I am looking for an LCD TFT (without touch) to attach directly to an Arduino Due. Everything I have seen so far is for either for an Uno or a Mega and if it's not for one of those then it always seems to be a touchscreen and requires a shield that then takes up too many of the digital IO pins (I need at least 12 free digital IO pins to be exposed & available after the shield is fitted, ideally 24 given the lower drive current from the Due).
I need to do some fast graphics work so ideally a 16 bit interface too - hope i'm not asking for too much!
If I use one of the Uno/Mega boards will it work OK on the Due?
JasonHubbard:
I am looking for an LCD TFT (without touch) to attach directly to an Arduino Due. Everything I have seen so far is for either for an Uno or a Mega and if it's not for one of those then it always seems to be a touchscreen and requires a shield that then takes up too many of the digital IO pins (I need at least 12 free digital IO pins to be exposed & available after the shield is fitted, ideally 24 given the lower drive current from the Due).
I need to do some fast graphics work so ideally a 16 bit interface too - hope i'm not asking for too much!
If I use one of the Uno/Mega boards will it work OK on the Due?
You do not say how big a display you require.
Where have you searched for a LCD display?
The standard places are adafruit.com, jameco.com amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, etc.
The reason for the shield is normally level shifters. drop 5volt signals to 3.3v signals.
if you use an Arduino Due with such a display, you should not need a shield.
I have a display, NewHaven International, NHD-4.3CTP-SHIELD-N, NHD-4.3CTP-SHIELD-N
which works on Arduino UNO, Mega2560 and Leonardo. It does not work on an Arduino DUE.
The FTDI examples fail to compile when attempting to use the Arduino DUE.
I have not looked into it any further.
Sorry - Good point about the size.
I'm looking for pretty much anything from 3.2" up to 5".
I appreciate that the LCD's work at 3.3v and need resistors or 245 level shifters when working with Uno's & Mega's that work with 5v. I had hoped that there would be something that plugged directly into the Due and used the 3.3v from there without the need for a shield and/or shifters.
As to where have I looked - Aliexpress, Bangood, Amazon, ebay, google. Is there any other place worth considering?
There are plenty of 3.3V modules e.g. with 40-pin header or 34-pin header.
You use a 40-pin Adapter Shield for Mega. Several Makes.
Or a 40-pin Adapter Shield for Due. Only ColdTears Make (or Sainsmart copy)
As far as I know, there is nothing that is made specifically for Due.
But several Display Shields are made for Mega. And they will plug into the same 18x2 header socket on the Due. The Due library software rearranges the data bus from the Mega pinout.
If you don't want Touch, the Blue HX8357 or Blue ILI9481 Shields work well on a Due with Bodmer's TFT_HX8357 library.
If you want efficient Due port mapping you should use the ColdTears Due Adapter.
Of course you can hand wire all the pins if you don't want to buy an Adapter. I do not advise loose jumper wires.
But you can make your own Adapter from a Protoshield. No level-shifters with a Due.
In fact I made a 40-pin BluePill Adapter from a small piece of Protoboard. It contains 40-pin socket and BluePill. It sits underneath a 40-pin 800x480 SSD1963 display.
David.
Hi David,
Thanks for responding.
Bodmer's TFT_HX8357 library - Is it Due compatible? I was reading a thread that indicated it was for a Mega and might be made available for Due later - I didn't se anything confirming Due compatibility reading further thru the thread.
The ColdTears Due adaptor (like most other adaptors) uses digital IO pins 0 to 7 and all the pins on the 18x2 connector block. That leaves me with pins 8 to 13 and 14 to 21 (so 14 spare IO pins in total). I need to drive 2 banks of 12 relays (each switched via an opto-isolator) - I have doubts that the Due is going to be able to deliver the current to the opto-isolators anyway (total current permitted=130ma on a Due?).
I think I might end up need to use an Uno for the relay handling and a Due for the graphics...