Crystalfontz believes in giving back — to our local community and beyond. This is the first of a series of posts spotlighting the organizations doing an amazing job caring for kids, communities, and those in need. In this post from Steve Allen of Family Promise of Spokane, learn what this organization does to help homeless … Read more Crystalfontz Charity Works: Family Promise of Spokane
In the video tutorial below, the Crystalfontz 128×128 SPI Color TFT display is connected using 4-wire SPI mode and a SparkFun RedBoard. The software demonstrates bit-banged software SPI, or can use hardware SPI. Please see our tech forum for the complete step-by-step written tutorial. One of our Twitter followers posted this update, using an Arduino-compatible board … Read more Tutorial: Connecting a TFT Display Using an Arduino or SparkFun Board
Question Some of your LCDs have a flexible connection, but I can’t find any connectors that fit them. What is the best way to connect these modules to a PCB? Answer There are three kinds of modules that have this kind of construction: TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) COF (Chip On Flex) and some COG (Chip … Read more FAQ: Hot Bar Soldering for TAB or COF Style LCD Modules
This is the first in a series of day-in-the-life posts at Crystalfontz. Today, we go behind the scenes and visit the production line — the final stage of the LCD manufacturing process. The Crystalfontz high-level interface modules go through a battery of tests and inspections. Our dedicated crew checks for electronic problems as well as … Read more Behind The Scenes: LCD Production Line
Question: How do I display an image on CFA835 module using the RS232 interface? Answer: You can send an image directly from your host application, or read it off the uSD card. Image Requirements for Use on an LCD Module The image needs to be a BMP, grayscale, 8 bits/pixel, no compression, Microsoft Windows format only. … Read more FAQ: How Do I Display an Image on the Crystalfontz 835 LCD Module?
In our last post, we talked about connecting a Raspberry Pi to a Crystalfontz LCD. In this post, we look at connecting an Arduino Uno with a CFA533 I2C LCD with a keypad. This gives you the ability to output and control your Arduino via I2C using a character module with a keypad interface. Let’s Get Started Step … Read more Tutorial: Connect an Arduino to a Crystalfontz 533 Keypad LCD
Have you wondered what it takes to integrate a Crystalfontz LCD with a Raspberry Pi? The answer may surprise you — it is quicker and easier than you might think.
Have you ever been at the car wash in the late afternoon, struggling to read the instructions on the display at the pay kiosk? That may be because it was not a sunlight-readable LCD display. What Makes a Display Readable in Bright Light? There are two ways to get sunlight readability: 1) is to work … Read more What Makes an LCD Sunlight Readable?
Black blobs, “gob tops”… what are those black lumps on the back of LCDS? Let’s Take a Closer Look This image shows the detailed CAD work that goes on behind that innocuous black blob of plastic on the back of COB (Chip-On-Board) LCD modules. The engineers must analyze the wire bond length and angle to … Read more What’s Under the Black Blob on the Back of LCDs?
Here is a quick overview showing a Crystalfontz CFAL5016A-Y 50×16 Graphic OLED Module in SPI mode connected to an Arduino Uno R3. The display is connected using 3-wire SPI mode which uses 10-bit transfers. The software demonstrates bit-banged software 10-bit SPI. Video Demonstration Please note: There is banding on the OLED, which is an artifact between the OLED refresh … Read more Arduino Driving a SPI Graphic OLED
We recently had a forum customer ask for instructions on talking to our new CFA835. One of our excellent firmware designers, Mark, put together some sample code in order to do just that. I’ve created a project on GitHub to host this project Linked Here. We welcome comments, forks, and pull requests. Here’s a convenient … Read more CFA835 Communication With An Arduino
