I'm relatively new to arduinos and have never used a touchscreen but I'm working on a project where I wanted to use a capacitive touch tft as my display and input device. I'm building a time-lapse slider controller that will move a camera back and forth on a rail while it's taking pictures. The display would have graphical buttons to enter the various settings (start position, move interval, end position, etc) as well as display some data (# of shots taken, and so on) so really just basic buttons and text.
I'm using an Arduino Mega and the display I wanted to use is from EastRising (buydisplay.com)
Link here:
The only reason I wanted this size display is because I wanted something big but now I'm not sure if it's the best choice because I'm concerned by the following:
Is it going to work for my use - will it be too slow with its resolution to display anything?
This is a battery powered project so I'm thinking a screen of this size will draw too much power although I plan on having the screen shut off to conserve power...
It's not very well documented so will I be able to get it to work in the first place? By this I mean draw the buttons and set up the touch areas and so on.
Anyways, I wanted to ask what you think of this display and or if you would maybe suggest something else instead. I'm open to ideas and the main thing is that I want something that will be functional.
Additionally, I'm also considering scrapping the display entirely, getting a bluetooth module and using my android phone as the display and input device. The arduino would still do all of the heavy lifting.
Thank you for your time and I will appreciate any and all advice that you can give me.
Tom
800x480 screen is it bit large for a few buttons.
And probably too large for typical photos too.
Any TFT backlight will eat up batteries.Android + Blue
The RA8875 can draw text and graphics shapes at blistering speed.
Not so good for individual pixels via an external SPI interface. Especially on a big screen.
The 3-layer sandwich is less robust than a single display-shield.
Resistive Touch is more common with cheap displays.
I suggest that you look very carefully at the Android + BlueTooth design.
Or even a dedicated BT board.
You need to sit down with a few real-life numbers e.g. how bright, how long, how often, ... ?
david_prentice:
800x480 screen is it bit large for a few buttons.
And probably too large for typical photos too.
Any TFT backlight will eat up batteries.Android + Blue
The RA8875 can draw text and graphics shapes at blistering speed.
Not so good for individual pixels via an external SPI interface. Especially on a big screen.
The 3-layer sandwich is less robust than a single display-shield.
Resistive Touch is more common with cheap displays.
I suggest that you look very carefully at the Android + BlueTooth design.
Or even a dedicated BT board.
You need to sit down with a few real-life numbers e.g. how bright, how long, how often, ... ?
David.
Hi David,
Thank you for your input! I will definitely give it more thought. When you say
"I suggest that you look very carefully at the Android + BlueTooth design."
do you mean that in a good way or that you think it's not such a great idea?