Adafruit
3.5 TFT 320x480 + Touchscreen Breakout Board w/MicroSD Socket [HXD8357D]
A large 3.5" colour TFT LCD breakout board with a built-in resistive touchscreen and a microSD card socket. The 480×320 pixel display is driven by the HX8357...
A large 3.5" colour TFT LCD breakout board with a built-in resistive touchscreen and a microSD card socket. The 480×320 pixel display is driven by the HX8357D chipset and features a bright 6-LED white backlight. The breakout board includes 3–5 V level shifters, making it compatible with both 3.3 V and 5 V microcontrollers.
The display supports two interface modes: 8-bit parallel (12 lines total) for maximum speed, or SPI (5 lines) for a simpler wiring setup. The resistive touchscreen requires 2 digital and 2 analogue pins for direct reading, or can be driven via an external touch controller over I2C/SPI (sold separately). In SPI mode, the onboard microSD socket can be used to load and display bitmap images.
Key Features
- 3.5" TFT Display – 480×320 pixels with individual RGB pixel control
- HX8357D Driver – Built-in controller with RAM buffering for minimal MCU overhead
- Dual Interface – 8-bit parallel (fast) or SPI (fewer pins)
- Resistive Touchscreen – Detects X, Y, and pressure (Z)
- MicroSD Card Socket – Load images from a microSD card in SPI mode
- 3–5 V Level Shifting – High-speed level shifters for broad microcontroller compatibility
- Bright Backlight – 6 white LEDs for clear visibility
Ideal For
- Interactive Arduino and microcontroller projects
- Touch-enabled user interfaces
- Image and data display applications
- Projects requiring a large, readable colour screen
Package Contents
- 1× 3.5" TFT LCD Breakout Board with Touchscreen and MicroSD Socket
- 1× Header strip
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- breakout
- A breakout is a small circuit board that makes a tiny or hard-to-solder component easier to connect to with standard pins. It matters because this OLED module can be wired into a microcontroller project without needing to solder directly to the display’s fine contacts.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- LCD
- LCD stands for liquid crystal display, a screen technology that uses a backlight and liquid crystals to show images or text. It matters because LCD modules usually need a display driver and enough controller pins or a bus interface to send image data.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode is a small electronic component that lights up when current flows through it in the correct direction. In this kit, LEDs create the flashing effect, so polarity and correct soldering matter for the project to work.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a chip that runs your program and controls connected inputs and outputs. For this product, it is the part that reads buttons and sensors, drives the display and speaker, and communicates over Bluetooth.
- microSD card
- A microSD card is a small removable memory card used to store files such as audio tracks. For this product, the card is where the sound files live, so its capacity and formatting can affect how many sounds you can use.
- RAM
- RAM is temporary memory used while a device is running, and its contents are lost when power is removed. A “Run in RAM” mode is useful for testing settings without permanently programming the module, but it may not support every feature.
- RGB
- Short for red, green and blue, usually referring to an LED that can mix those three colours. It matters because controlling an RGB LED teaches how separate outputs combine to create different colours.
- SPI
- A fast serial communication bus often used for displays, memory cards, and sensors. It matters because SPI devices need specific pins for clock and data, plus a separate chip-select line for each device.
- TFT
- A thin-film transistor display is a common type of colour LCD used for graphics screens. Knowing a product is for TFTs helps you check that the driver board matches the display’s connector, resolution, backlight, and signalling method.
Find this product in
Displays & Screens
Related Tutorials
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