Adafruit
Monochrome 2.3 128x32 OLED Graphic Display Module Kit
If you've been diggin' our monochome OLEDs but need something bigger, this display will delight you. These displays are 2.3" diagonal, and very readable due ...
If you've been diggin' our monochome OLEDs but need something bigger, this display will delight you. These displays are 2.3" diagonal, and very readable due to the high contrast of an OLED display. This display is made of 128x32 individual blue OLED pixels, each one is turned on or off by the controller chip. Because the display makes its own light, no backlight is required. This reduces the power required to run the OLED and is why the display has such high contrast; we really like this graphic display for its crispness!
The driver chip, SSD1305 can communicate in three ways: 8-bit, I2C or SPI. Personally we think SPI is the way to go, only 4 or 5 wires are required and its very fast. The OLED itself requires a 3.3V power supply and 3.3V logic levels for communication. We include a breadboard-friendly level shifter that can convert 3V or 5V down to 3V, so it can be used with 5V-logic devices like Arduino.
The power requirements depend a little on how much of the display is lit but on average the display uses about 50mA from the 3.3V supply. Built into the OLED driver is a simple boost converter that turns 3.3V into a high voltage drive for the OLEDs. The boost converter which may make a squeaking/buzzing noise, which you can minimize by adding hot-glue or foam tape around the inductor but may not be completely removable.
Each order comes with one assembled OLED module with a nice bezel and 4 mounting holes. The display is 3V logic & power so we include a HC4050 level shifter. We also toss in a 220uF capacitor, as we noticed an Arduino may need a little more capacitance on the 3.3V power supply for this big display! This display does not come with header attached but we do toss in a stick of header you can solder on. Also, the display may come in 8-bit mode. You can change modes from 8-bit to SPI or I2C with a little soldering, check out the tutorial for how to do so.
Getting started is easy! We have a detailed tutorial and example code in the form of an Arduino library for text and graphics. You'll need a microcontroller with more than 512 bytes of RAM since the display must be buffered. The library can print text, bitmaps, pixels, rectangles, circles and lines. It uses 512 bytes of RAM since it needs to buffer the entire display but its very fast! The code is simple to adapt to any other microcontroller.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- OLED
- OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, a display type where each pixel produces its own light. It matters because OLED screens are thin, high-contrast and easy to read for small status displays, but they can be more sensitive to image burn-in than some other display types.
- 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.
- 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.
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