Tainan City, Taiwan – 2 August 2022. Pervasive Displays introduces two new boards. The EPD Extension Kit Gen 3 revision 1 (EXT3-1) is an improved revision of the EXT3, incorporating customer feedback. The Touch Expansion Board for EXT3 (EXT3-Touch) adds touch input capability. Both boards sit between the e-paper screen and the host micro-controller.
EXT3-1 Board
The EPD Extension Kit Gen 3 revision 1 (EXT3-1) focuses on ease of use. It reduces active pins from 20 to 12, simplifying connections. The jumper for capacitance selection is now only required for panels larger than 5″. The EXT3-1 supports the full range of iTC ultra-low power e-paper displays — monochrome and tri-colour — from the 1.54″ Aurora to the 12″ Spectra.
The EXT3-1 retains 1 Mbyte of Flash memory and an expansion pad for additional Flash or SRAM if the application requires it. Flash can store fonts or images. SRAM can serve as a frame-buffer when the host micro-controller has limited memory.
EXT3-Touch Board
The Touch Expansion Board for EXT3 (EXT3-Touch) opens a new dimension for EPDs. Instead of being passive, they can now act as input devices for human machine interface (HMI). This is a perfect configuration for ultra-low power IoT remote controls. The EXT3-Touch exposes 4 pins for the touch controller, and 3 ZIF connectors specifically placed for the 2.71″ and 3.70″ iTC screens with touch.
A 34-way flat cable (FFC) connects the EXT3-Touch to the EXT3-1. To save space and ensure stability, the EXT3-1 could be placed on top of the EXT3-Touch and secured with spacers.
Both the EXT3-1 and the EXT3-Touch provision standard 0.1″-spaced holes for each signal. This allows to solder male pins to use the boards on a breadboard or to connect measurement equipment like an oscilloscope or a logic analyzer.
Software and Documentation
The software has been updated accordingly. Driver firmware is available for each EPD and touch controller as open-source license-free examples. The Pervasive Displays Library Suite (PDLS) fully supports touch. It provides a complete set of GUI elements for designing human machine interfaces.
Extensive documentation complements the PDLS to reduce development time. A reference manual lists all functions and parameters. A user manual includes commented examples, application notes, and reference designs.
With the EXT3-1, EXT3-Touch, PDLS, and documentation, Pervasive Displays opens new e-paper solutions for smart home, factory automation, industrial, commercial, and retail applications. Low power consumption is a key advantage in all these sectors.
Compared to traditional TN/STN displays, e-paper requires no power to maintain an image on screen. The application stays in low-power mode until awakened by a capacitive touch interaction. Partial update is fast enough for a responsive interface. Optionally, an external haptic device can provide touch feedback.
“The combination of touch and e-paper display opens a new world of possibilities for ultra-low power applications. The new EXT3-1 and EXT3-Touch boards simplify evaluation of EPD features and benefits for HMI applications,” says Charming Su, Senior VP at Pervasive Displays. “The available libraries and documentation make evaluation and development easier and reduces the customer’s time-to-market.”
The EXT3-1 and EXT3-Touch kits help engineers evaluate e-paper technology and compare it with other display solutions. Engineers can test different host microcontrollers, memory configurations, screen sizes, and colours before making final decisions.
Kits with 2.71″ or 3.70″ touch panels are available at Mouser and Digi-key. The EPDK-Touch bundle combining an EXT3-1, EXT3-Touch, 2.71″ touch panel and Raspberry Pi Pico will also be available at Amazon and SparkFun in Q3 2022 later soon.