2.9inch e-Paper Module

Introduction

Note: The raw panel require a driver board, If you are the first time use this e-Paper, we recommend you to buy the HAT version or buy more one driver hat for easy use, otherwise you need to make the driver board yourself. And this instruction is based on the version with PCB or driver board.

296x128, 2.9inch E-Ink display module, SPI interface

Interfaces

VCC	3.3V
GND	GND
DIN	SPI MOSI
CLK	SPI SCK
CS	SPI chip select (Low active)
DC	Data/Command control pin (High for data, and low for command)
RST	External reset pin (Low for reset)
BUSY	Busy state output pin (High for busy)

Working principle

Introduction

This product is an E-paper device adopting the image display technology of Microencapsulated Electrophoretic Display, MED. The initial approach is to create tiny spheres, in which the charged color pigments are suspending in the transparent oil and would move depending on the electronic charge. The E-paper screen display patterns by reflecting the ambient light, so it has no background light requirement. Under sunshine, the E-paper screen still has high visibility with a wide viewing angle of 180 degree. It is the ideal choice for E-reading.

Communication protocol

Note: Different from the traditional SPI protocol, the data line from the slave to the master is hidden since the device only has display requirement.

CS is slave chip select, when CS is low, the chip is enabled.
DC is data/command control pin, when DC = 0, write command, when DC = 1, write data.
SCLK is the SPI communication clock.
SDIN is the data line from the master to the slave in SPI communication.

SPI communication has data transfer timing, which is combined by CPHA and CPOL.

CPOL determines the level of the serial synchronous clock at idle state. When CPOL = 0, the level is Low. However, CPOL has little effect to the transmission.
CPHA determines whether data is collected at the first clock edge or at the second clock edge of serial synchronous clock; when CPHL = 0, data is collected at the first clock edge.

There are 4 SPI communication modes. SPI0 is commonly used, in which CPHL = 0, CPOL = 0.

As you can see from the figure above, data transmission starts at the first falling edge of SCLK, and 8 bits of data are transferred in one clock cycle. In here, SPI0 is in used, and data is transferred by bits, MSB first.

e-Paper HAT Codes description

e-Paper HAT Hardware/software setup

Documentation

Demo code

Github

Code shared from users

Thanks to Martin, who share his code which was modified for particle photon wifi dev kit

2.9inch_e-Paper_Module_code_particle

Datasheets

2.9inch_e-Paper_Datasheet.pdf

Related Resources

This is a post in Arduino Form about our SPI e-Paper thanks to ZinggJM, maybe you want to refer to.

Waveshare e-Paper display with SPI

Relate applications

WAVESHARE EPAPER AND A RASPBERRYPI

Question:

Working requirements of e-Paper?

Answer:

Two-color B/W e-paper
- 【Working】Temperature: 0~50°C; Humidity: 35%~65%RH
- 【Storage】Temperature: ≤30°C; Humidity: ≤55%RH; Max storage time: 6 months
- 【Transport】Temperature: -25~70°C; Max transport time: 10 days
- 【Unpack】Temperature: 20°C±5°C; Humidity: 50%RH±5%RH; Max storage time: Should be assembled in 72h
Three-Color e-Paper
- 【Working】Temperature: 0~40°C; Humidity: 35%~65%RH
- 【Storage】Temperature: ≤30°C; Humidity: ≤55%RH; Max storage time: 3 months
- 【Transport】Temperature: -25~60°C; Max transport time: 10 days
- 【Unpack】Temperature: 20°C±5°C; Humidity: 50%RH±5%RH; Max storage time: Should be assembled in 72h

When store three-color e-Paper, please refresh it to white, and keep the screen upward. Note that you need to update it at least every three months.

Question:

What do you need to note about e-Paper refreshing?

Answer:

Refresh mode
- Full refresh: e-Paper flicker when full refreshing to remove ghost image for best display.
- Partial refresh: It don't flicker if you use partial refresh (only some of the two-color e-paper support partial refresh). Note that you cannot use Partial refresh all the time, you should full refresh e-paper regularly, otherwise, ghost problem will get worse even damage.
Refresh rate
- When using, you should set the update interval at least 180s.(except Partial supportable types)
- Please set the e-Paper to sleep mode or power off it directly, otherwise, the e-Paper is damaged because of working in high voltage for long time.
- You need to update the content of three-color e-Paper at least one time every 24h to avoid from burn-in problem.
Working place
We recommend you to use the e-Paper indoor. If you need to set the e-paper outdoor, Please place the e-paper in shadow and protect it from UV. When you designed you e-paper product, you should take care about the working situation like temperature, humidity, etc.

