womarts LCD touch

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-2-TFT-LCD-Shield-with-Touch-Screen-TF-Reader-for-Arduino-Mega-2560-R3-A132-/251206081121?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7d0c9a61

Anyone tried one of these? The photos don't show silkscreening for the header connections. But they claim to work with the mega 2560 board and are cheaper than others. I fear it may be a 'get what you pay for' situation.

How did you go with this? It looks tempting, not only for the price, but also because shield and display are integrated in a single board. I have the Sainsmart which is bulky and could be less reliable with the extra shield layer.
On the other hand, doing the backlight fade/control mod on this board may be difficult.
Cheers, Bernie.

I've written to them to seek details.

What's with the backlight/fade control mod? Do these things typically have backlighting issues?

Hi again,

What's with the backlight/fade control mod? Do these things typically have backlighting issues?

No issues, just that with this controller you can't control the backlight or turn the display on or off.
(ie: the .lcdOn() and .lcdOff() library functions aren't implemented for this display)
A simple hardware mod and optional (still not finalised) UTFT library mod allows this, but you need to have access on the display board to an extra PWM digital line from the Arduino. Also need space to solder 1 transistor and 1 resistor.

see:
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,138938.0.html
and:
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,139391.0.html

cheers,
Bernie

I wish these displays http://www.bgmicro.com/color-lcd-screen.aspx and http://www.bgmicro.com/black-and-white-lcd-screen.aspx were Arduino compatible, but they make no such claims. They would be "get what you pay for" like you said. Good luck with the eBay display if you try one.

I bought one of those (from the same seller) about three days ago, waiting for the package to arrive. :slight_smile:
It came with an Arduino Mega 2560. (probably a cheap china-version)

I'll post a quick "review" about the item here after I've received it. :slight_smile:

Hi Deltac0.
I'll be very interested to hear how you go.
cheers,
Bernie

Still waiting (close to a month!!) for my mega 2560s to arrive so I can try the display out. Womarts provided a zip file with sample code when I asked them. It's 23 MB :astonished: so I don't guess I'll attach it to this post.

I think I'm pretty close to getting my package, it has been handed over to my country's postal office... So, maximum a few days to arrival! :slight_smile:

Hello!

I received my LCD & Mega 2560 yesterday! :slight_smile:

The Mega itself seems to be working just like it should, Windows recognizes it as a genuine Arduino Mega 2560 R3, but I still think it's a counterfeit...
Genuine Mega2560 under 35€ with the 3.2" touch-screen LCD? No way...

The fonts on the board seems to be a little different than the genuine Arduino's. Also the print is kinda pale or something...
Also the logo doesn't seem to be "the real one", it looks just like 2 circles printed with 0 space. :smiley:

Then the LCD... The board is red (which I don't really like, whatever...), and seems to be extremely sturdy.
The pins were about 0.2mm wrong, it was pretty hard to attach it perfectly. However, the pins bended to correct position after first attachment.
The LCD is pretty bright and the colors are vivid.

I can only recommend this to anyone who wants a cheap Mega + Touch LCD! :slight_smile:

Mine showed up today. Having only used the Uno previously, I had two minor stumbles, after which the womart LCD worked.

  1. I neglected to select the board type under Tools in the Arduino menu, so PORTA and PORTC were reported as undeclared
  2. I had to install the USB driver from the Arduino drivers folder (fixed via directions at: http://9thsense.com/arduino-instruction/)

So other than those rookie mistakes, it works fine.

The demo code that womarts provided is outdated, and I couldn't make it work. However, the newer TFT library from Electronics - Henning Karlsen worked perfectly. Likewise the UTouch from Henning Electronics - Henning Karlsen works just fine.

So the womarts offering seems to be a pretty good deal at $15.00! (Oops, I see they are going for $21.50 now. Inflation is rampant!)

Edit: I didn't have the pin alignment issues Deltac0 described. Mine mated up perfectly. I also note the Mega board I have is apparently a clone as well, having a two-circle logo instead of the stylized infinity symbol of the genuine Arduino part. That would explain how aliexpress.com can sell them for $15. I suppose they are free to make their own boards and sell them, but it's rather shameful to counterfeit the logo.

Edit2: I just went through the exercise of testing the SD card aspects. After changing the (two!) reference from 4 to 53 in Cardinfo example, it worked just fine. At first I didn't realize the card pushes in, clicks, but then must be pushed in further to latch it into place. Until I did that Cardinfo couldn't access the card.

