Adafruit 1.54" eInk Display Breakouts

published February 17, 2021, last edited January 22, 2025
last major update February 07, 2024

posted in LCDs & Displays/ eInk / ePaper

Beginner

Product guide

Arduino Usage

Here is where the differences in the tri-color/monochrome and chipset/dimensions start mattering. Check carefully to make sure you are running the right example and creating the matching ThinkInk type for your display or you wont see anything happen on the EPD (or the image may be really weird looking)

1.54" Monochrome 200x200 Pixel Display

For the 200 x 200 monochrome display we will run a monochrome demo.

Front of E-Ink display with monochrome graphic and "1.54 inch E-Ink Monochrome" text

Adafruit 1.54" Monochrome eInk / ePaper Display with SRAM

Easy e-paper finally comes to microcontrollers, with this breakout that's designed to make it a breeze to add an eInk display. Chances are you've seen one of those new-fangled...

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$24.95

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Open up File→Examples→Adafruit_EPD→ThinkInk_mono

1.54" Tri-Color 152x152 OR 200x200 Pixel Display

For the 152x152 OR 200x200 Tri-Color display, we will run the tricolor demo.

Video of a 1.54" tri-color eInk display assembled on a breadboard with jumper wires and a QT Py. Friendly snake in white-and-red, Blinka, appears on the display.

Adafruit 1.54" Tri-Color eInk / ePaper Display with SRAM

Easy e-paper finally comes to microcontrollers, with this breakout that's designed to make it a breeze to add a tri-color eInk display. Chances are you've seen one of those...

$19.95

In Stock

Add to Cart

Open up File→Examples→Adafruit_EPD→ThinkInk_tricolor

Configure Pins

No matter what display you have, you will need to verify that your pins match your wiring. At the top of the sketch find the lines that look like:

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#define EPD_DC      10
#define EPD_CS      9
#define SRAM_CS     6
#define EPD_RESET   8 // can set to -1 and share with microcontroller Reset!
#define EPD_BUSY    7 // can set to -1 to not use a pin (will wait a fixed delay)

#define EPD_DC      10
#define EPD_CS      9
#define SRAM_CS     6
#define EPD_RESET   8 // can set to -1 and share with microcontroller Reset!
#define EPD_BUSY    7 // can set to -1 to not use a pin (will wait a fixed delay)

If you wired the display differently than on the wiring page, adjust the pin numbers accordingly.

Configure Display Type & Size

Find the part of the script where you can pick which display is going to be used. The eInk displays are made up a combination of a Chipset and a Film in different sizes. We have narrowed it down to just a few choices between the size of the display, chipset, and film based on available combinations. In the sketch, we have sorted it by size, so it's easy to find your display.

You will need to uncomment the appropriate initializer and and leave any other type commented.

For the 1.54" 200x200 Monochrome breakout you will use ThinkInk_154_Mono_D27 display initializer.

For the 1.54" 152x152 Tri-Color breakout, you will use the ThinkInk_154_Tricolor_Z17 display initializer.

For the 1.54" 200x200 Tri-Color breakout, you will use the ThinkInk_154_Tricolor_Z90 display initializer.

For example, for the monochrome 200x200, uncomment this line, and comment any other line that is creating a ThinkInk display object

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// 1.54" Monochrome displays with 200x200 pixels and SSD1608 chipset
ThinkInk_154_Mono_D27 display(EPD_DC, EPD_RESET, EPD_CS, SRAM_CS, EPD_BUSY);

// 1.54" Monochrome displays with 200x200 pixels and SSD1608 chipset
ThinkInk_154_Mono_D27 display(EPD_DC, EPD_RESET, EPD_CS, SRAM_CS, EPD_BUSY);

Upload Sketch

Go ahead and upload the sketch to your board. Once it is done uploading, open the Serial Monitor.

The display should start running a series of monochrome tests

Page last edited March 08, 2024