Pervasive Displays teams with Arduino and Silicon Labs to launch the first E-Paper Development Kit for Matter
12 Dec 2024
TORINO, Italy, AUSTIN, Texas, and TAINAN, Taiwan, December 12, 2024 — Pervasive Displays, Arduino and Silicon Labs today announced the launch of the first ever E-Paper Display (EPD) kit built on Matter (E-Paper Display Kit for Matter), designed to enhance smart home devices through e-paper displays (EPDs) that provide users with better information and an enhanced user experience.
In the fast-growing smart home technology market, the introduction of the Matter protocol has marked a significant milestone. Matter is designed to create a unified and secure connectivity standard that enables seamless interaction and interoperability among smart devices from various manufacturers. This means that homes will be able to enjoy a truly connected and cohesive smart home experience, where devices communicate effortlessly, enhancing convenience, efficiency, and overall user satisfaction.
E-paper technology, at the same time, offers a sustainable and user-friendly display solution for smart homes. EPDs are known for their low power consumption by design, making them an ideal choice for smart home devices, providing clear and legible information while significantly reducing energy footprint.
The E-Paper Development Kit for Matter, or EPDK–Matter, is the world’s first kit to explore the Matter protocol with EPDs. The self-contained kit includes an EXT4 Expansion Board, a state-of-the-art 2.90” e-paper screen and an adapter board for an easy connectivity, all three designed and manufactured by Pervasive Displays; and bundles with the Arduino Nano Matter board from Arduino based on the MGM240S module from Silicon Labs. The open-source libraries include Matter examples and leverage the Arduino SDK, together with extensive documentation.

E-Paper Development Kit for Matter
The EXT4 Expansion Board drives the e-paper screen and provides a rich assortment of peripherals. The peripherals include a 3-axis accelerometer, a temperature and relative humidity sensor, a button, an RGB LED, and a passive NFC antenna.
The high-definition 2.90” e-paper screen features 384 x 168 pixels at 144 dpi, includes embedded fast update and operates at wide temperature range: normal update from -15 to +60°C and fast update from 0 to +50°C. The kit also provides all the accessories needed to connect the boards and start evaluating the e-paper technology.
The adapter board ensures a fast and safe connection between the Arduino Nano Matter and the EXT4 Expansion Board. It is also compatible with the other boards of the extended Arduino Nano family. The additional 20-way cable is designed to connect the EXT4 to any board.
The Matter radio is driven by the Arduino Nano Matter board from Arduino, powered by the MGM240S module from Silicon Labs. The MGM240S module is a multi-protocol 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M33 with 802.15.4 (Thread) and Bluetooth® Low Energy.
The software relies on two libraries running on the Arduino SDK. The Matter library, part of official Silicon Labs Arduino Core, brings the features of the Matter protocol. The PDLS_EXT4_Basic_Matter library provides a high-level interface to drive the e-paper screens, and includes multiple examples, of which two Matter devices: a remotely controlled RGB LED and a temperature and humidity sensor.
The E-paper display plays a critical role for the user experience. The E-paper display shows the QR-code to join the Matter network on a fast, easy and secure way. It also displays the values of the sensors for immediate reading.
![]() QR-Code to join the Matter network |
![]() Temperature and Humidity sensor information |

Live demonstration of temperature and humidity information
The kit could be used in two ways. As an introduction to Matter and e-paper displays, the kit provides ready-to-use examples to build and upload with the Arduino IDE, and a user guide with a step-by-step procedure. For more advanced designs, the dedicated GitHub repository provides the source code to be used and customised with the Arduino SDK and IDE.
The E-Paper Development Kit for Matter goes beyond the Matter scenario and is ready for any IoT / IIoT application where remote display, data acquisition and low power are critical, such as smart retail, smart factory, inventory management, environmental control (meters, HMI), or home and building automation (HVAC, thermostat).
“The multi-protocol MGM240S module, based on the MG24 SoC, brings ideal features, power efficiency and consumption to battery-powered or energy harvesting IoT devices. The full support of Matter is perfect for the extensive range of e-paper screens from Pervasive Displays,” says Rob Shane, Vice President of Mass Market Sales and Applications at Silicon Labs.
“The Arduino Nano Matter integrates seamlessly with the extensive Arduino ecosystem, offering tools and examples that simplify the exploration of Matter and accelerate application development by abstracting complex processes,” says Fabio Violante, CEO of Arduino. “The EPDK-Matter development kit is an excellent entry point for both makers and professionals, including those in industrial sectors. Additionally, this kit inspires creativity for a wide range of home automation applications powered by e-paper technology.”
“The Matter protocol is a breakthrough innovation for the interoperability of home automation devices. The hardware and software options from Arduino, and the expertise of Silicon Labs in radio modules, have made a natural choice for this kit,” says Charming Su, Vice President, Business Development, Field Applications and Marketing at Pervasive Displays. “The E-paper display is a perfect match with Matter for ultra-low power projects. As a leading e-paper design house and manufacturer, Pervasive Displays offers a wide range of solutions for industrial applications. Our EPDK-Matter development kit makes it very easy for anyone to develop ultra-low energy consumption and high-performance applications that require a display and a rich assortment of sensors.”
The E-Paper Development Kit for Matter is available at the Arduino Store, DigiKey and Mouser.
See also the press on Arduino and Silicon Labs.
About Arduino
Arduino is the leading open-source hardware and software company in the world. Born to provide an easy-to-use platform for anyone making interactive projects, Arduino has reached a growing community and adapted to new needs and challenges, branching out into products for IoT, wearables, 3D printing, and embedded environments. As of today, the Arduino community includes over 33 million active users. For more information visit www.arduino.cc
About Silicon Labs
Silicon Labs is a leader in secure, intelligent wireless technology for a more connected world. Their integrated hardware and software platform, intuitive development tools, unmatched ecosystem and robust support make them an ideal long-term partner in building advanced industrial, commercial, home and life applications. They make it easy for developers to solve complex wireless challenges throughout the product lifecycle and get to market quickly with innovative solutions that transform industries, grow economies and improve lives. For more information visit www.silabs.com.
About Pervasive Displays
Pervasive Displays designs, manufactures and markets e-paper displays that deliver high resolution, ultra-thin form factor, sunlight readability and ultra-low power consumption. The company offers unparalleled technical support and detailed documentation to help designers use e-paper technology (also called e-paper or E-Ink) in Internet of Things (IoT) applications including retail, logistics, healthcare, security and manufacturing. For more information visit www.pervasivedisplays.com.
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