Question:

How much could the flexible e-paper be bended

Answer:

The IC part of e-Paper cannot be bended, you can bend the display area in degree larger than 60°C

Question:

Why the e-Paper cant work with Arduino?

Answer:

The I/O level of Arduino is 5V, and the e-Paper should be driven with 3V3. If your Arduino cant drive the e-Paper successfully, please try to convert the level to 3.3V

You can also try to connect the Vcc pin to the 5V of Arduino to see whether the e-Paper works, but we recommend you not to use 5V for a long time.

Question:

Why does the color of e-Paper look a little black or grey?

Answer:

You can try to change the value of Vcom on demo codes.

Question:

Three-color e-paper looks more red/yellow than the picture on website?

Answer:

Because of different batch, some of them have aberration. Store the e-Paper right side up will reduce it. And if the e-Paper didn't be refreshed for long time, it will become more and more red/yellow. Please use the demo code to refresh the e-paper for several times in this case.

Question:

Why my e-paper has ghosting problem after working for some days

Answer:

Please set the e-paper to sleep mode or disconnect it if you needn't refresh the e-paper but need to power on your development board or Raspberry Pi for long time.Otherwise, the voltage of panel keeps high and it will damage the panel

Question:

Why the FPC of the e-Paper is broken after using for some times?

Answer:

Please make sure you have used it in correct way.

To：

Dear Customers, There may be a lag of several hours before we could process your order, depending on the time difference between your location and ours. Sincerely hoping your understanding!

Email(support)

services01@spotpear.com

TAG： Raspberry Pi Monitor Official Original DisplayScreen 15.6 inch LCD Full HD 1920x1080 15.6inch HDMI to TTL Robotic Arm Control Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler Adjustable Focus ESP32 ST7789 tutorial MPS2280 POE Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe to M.2 NVMe SSD Adapter Board HAT Pi5 2280/2242/2230 Raspberry Pi 0.96inch LCD Raspberry Pi Pico 2 RP2350 USB A Development Board RP2350A Raspberry Pi CM5 IO BASE B Mini Board a Base Development Platform Compute Module 5 IO Board with EEPROM And Encryption chip JETSON-NANO-MINI PCIe M.2 NVMe Dual SSD UGV Rover PT AI OpenCV Robot Car MediaPipe For Raspberry Pi ESP32-S3 Development Board 4 inch LCD TouchScreen Display 480x480 RS485 /SHT20 /Relay For Arduino LVGL 86 TVbox E-Paper Font Tutorial RS485 to Ethernet Raspberry Pi Pico 2 RP2350B 2.1 inch Round LCD Touch Display 480x480 HMI LVGL QMI8658 6-axis 65K Colors Jetson Nano Raspberry Pi 5 ESP32 Thermal imaging

Price：

$13.9

Model：

2.9inch-e-Paper-Module

2.9inch E Ink display module, black, white, 296x128

TAG： ESP32-S3 AI 1.85 inch Round LCD NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX Module Raspberry Pi 7.5 inch e-Paper link (H) RYBW 800x480 For Arduino / Jetson Nano / STM32 ADXL354C 7.5 inch Passive NFC e-Paper BW Display E-ink Screen No Need Battery Wireless Powered ESP32-S3 GEEK Jetson Nano Raspberry Pi USB WIFI 5G 2dbi AC600M Antenna wireless Dual Band 2.4G 5.8G RTL8811CU Pi 5 PCIe to M.2 Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe to 4 Port 2.5G Gigabit Ethernet Adapter RJ45 Ports ESP32 S3 ST7701S Raspberry Pi RP2040 Jetson Nano Heatsink Intel 12th Industrial RS485 Modbus RTU Relay Raspberry-Pi -GPIO-Audio-amplification-PWM-Sound-Card-Speaker-Buzzer ESP32 S3 4inch LCD 480x480 Captive TouchScreen Display LVGL HMI Sensor CAN I2C RS485 TVBOX Development Board Milk-V Duo Electronic EYE 0.7 1inch Round LCD Display Screen Arduino Raspberry Pi ESP32 Pico STM32 ESP32 S3 R8 MP3 2.8inch LCD Captive TouchScreen Display LVGL Speaker RTC SD-Card-Port Battery-Port QMI8658-6-Axis-Sensor