Makerfabs recently launched a 3.5-inch TFT touch screen monitor , which is equipped with an ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller, built-in WiFi and supports Bluetooth connection. The clock frequency is 240 MHz, with vector instructions for AI acceleration.
This monitor provides a 320×480 resolution through an ILI9488 LCD driver, using a 16-bit parallel interface to communicate with the ESP32-S3 with clock frequency up to 20 MHz, making it suitable for smooth graphical user interfaces. The company also claims that the TFT touch screen display is smooth enough to suit video displays, which I will cover in detail below.
Specifications:
Users can use the Arduino IDE to program this monitor. Sample code using the LovyanGFX library, EAGLE schematics, and PCB layout can be found on Github. Makerfabs also designed a model called the ESP32-S2, which is said to have a higher refresh rate, but lacks Bluetooth connectivity. However, the ESP32-S3 touch screen display comes with more RAM and eMMC flash memory, so you can choose which one you want according to your requirements.
Jon, a user of our website, recommended this monitor to me. He said that after buying and experiencing the TFT touch screen display, he found that it worked the same as the promotion in the advertisement. This ESP32-S3 monitor can really drive a high-speed monitor with a parallel LCD interface. However, because it cannot stream video without the H.264 decoder, it is good enough if you just want a responsive GUI. Links to
related videos, click here to view them.
Makerfabs ESP32-S3 16-bit TFT touch screen display is currently priced at USD 39.8 (free shipping), and the ESP32-S2 model is the same. Actually, I have written about another smaller ESP32-S3 monitor before - LilyGO T-Display-S3, which is a 1.9-inch monitor that can be connected via a slower 8-bit parallel interface, but it has no touch screen function and costs about $17.
Thanks to Jon for the message prompt.
