Mikroelektronika d.o.o.
eINK Click Board - no display
eINK Click Board - no display
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The eINK Click Board™ is an adapter, used to interface a compatible eINK display with the host MCU. The most distinctive feature of the eINK displays is their very low power consumption and the ability to retain the information, even after disconnecting from the power source. The power is consumed only when the display content is changing. The Click Board™ comes shipped with the 172x72 eINK display, driven by the integrated SSD1606 controller and it can display 4 shades: black, dark grey, light grey and white. The same type of display is used on the popular Kindle E-readers.
eINK click is supported by a mikroSDK compliant library, which includes functions that simplify software development. This Click Board™ comes as a fully tested product, ready to be used on a system equipped with the mikroBUS™ socket.
The eINK is a reasonably new technology with a promising future. The displayed content does not degrade when exposed to direct sunlight, the display actually behaves like real paper; it is more readable when there is more light hitting its surface. There is a wide range of applications, where eINK can be implemented: it can be used for very low power consumption applications that require display output, such as mobile phones and wearables, industrial and packaging applications, electronic reading and writing, electronic shelf labels and similar applications that can utilize this type of display.
How Do eINK Displays Work?
The eINK displays are using the SPI communication protocol for communication with the host MCU. These displays feature inherently wide viewing angle and high contrast, as well as good readability in daylight conditions. The click board™ itself carries the supporting electronics, used to provide all the necessary voltages for the proper operation of the eINK display. The display driver pins are routed through the flat cable of the display and connected via the 24pin, 0.5mm ZIF connector on the click board. For example, SSD1606 - 4GS Active Matrix EPD, 128 x 180 Display Driver with Controller is widely used, and a pretty common choice when it comes to eINK displays. From there, the command and data lines are routed to the appropriate pins on the mikroBUS™ of the eINK click.
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The eINK Click Board™ also contains the LM75 thermal sensor, which uses the I2C protocol to communicate with the display driver IC. This is required for thermal compensation of the display, so it can be operated in a wide temperature range, from 0°C to +50°C. The total power consumption of this device is very low. The power is only required when rearranging the microcell pigments is required, while no power is required to sustain the content of the display. The display retains the content, even when the power is disconnected.
The eINK Click Board™ uses both I2C and SPI communication interfaces. It is designed to be operated only with up to 3.3V logic levels. Proper conversion of logic voltage levels should be applied, before the Click board™ is used with MCUs operated at 5V.
The supplied click library contains easy to use functions, that simplify the workflow with the eINK click. Their usage is demonstrated in the provided example application, which can be used as a reference for the custom design.
eINK displays
The eINK click - without display can be used as an adapter for connecting any e-paper display from our offer:
- E-Paper display 1,54" 200x200 dots
- E-Paper display 2,9" 296x128 dots
- E-Paper display 2,13" 122x250 dots
Note: this click is supplied without the display in its package.
Specifications
| Type | Adapter, Electronic Paper Display |
| Applications | It can be used for very low power consumption applications that require display output, such as mobile phones and wearables, industrial and packaging applications, electronic reading and writing, electronic shelf labels and similar applications |
| On-board modules | The LM75 thermal sensor for thermal compensation of the display |
| Key Features | The most distinctive feature of the eINK displays is their very low power consumption and the ability to retain the information, even after disconnecting from the power source |
| Interface | GPIO, SPI |
| Compatibility | mikroBUS |
| Click board size | S (28.6 x 25.4 mm) |
| Input Voltage | 3.3V |
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on the eINK Click Board™ corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
| Notes | Pin |  |
Pin | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC | 1 | AN | PWM | 16 | D/C | Data/Config | |
| Reset | RST | 2 | RST | INT | 15 | BSY | Busy indicator |
| SPI Chip select | SDN | 3 | CS | RX | 14 | NC | |
| SPI Clock | SCK | 4 | SCK | TX | 13 | NC | |
| NC | 5 | MISO | SCL | 12 | NC | ||
| SPI data input | SDI | 6 | MOSI | SDA | 11 | NC | |
| Power Supply | 3.3V | 7 | 3.3V | 5V | 10 | NC | |
| Ground | GND | 8 | GND | GND | 9 | GND | Ground |
Software Support
We provide a library for the eINK click on our Libstock page, as well as a demo application (example), developed using MikroElektronika compilers. The demo can run on all the main MikroElektronika development boards.
Library Description
The library covers all functionalities of the EPA20-A eINK display.
Key functions:
eink_fill_screen( uint8_t color )- Fills the screen with the selected colour.eink_text( uint8_t *text, uint8_t x, uint8_t y )- Writes text on the screen.eink_image_bmp( const uint8_t* img )- Displays image on the screen.
Examples Description
The application is composed of three sections:
- System Initialization - Initializes SPI module and CS pin, RST pin, PWM pin as output and INT pin as an input.
- Application Initialization - Initializes driver and configures the display
- Application Task - (code snippet) - Repeats operations with a pause of 3 seconds between them.
- Display black letters on a white background
- Display white letters on a black background
- Display external image
void applicationTask()
{
eink_fill_screen( _EINK_COLOR_WHITE );
eink_set_font( &guiFont_Exo_2_Condensed21x32_Regular[0], _EINK_COLOR_BLACK, _FO_HORIZONTAL );
eink_text( &_eINK_Text[0], 14, 50 );
delay_ms( 3000 );
eink_fill_screen( _EINK_COLOR_BLACK );
eink_set_font( &guiFont_Exo_2_Condensed21x32_Regular[0], _EINK_COLOR_WHITE, _FO_HORIZONTAL );
eink_text( &_eINK_Text[0], 14, 50 );
Delay_ms( 3000 );
eink_image_bmp( &_mikroe_bmp[0] );
Delay_ms( 3000 );
}
The example carries a BMP image converted to an array using Visual TFT.
The full application code, and ready to use projects can be found on our Libstock page.
Other mikroE Libraries used in the example:
- SPI
Additional Notes and Information
Depending on the development board you are using, you may need a USB UART click, USB UART 2 click or RS232 click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. The terminal available in all MikroElektronika compilers, or any other terminal application of your choice, can be used to read the message.
mikroSDK
The eINK Click Board™ is supported with mikroSDK - MikroElektronika Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant click board demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.The eINK Click Board™ is an adapter, used to interface a compatible eINK display with the host MCU. The most distinctive feature of the eINK displays is their very low power consumption and the ability to retain the information.
eINK Click Board - no display
Frequently Asked Questions
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