X % 32) ) : ( Max_X + (32 - (Max_X % 32)) );
Debug("X_End:%d\r\n",X_End);
Y_Start = Min_Y;
Debug("Y_Start:%d\r\n",Y_Start);
Y_End = Max_Y;
Debug("Y_Start:%d\r\n",Y_End);
Width = X_End - X_Start;
if(Width<=0){
Width = 32;
}
Debug("Width:%d\r\n",Width);
Height = Y_End-Y_Start;
if(Height<=0){
Height = 32;
}
Debug("Height:%d\r\n",Height);
About the speed of SPI
Due to the difference in CPU main frequency of Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 4:
- For Raspberry Pi 3, it could use a maximum of 16 clock dividers.
- For Raspberry Pi 4, it could use a maximum 32-clock divider. When Raspberry Pi 4B adopts 16 divisions, the SPI rate is too high, and there will be transmission errors.
- In BCM2835 library manual, different Raspberry Pi version, different clock frequency, the corresponding frequency description is shown below:
- If you need to obtain the most suitable SPI transfer speed, you need to select a different SPI clock division according to your Raspberry Pi version, as shown in the following program and its comments:
bcm2835_spi_begin();//Start spi interface, set spi pin for the reuse function bcm2835_spi_setBitOrder(BCM2835_SPI_BIT_ORDER_MSBFIRST);//High first transmission bcm2835_spi_setDataMode(BCM2835_SPI_MODE0);//spi mode 0 //bcm2835_spi_setClockDivider(BCM2835_SPI_CLOCK_DIVIDER_16);//For RPi 3/3B/3B+ bcm2835_spi_setClockDivider(BCM2835_SPI_CLOCK_DIVIDER_32);//For RPi 4B /* SPI clock reference link：*/ /*http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/group__constants.html#gaf2e0ca069b8caef24602a02e8a00884e*/
Enhance Driving Capability
Sometimes, the e-Paper displays abnormally because of the long FPC cable, in this case, you can try to enhance the driving capability.
Specific procedures are shown below:
#if(Enhance)
Debug("Attention! Enhanced driving ability, only used when the screen is blurred\r\n");
Enhance_Driving_Capability();
#endif
/******************************************************************************
function: Enhanced driving capability
parameter: Enhanced driving capability for IT8951, in case the blurred display effect
******************************************************************************/
void Enhance_Driving_Capability(void)
{
UWORD RegValue = EPD_IT8951_ReadReg(0x0038);
Debug("The reg value before writing is %x\r\n", RegValue);
EPD_IT8951_WriteReg(0x0038, 0x0602);
RegValue = EPD_IT8951_ReadReg(0x0038);
Debug("The reg value after writing is %x\r\n", RegValue);
}
If the E-LINK-TCON-DEMO software is used on a PC (Windows) to refresh the E-paper via the USB interface, the drive can be enhanced by modifying the register values as follows:
- Read the data of the register address 0x18000038.
If the data of the read register address 0x18000038 is 0x02, it means that the driver is not yet enhanced.
- Modify the data to 602.
- Check the data.
Check whether the data of the register address 0x18000038 has been modified successfully. If the data of the address is 0x602, it means that the driving capability has been enhanced. In this state, the screen can be refreshed to avoid some situations, such as the FPC line being too long, the production batch being different, etc., resulting in a blurry display.
About VCOM
The VCOM voltages of every e-Paper panel are different and they are printed on FPC cable. Please make sure that you use the correct VCOM in each execution of the demo, otherwise, the display will become worse if the E-paper works under the wrong VCOM value for a long time.
Development Notes
The above content only introduces how to use 6inch e-Paper HAT. For details on how to modify and perform secondary development, users need to consult the relevant code by themselves.
Please refer to IT8951-related Resources.
