3

FIELD TEST

ost displays are good at one

thing, and one thing only:

showing some kind of data

to the user. However, some

displays can add additional

features like user input through

either capacitive or resistive touch. This kind of

technology can get complicated to implement, until

you discover the 2.8” TFT LCD with Touchscreen

Breakout Board w/MicroSD Socket by Adafruit.

This full-colour TFT screen allows the user to

enter data, press virtual buttons, or even draw on

it, similar to a screen found on a smartphone –

although the resolution of this display is a bit lower

than most smartphones these days, coming in at

a mere 240×320 pixels. But even so, the images

look beautiful and the user input via resistive touch

is extremely useful. Think about adding virtual

buttons to your next project. You can go back and

rename, or rearrange them as needed, and all of

those changes occur in software. That’s a lot faster

than designing physical button layouts in hardware.

We also like the idea of being able to show the

end-user detailed visual feedback of systems or

processes that are occurring in real time. Or you

could easily add photos via the SD card, or draw

simple shapes using code.

Communicating with the display is made easy

though either 8-bit mode or SPI, and it doesn’t

require a powerful microprocessor to send the

data since the board features a built-in controller

with RAM buffering. That makes it perfect for

microcontrollers like the Arduino that lack some of

the advanced features and speed of computers like

Raspberry Pi. There are libraries and example code

that make implementing its features really easy

with an Arduino, and you can find code examples

for running it on other platforms too.

M

Adafruit 2.8-inch TFT LCD with

Touchscreen Breakout Board

ADAFRUIT $29.95 adafruit.com

A great choice

when you need

the added

functionality of

touch input.

VERDICT

8 / 10

Communicating with

the display is made

easy though either

8-bit mode or SPI and

it doesn’t require a

powerful microprocessor

”

”

Below

A beautiful TFT display from Adafruit

with built-in touchscreen and SD card slot

Credit

Marc de Vinck