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 features a 33pin and a 39pin connector, which allow to drive the following display types: ED097OC4, ED060SC4, ED097TC2

Displays

Building It

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

• Use the current master-branch PCB (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers), contributed by @sebastius. They, offer some improvements over the original v2 PCB, as described here: vroland#3. Although this version should work, it was not physically built yet. (if you did, please contact me!)
• Use the original v2 PCB (hardware/epaper-breakout/gerbers_v2_rev0.zip). However, you might run into issue #3 with some selections of parts.

Gettings Started

For instructions and more information visit the documentation!

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 (vroland#17).

Hackaday Project

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

Licenses

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

Firmware and utilities are licensed unter the terms of the MIT license.