Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson," TSE: 6724) will start supplying its first display controller IC reference design from April to support the development of products with small and medium-sized LCD panels. The reference design includes an evaluation board with a display controller IC and sample software for driving the controller.
When developing products with small or medium-sized LCD panels for factory automation, measurement, medical, commercial and other special applications, customers need to connect a display controller IC, microcontroller and LCD panel, run the evaluation, and optimize the setup. However, connecting the components and evaluating them requires careful reading of various manuals and development of custom software among the devices. This takes time and money. To address such issues, Epson developed a display controller IC reference design that simplifies the connections and evaluation. In addition to an evaluation board for the display controller IC, the reference design includes free sample software that works with the microcontroller and the LCD panel, providing strong support for the development of products that use panels.
As the first version of this reference design, Epson will begin selling the new S5U13781R00C100 evaluation board, which features the Epson S1D13781 display controller IC with support for full color (24 bpp) and resolutions up to 480 x 272, through Digi-Key and other online shops from April. The price of this new evaluation board is approximately one-fifth that of previous Epson evaluation boards with the S1D13781, enabling significantly lower development costs.
A common sample software package, which is also capable of driving small and medium-sized TFT LCD panels from various manufacturers on the STM32VL-Discovery evaluation board with the STM32® 32-bit microcontroller based on the Cortex(TM) -M3 from STMicroelectronics, can be downloaded for free from Epson's web page. Customers can easily get their small or medium-sized TFT LCD panels working by simply connecting them with the evaluation board from Epson or ST and downloading the common sample software package. This opens the door to low-cost development of products that use a small or medium-sized color TFT LCD panel while also offering significantly shorter development time.
"Going forward, Epson will continue to release display controller IC reference designs," said Masayuki Morozumi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Epson's Microdevices Operations Division. "These will support higher resolution small and medium-sized TFT LCD panels and evaluation boards with other microcontrollers. Such designs, combined with expanded sales channels, will provide an environment that makes it easier than ever for customers to find what they need."
When developing products with small or medium-sized LCD panels for factory automation, measurement, medical, commercial and other special applications, customers need to connect a display controller IC, microcontroller and LCD panel, run the evaluation, and optimize the setup. However, connecting the components and evaluating them requires careful reading of various manuals and development of custom software among the devices. This takes time and money. To address such issues, Epson developed a display controller IC reference design that simplifies the connections and evaluation. In addition to an evaluation board for the display controller IC, the reference design includes free sample software that works with the microcontroller and the LCD panel, providing strong support for the development of products that use panels.
As the first version of this reference design, Epson will begin selling the new S5U13781R00C100 evaluation board, which features the Epson S1D13781 display controller IC with support for full color (24 bpp) and resolutions up to 480 x 272, through Digi-Key and other online shops from April. The price of this new evaluation board is approximately one-fifth that of previous Epson evaluation boards with the S1D13781, enabling significantly lower development costs.
A common sample software package, which is also capable of driving small and medium-sized TFT LCD panels from various manufacturers on the STM32VL-Discovery evaluation board with the STM32® 32-bit microcontroller based on the Cortex(TM) -M3 from STMicroelectronics, can be downloaded for free from Epson's web page. Customers can easily get their small or medium-sized TFT LCD panels working by simply connecting them with the evaluation board from Epson or ST and downloading the common sample software package. This opens the door to low-cost development of products that use a small or medium-sized color TFT LCD panel while also offering significantly shorter development time.
"Going forward, Epson will continue to release display controller IC reference designs," said Masayuki Morozumi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Epson's Microdevices Operations Division. "These will support higher resolution small and medium-sized TFT LCD panels and evaluation boards with other microcontrollers. Such designs, combined with expanded sales channels, will provide an environment that makes it easier than ever for customers to find what they need."
