Adafruit
5.0 40-pin 800x480 TFT Display without Touchscreen
A 5.0-inch TFT display with 800×480 resolution and LED backlight, providing a large, vibrant screen for embedded projects. This version does not include a to...
A 5.0-inch TFT display with 800×480 resolution and LED backlight, providing a large, vibrant screen for embedded projects. This version does not include a touchscreen overlay, making it a lower-cost option when touch input is not required.
This is a raw RGB TTL (parallel pixel-clock) display — it does not have a built-in SPI/parallel controller or onboard RAM. It requires a dedicated driver board (such as the Adafruit RA8875) or a processor with native RGB TTL output (such as BeagleBone) to drive it. Standard microcontrollers like Arduino cannot drive this display directly without a driver board.
Key Features
- 5.0-Inch 800×480 TFT – High resolution for graphics-rich applications
- 24-Bit Colour – 8 red, 8 green, 8 blue parallel pins via 40-pin connector
- LED Backlight – Requires a constant-current boost converter (up to 24V)
- No Touchscreen – Display only, for a lower cost
Specifications
- Screen Size – 5.0 inches diagonal
- Resolution – 800 × 480 pixels
- Interface – 40-pin RGB TTL (parallel pixel-clock)
- Colour Depth – 24-bit (16.7M colours)
- Backlight – LED (requires constant-current boost converter, up to 24V)
- Refresh Rate – 60 Hz
Ideal For
- Embedded media players and info displays
- BeagleBone and other SBC projects with RGB TTL output
- Custom dashboard and HMI interfaces
- FPGA-driven display projects
Package Contents
- 1× 5.0-Inch 800×480 TFT Display (40-pin, no touchscreen)
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- boost converter
- A boost converter is a power circuit that raises a lower input voltage to a higher output voltage. It matters here because the board can power a sensor that needs a higher supply voltage while still using a single connector for power and data.
- 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.
- HMI
- HMI stands for Human-Machine Interface, meaning the screen, buttons, or controls a person uses to interact with a device. For this product, it suggests the display is intended for control panels, dashboards, robot faces, or other user-facing interfaces.
- 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.
- 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.
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