Hi! :slight_smile:

I didn't even try the sample code, I used UTFT from the beginning. UTouch, TinyFat and other Henning's libraries work well. :slight_smile:

Also, the board is technically not a "clone", but a counterfeit. If it had something else printed than "Arduino", it would be legal.
It's illegal to make boards with text "Arduino", but legal without it. Freaduino, for example...

I use UTFT exclusively. Those 3.2" displays work well, the touch code is simple to use and the ability to pixel by pixel control the display is nice. I buy them from Amazon who have an excellent return policy on the merchandise sold under their name. I'd rather pay a dollar or 5 more, get it in 2 days, free shipping (with Prime) and if for any reason unsuitable virtually instant returns... at least to my bank.
But that price, the $15.00 US one was great and an error I'm afraid. Amazon's price is $18.95 US + shipping if you're not a prime member.
Get the 'New Mega" shield for the lcd, it has 5 to 3V3 level shilter IC's instead of series resistors as in the 'old' one. The new one has a 3V3 reg and 5 driver IC's ($9.95 @ Itead).

Bob

Hello,

I also purchased the womart LCD, I'm trying to run the demos from henning karlsen.
i just get a black screen...

when calling
UTFT myGLCD(ITDB24E_16,38,39,40,41);

does this have to be updated with the correct model?

if so what should ITDB24E_16 be set to?

Thanks

  • Arduino Newbie

ghost909:
Hello,

I also purchased the womart LCD, I'm trying to run the demos from henning karlsen.
i just get a black screen...

when calling
UTFT myGLCD(ITDB24E_16,38,39,40,41);

does this have to be updated with the correct model?

if so what should ITDB24E_16 be set to?

Thanks

  • Arduino Newbie

The ONLY modification I needed to make was to uncomment the appropriate line in the UTFT examples, which selects Uno or Mega hardware.

Did you get the womart card with 3 connectors of the other one they sell which only has the 40 pin connector? The latter is not directly compatible with the Mega board and requires a separate shield to plug into (as I recall).

My LCD card has a 40-pin at one end, a 6 pin along one edge and an 8-pin along the other edge.

I just got one of these boards (the Mega version).

It works with the UTFT libraries out of the box, no modifications needed.

Problem: does it really use all those pins? my project is using the SPI pins and the Womarts board plugs into the entire set of pins on the bottom of the Mega. So I'm not sure if I can use SPI and this board at the same time..

Hi, Orly_andico,

Can you please post the picture of you TFT (both front side & back side). I also bought the Womarts 3.2" TFT shield for Arduino Mega but so far I am not able to make it work. Would like to compare mine with yours.

Regards,
R.Mohan

JohnHoward:
Mine showed up today. Having only used the Uno previously, I had two minor stumbles, after which the womart LCD worked.

  1. I neglected to select the board type under Tools in the Arduino menu, so PORTA and PORTC were reported as undeclared
  2. I had to install the USB driver from the Arduino drivers folder (fixed via directions at: http://9thsense.com/arduino-instruction/)

So other than those rookie mistakes, it works fine.

The demo code that womarts provided is outdated, and I couldn't make it work. However, the newer TFT library from Electronics - Henning Karlsen worked perfectly. Likewise the UTouch from Henning Electronics - Henning Karlsen works just fine.

So the womarts offering seems to be a pretty good deal at $15.00! (Oops, I see they are going for $21.50 now. Inflation is rampant!)

Edit: I didn't have the pin alignment issues Deltac0 described. Mine mated up perfectly. I also note the Mega board I have is apparently a clone as well, having a two-circle logo instead of the stylized infinity symbol of the genuine Arduino part. That would explain how aliexpress.com can sell them for $15. I suppose they are free to make their own boards and sell them, but it's rather shameful to counterfeit the logo.

Edit2: I just went through the exercise of testing the SD card aspects. After changing the (two!) reference from 4 to 53 in Cardinfo example, it worked just fine. At first I didn't realize the card pushes in, clicks, but then must be pushed in further to latch it into place. Until I did that Cardinfo couldn't access the card.

Hi

Can you please send me the womart Library, so far my screen just shows white background, even without any program uploaded to MEGA. Henning library is also not working. Ive tried all the models listed with myGLCD command.

Thanks!