4.3 40-pin TFT Display - 480x272 with Touchscreen

Jargon buster

Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.

boost converter

A boost converter is a switching power circuit that raises a lower input voltage to a higher output voltage. It is used when a device needs more voltage than its power source provides, for example running a 5 V sensor from a 3.3 V supply.

Colour depth

Colour depth describes how many different colours a display can show. A 65K-colour display can show about 65,000 colours, which is useful for icons, graphs, and simple full-colour interfaces but is less detailed than modern phone or computer screens.

frame buffer

A frame buffer is memory that stores a complete image before it is shown on a display. Displays without their own frame buffer need the controller to continuously send pixel data, which affects the choice of microcontroller and software library.

GPS

The US satellite navigation system used by GNSS receivers to calculate position and time. Support for GPS is important because it is widely available and often used together with other constellations for more reliable positioning.

HSync

Horizontal sync is a timing signal that tells a display when a new row of pixels is starting. It matters when setting up RGB TFT panels because the wrong timing can give a shifted, rolling, or blank image.

LED

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.

Pixel Clock

The pixel clock is the timing pulse that tells a display when to read each pixel’s colour data. It matters because the clock rate must match the panel’s resolution and timing requirements for the image to display correctly.

RAM

RAM (random-access memory) is fast, temporary memory a device uses for working data while it is running; in its common volatile form, its contents are lost when power is removed. Some devices offer a mode that applies settings to RAM only, which is handy for testing changes temporarily because they are not stored permanently and disappear at power-off.

RGB

Short for red, green and blue, the three primary colours of light that are mixed in varying amounts to make a wide range of colours. In electronics RGB can refer to an LED or pixel that blends these three colours, or to a colour signal or interface that carries separate red, green and blue channels.

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.

VSync

Vertical sync is a timing signal that tells a display when a new full screen frame is starting. It matters because RGB TFT panels often require the correct VSync timing for stable full-screen updates.