Resources
Documentation
- Schematic of IT8951 Driver Board
- Schematic of 6inch e-Paper Adapter (B) board
- E-Paper Floyd-Steinberg
Demo code
Datasheet
Software
Other documents
- IT8951 I80/SPi/I2C Programming Guide
- IT851 USB Programming Guide
- Mode description
- Linux code to drive the IT8951 via USB (Raspberry Pi)
FAQ
Questions About Software & Hardware
The most likely reason for not being able to print the picture is that the wires are not connected correctly. Please check the wiring. Due to the different batches of products, the wiring method may not be exactly the same as the picture. Please refer to the cable and 1 and 40 on the silk screen. Connect as shown in the red line mark in the figure below:
{{{5}}}
1. Replace the Micro USB cable with good quality. There are many USB cables on the market that have too much voltage drop, which will cause the USB interface to fail to enumerate normally.
2. Try changing the USB interface. It is recommended to use the USB interface on the back of the PC. Relatively speaking, the power supply current will be larger.
3. Turn the DIP switch to the end. During shipping, the DIP switches may be loosened, and the floating configuration pins cannot put the IT8951 into USB mode.
{{{5}}}
Click connect. The following information will be displayed normally (different models will display different information):
If you fail to refresh, check whether the hard link is normal, use the USB port on the back of the PC (most of the USB ports on the front of the PC have weak power supply capability), and replace the e-paper to test.
Note: Do not plug and unplug the e-paper with power on, otherwise the driver board and e-paper may be damaged.
{{{5}}}
Yes, but the CS, RST, and HRDY pins of the second screen need to be connected to different pins on the controller for individual control.
{{{5}}}
Questions About Screen
- 【Operating condition】Temperature range: 0~50°C; Humidity range: 35%~65%RH
- 【Storage condition】Temperature range: below 30°C; Humidity range: below 55%RH; Maximum storage time: 6 months
- 【Transportation condition】Temperature range: -25~70°C; Maximum shipping time: 10 days
- 【After unpacking】Temperature range: 20°C±5°C; Humidity range: 50±5%RH; Maximum storage time: Assembled within 72 hours
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- Refresh mode:
- Full refresh: The e-paper screen will flicker several times during refreshing (the flicking times depend on the refresh time), and the flicker is to remove the ghosting to achieve the best display effect.
- Partial refresh: The e-paper screen has no flickering effect during refreshing. Users who use partial flashing should pay attention to performing a full flashing operation to remove the ghosting after refreshing several times, otherwise, the ghosting problem will become more and more serious, or even damage the screen. (At present, only some black and white e-paper screens support partial refreshing, please refer to the product page for details).
- Refresh frequency:
- During use, it is recommended that customers set the refresh interval of the e-ink screen to at least 180 seconds. (Except for products that support the partial refreshing function)
- During the standby process (that is, after the refresh operation), it is recommended that the customer set the e-paper screen to sleep mode, or power off (the power supply part of the e-paper screen can be disconnected with an analog switch) to reduce power consumption and prolong the life of the e-paper screen. (If some e-paper screens are powered on for a long time, the screen will be damaged beyond repair.)
- During the use of the e-paper screen, it is recommended that customers update the display screen at least every 24 hours. (If the screen keeps the same picture for a long time, there will be a burn-in situation that is difficult to repair).
- Application scenarios:
- The e-paper screen is recommended for indoor use. If it is used outdoors, it is necessary to prevent the e-paper screen from being exposed to direct sunlight, and at the same time, it is necessary to take ultraviolet protection measures, because charged particles will dry out under strong light for a long time, resulting in loss of activity and failure to refresh. This situation is irreversible. When designing electronic ink screen products, customers should pay attention to determine whether the use environment meets the requirements of electronic ink screens.
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Ideally, with normal use, it can be refreshed 1,000,000 times (1 million times).
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Power on the development board for a long time, after each refresh operation, it is recommended to set the screen to sleep mode or directly power off, otherwise, the screen may burn out when the screen is in a high voltage state for a long time.
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Yes, but you need to re-initialize the electronic paper with software.
{{{5}}}
Yes.
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