EPDiy E-Paper Driver

EPDiy is a driver board which talks to affordable E-Paper (or E-Ink) screens, which are usually sold as replacement screens for E-Book readers. Why are they interesting?

• Easy on the eyes and paper-like aesthetics
• No power consumption when not updating
• Sunlight-readable

Ready-made DIY modules for this size and with 4bpp (16 Grayscale) color support are currently quite expensive. This project uses Kindle replacement screens, which are available for 20$ (small) / 30$ (large) on ebay!

The EPDiy driver board targets multiple E-Paper displays. As the driving method for all matrix-based E-ink displays seems to be more or less the same, only the right connector and timings are needed. The EPDiy PCB v5 features 33pin, 34pin and a 39pin connectors, which allow to drive the following display types: ED097OC4, ED060SC4, ED097TC2, ED060SC7. For the full list of supported displays, refer to the table below.

Revision 5 of the board is optimized for the use with LiPo batteries, featuring a LiPo charger and ultra-low deep sleep current.

This project supports a driver for the ESP-IDF and Arduino. For installation instructions, please refer to the documentation.

Building It

If you want to build a board right now, there are two possible routes:

• Use the new v5 PCB (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers_v5.zip). So far, I only tested a prototype of it. The newest gerbers should work, but are untested! If you have tested them, please let me know! The BOM is available at (hardware/epaper-breakout/BOM.csv). Positioning files for SMT assembly are available at (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers/epaper-breakout-top-pos.csv). Please double check the part positioning and Rotation with your assembly service! More information on the order process and where to find parts is in the documentation.
• Make sure to select the V5 board revision in idf.py menuconfig when building the examples.
• Use the old v4 PCB (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers_v4.zip). This is a bit more fresh, but should work. The BOM is available at (hardware/epaper-breakout/BOM.csv). Positioning files for SMT assembly are available at (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers/epaper-breakout-top-pos.csv). Please double check the part positioning and Rotation with your assembly service!
• Make sure to select the V4 board revision in idf.py menuconfig when building the examples.

Gettings Started

For instructions and more information visit the documentation!

Join the Discussion

•  Matrix Community: +epdiy:matrix.vroland.de
• 

Displays

NameSizeResolutionCompatibleConnectorPin countCompatible since pcb versionNotesED060SC46"800 x 600yes, testedFH26W-39S-0.3SHW(60)39v2ED097OC49.7"1200 x 825yes, testedXF2M-3315-1A33V2Cheap, inferior contrastED097TC29.7"1200 x 825yes, testedXF2M-3315-1A33V2Slightly higher price, better contrastED097OC19.7"1200 x 825yes (should work)XF2M-3315-1A33V2Cheap, inferior performanceED047TC14.7"960 x 540yes, tested40-pin40LILYGO 4.7" EPDSupported only by 4.7" e-paper board by LILYGOED133UT213.3"1600 x 1200yes, testedadapter board39V2Adapter Board required, also PENG133DED060XC36"758 x 1024yes, testedTHD0515-34CL-SN34V5Cheapest, good contrast and resolutionED060XD46"758 x 1024yes, testedTHD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060XC56"758 x 1024yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060XD66"758 x 1024yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060XH26"758 x 1024yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060XC96"758 x 1024yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060KD16"1072 x 1448yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060KC16"1072 x 1448yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5ED060SCF6"600 x 800yes, testedTHD0515-34CL-SN34V5Different flex cable shapeED060SCN6"600 x 800yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5Different flex cable shapeED060SCP6"600 x 800yes (should work as ED060XC3)THD0515-34CL-SN34V5Different flex cable shapeED060SC76"600 x 800yes (should work)AXT43412434v5ED060SCG6"600 x 800yes (should work)AXT43412434v5ED060SCE6"600 x 800yes (should work)AXT43412434v5ED060SCM6"600 x 800yes (should work)AXT43412434v5ED060SCT6"600 x 800yes, testedAXT43412434v5

Please note that board revision v5 is still in prototype stage!

Troubleshooting

The following list is compiled from past experiences and GitHub issues:

• The displayed image displays only part of the image. Make sure to select the correct display type as described here.
• The existing image fades / darkens when updating a partial screen region. Make sure the VCOM voltage is calibrated for your specific display.
• The second third of the image is replaced with the last third. This seems to be a timing issue we could not yet quite figure out the reason for. For a workarround or suggestions please join the discussion.
• The ESP does not boot correctly when external periperals are connected. Make sure not to pull GPIO12 high during boot, as it is a strapping pin internal voltage selection (https://github.com/vroland/epdiy/issues/17).

More on E-Paper Displays

• List of E-Paper devices and their screens: https://e-ink-reader.ru/chg_dsp_en.php (thanks, @mcer12)
• Reverse engineering of display pins, possible starting point for alternative drivers: https://linux-sunxi.org/PocketBook_Touch_Lux_3 (thanks, @mcer12)
• Reverse engineering and explanation on driving EPDs: http://essentialscrap.com/eink/index.html
• Earlier take on driving 6" EPDs with an ESP32, basis of original power circuit: http://spritesmods.com/?art=einkdisplay&page=1
• Related Hackaday projects: https://hackaday.io/project/21607 https://hackaday.io/project/11537

If you know any other useful resources or have suggestions, please comment on #31!

Hackaday Project

For more details, see the project page on Hackaday: https://hackaday.io/project/168193-epdiy-976-e-paper-controller

Licenses

The weather example is Copyright (c) David Bird 2018 (except for minor modifications). Please refer to examples/weather/README.md for details.

The board and schematic are licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Firmware and remaining examples are licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL version 3. Utilities are licensed under the terms of the MIT license.