Tiny ePaper shield for Photon

Is the display (just the display itself) going to be easily available for purchase?

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Sure you can get just the display alone, e.g. as a spare part or if you want to drive several backplanes in parallel with your own PCB design. Btw itā€™s glass-free, so only 500Āµm thick and 1.2grams light!

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I am also a big fan of a huge e-ink display if thatā€™s what your company is going to offer eventually :smiley:

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@kennethlimcp Increase by factor x2 would be a 2.1" displayā€¦ is that what you mean by huge? :slight_smile: Yes larger screens are possible once the initial Paperino project is finishedā€¦

Btw, the campaign at crowdsupply is alive since today: https://t.co/mQRugD7rZ1

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Iā€™m excited for the larger displays! What are the maximum sizes that you plan on supporting? Iā€™m still searching for an affording 10 inch e Ink displayā€¦

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Giving this a bump so others can find it as I did and order. Prefect for a simple status display project I wanted of something rarely updated. Itā€™ll be fun to see how low the power budget can get.
Congrats on the Hackster.io email mention, even it it was at the very bottom.

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Bump on ā€œRyaninoā€ - thx to Rob for his support!

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Hi Robert! Thank you for posting this. Can you provide a link to the Sparkfun OLED screen you are using and the library for the Particle Photon.

Thanks a lot!!!

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@Gadget

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@gadget, the units are NOT OLED! They use super low-power e-paper displays. :wink:

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I believe these e-paper screens could even generate energy. :slight_smile:

@gadget The lib can be found here or more easily within the Particle+Arduino Library Manager by searching for PL_microEPD.

Currently playing around with a new lib release. It adds support for more (larger) ePaper screens - Demo with 1.1", 1.4", 2.1" & 3.1" EPDs. Will let you know when they become availableā€¦

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@robp The bigger size screens are Nice!

The 3.1" wide version is a unique shape. How much would that sell for approx?

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@RWB The larger ones would roughly be the price of the 1.1" EPDs in the campaign plus the price of a beer (in a pub).

Btw they are bendable to some extend, for the 1.1" size this was not really relevant since the screen is so small. But for the upcoming larger ones one could think about nice new product housings with non-flat screen designs. Iā€™t would be great to see more ideas like this for example.

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Sounds good.

Is there any way to eliminate the flashing that that happens when the screen refreshes or is that just required on all ePaper displays?

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Generally that flashing is needed to erase the ghosting from previous image content, however it can be reduced in two ways:

  • Partial vs. Full updates: By using partial updates only changing pixels are updated, the remaining areas (i.e. white background) remain unchanged
  • 2 vs. 4 Greylevels: Using only 2 Greylevels (black+white) with a faster (mono) waveform does also reduce the flashiness

You can see an example about this topic here.

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@Robp Iā€™m glad I asked because I assumed that it had to flash like that everytime.

For others who come across this, see the differences below.

Iā€™m liking these screens a lot more now!

Can you provide the dimensions of the new screens your working on releasing so I can take some measurements on a few devices Iā€™m working on? Iā€™m having a hard time finding a good screen thatā€™s big but under 32mm tall. The 3.1-inch screen your bringing looks interesting but with the cable coming out the bottom Iā€™m guessing itā€™s taller than 32mm.

When do you think the new sizes will be ready to sell?

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Are the max. 32mm envisaged for the active area or the overall screen dimension?
Screen-Dimensions including Border and Tail-area:

  • 1.1" is about 27x31mm
  • 1.4" is about 19x45mm
  • 2.1" is about 43x54mm
  • 3.1" is about 37x81mm

You can find more details here. Aiming for spring to have these sizes available at Crowd Supply.

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Thanks for that link to measurements of all the screen sizes.

Itā€™s 32mm max height including the Flex connector.

The 4.9-inch display looks like it could work but it looks like itā€™s not something you guys stock like the other screens your about to release.

Iā€™ll for sure pick up some of the newer larger models when youā€™re ready to sell them on Crowd Supply.

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@RobP Iā€™m gonna order on crowd supply.
Thanks everybody for your help.

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Bump - thx Robert for your bonus-material: Sketch for temperatur-measurement and accelerometer!
Check the Update to 21.03.2018: