Will this support the ES108FC1 screen?

[richild999]

es108fc1

[martinberlin]

If I see this correctly:

Interface Type | Parallel Data (2ch, 8-bit) , 50 pins FPC

This expects 2 ch of 8 bit. So it has 16 data lines. With the actual EDPiy V6 this is not supported.
Only a future ESP32S3 version with support of 16 data lines can possibly work, since it's not tested, provided you can supply a working Waveform.

[vroland]

This display looks pretty nice, so I've ordered one for testing once we work on the 2-channel version :) Note that this will probably take a while, though.

[tomek-szczesny]

Does anyone have a datasheet of this thing?

[mtreding]

How is this coming? Just bought one of these screens and would love to be able to use it for a project I’m working on for a static display. Thanks!

[mtreding]

This display looks pretty nice, so I've ordered one for testing once we work on the 2-channel version :) Note that this will probably take a while, though.

How’s it going? I just bought one of these, want to incorporate into an ongoing project.

[vroland]

I have one too and plan to order an adapter board with the v7 prototype once it is done. Hope that's soon, but we'll see ;)

[vdp]

Oh, look what Santa brought me!

I only glanced through the DS. Things I noticed:

• if the max source driver frequency(60MHz in this case) is any indication the screen should be reasonably responsive

• not sure I like the recommended connector(Panasonic AXE550127D)- not the "clamshell" type

• requires 28V gate voltage, instead of the usual 22V. TPS65185(1) apparently supports this(table on pg 10 in their DS), by using a different value for one of the resistors in the voltage divider on the VDDH_FB pin, if I'm not mistaken. @vroland perhaps it's worth considering making the resistor in question reasonably tweakable in the v7? At the very least I'd make the pads bigger, say at least 0805.

By the way has anyone already received their screen? How is the contrast(if there is some sort of image left on it)?

Anyone tried if they can actually drive the screen? Haven't thought much about this but, in anticipation of v7, you can probably try it with the EPDiy you already have by preparing a custom FPC adapter, where the destination data lines are duplicated in respect to the source lines, so that every pixel is "cloned" in horizontal direction. The result probably won't be pretty nor practical, but at least you'd be able to test if it's working at all(after changing the aforementioned R, of course)

[tomek-szczesny]

Frankly I'm lurking this thread because I plan to use this display with RK3568 SoC, that has built-in E-ink driver.
I hope to exchange information about the communication protocol of this particular model. Seems like nobody else on the planet is interested in this.

[vdp]

@tomek-szczesny this actually sounds interesting. Are there any ready-made boards with this chip and suitable EPD connectors/power, that one can buy?

[tomek-szczesny]

@tomek-szczesny this actually sounds interesting. Are there any ready-made boards with this chip and suitable EPD connectors/power, that one can buy?

The only one I am aware of is PineNote. :)

Personally I plan a build with Radxa CM3. A dev board with panel connectors and voltage generators is on a drawing board. :)

EDIT: @vdp, when I read your question again, I don't think anyone has developed, manufactured and put on sale a board that right now waits for us to develop drivers for it. :) Except that's exactly the pine64 business model :D

I am currently developing a Radxa CM3 carrier board that will accept 6" e-ink or ES108FC1, together with USB and Ethernet for basic connectivity. Some extra connectors will be available to test key matrix to GPIO (laptop keyboard), and to test battery controller on board. I guess you all see where this is heading. :)
I will order PCBs in JLC, so I'll have spares if anyone's interested.

[alexose]

Lurking this thread as well. As far as I can tell, ES108FC1 has the best price/performance of any e-ink screen. Would love to use two of them to build a foldable e-newspaper :)

Edit: FYI, this project also seems to be targeting ES108FC1 compatibility.

[vdp]

Hi, can someone that already received their screen confirm the type of its connector. The datasheet says that the panel's connector is AXE550127D(female/socket), which means for the board I have to order AXE650124D(male/header). Is that correct?

Thanks!

[richild999]

Hi, can someone that already received their screen confirm the type of its connector. The datasheet says that the panel's connector is AXE550127D(female/socket), which means for the board I have to order AXE650124D(male/header). Is that correct?

Thanks!

[richild999]

The full datasheet youcan see the repo : ES108FC1

[vdp]

Thanks a lot! I think the screen has the female/socket connector(AXE550127D), so the DS is correct. Too bad this may delay the release date for the v7 board, because I believe @vroland mistook it for a male/header(they are indeed hard to tell apart).

[tomek-szczesny]

@ddB0515
Yeah I ruled out MAX because its availability is severely limited. Right now can't find any place to get it (and I'm not back-ordering anything from Mouser again).

I've just designed today a voltage selector in 21-28V range in 1V steps, because I've seen 27V eink datasheet somewhere already.
It consists of 3x nfets adding parallel resistors to lower side of feedback divider, thus 8 combinations and 8 steps available. You could do the same with your switches, if you still have a chance to change your design.

I'll probably just add the ED060 connector and adapter header. I gave up trying to guess what e-ink I might want to use in the future, and spent enough time contemplating it.

[ddB0515]

@tomek-szczesny sound like nice idea, if you already have tested solution with 3 nfets with resistors share here or send me message, more than happy to take a look :)

Also for Max there is few other alternative (AliExpress or TaoBao) as usually when I can't get normally I got overseas :)

[tomek-szczesny]

@ddB0515 I don't think there are private messages on GitHub..
My idea is just these notepad scribbles I've done bored at work today, so it's not tested. But knowing success rate of my designs I don't anticipate any troubles from this approach.

Switches will be MOSFETs in my design, I'm just too lazy to draw them properly.

I came up with a different value set that is available in E24 series that I stock at home, with 300k instead of 1M.

[ddB0515]

@tomek-szczesny sorry should be more explanatory, there is Telegram link on my profile so you can do it over there
Idea is nice and should work but ofc until is on board(or protoboard) not guarantee :)
I'll need to check how that would be done with MAX17135 but maybe in next revision

[alexose]

Loving all the activity here. To summarize: You've both designed versions of the EPDiy that support a wider range of voltages? That seems like a useful development towards supporting more screens. Happy to help test the hardware when you think it's ready.

I gave up trying to guess what e-ink I might want to use in the future

I think this is an important use case for EPDiy: Future-proofing designs (within reason) so that later revisions of screen hardware will still work.

[tomek-szczesny]

Idea is nice and should work but ofc until is on board(or protoboard) not guarantee :)

Back in the previous industry I worked in, an engineering model (prototype) wasn't even considered before engineers proved their designs mathematically, 3-sigma reliability in all specified conditions and so on. That's why I haven't used my breadboard in years and just build things. :) I don't do formal analysis either, so screw ups still happen ;)

To summarize: You've both designed versions of the EPDiy that support a wider range of voltages?

I didn't. I'm just here to learn about e-ink in general. :)
My design is FPGA based, and is meant to translate LVDS video to e-ink signals in real time.
My current prototype generates video test pattern internally, converts it to grayscale, applies blue noise dithering to monochrome, and displays that on VGA monitor in 1080p.
The next iteration will deal with actual LVDS signal and e-ink target, hopefully..

I think that designing and building adapters for future e-inks is inevitable, but it's easier and cheaper than building a new control board from scratch every time. This fact has clearly been recognized in epdiy already.

[DerPicknicker]

Hey guys,
how is the current status of the eink panels…?

Is one of the mentioned boards are compatible with an esp32?

[DerPicknicker]

@martinberlin …

I saw that you published an adapter for the e-ink screens. While I wrote the entry above. I found a promising board: https://x.alibaba.com/Aw7qGg?ck=pdp

Would you say that your adapter will fit? This would be a great deal - 38$ for the driver which is well documented and also supported by several esp32 and raspberry pi projects.

[martinberlin]

Hello @DerPicknicker

Would you say that your adapter will fit?

First of all this already has connectors so you don't need to use my adapter and those boards come pre-configured only to one size. Good-luck finding how to switch sizes via SPI with the poor documentation (most) chinese companies add in their products. Second: This is really epdiy Issue board where we should cope with epdiy related stuff and strictly to the Title thema, is not a discussion board, for that please join epdiy.slack.com (Send me an Email)
I would not go that way. Specially because you will need to add a second board to send the SPI framebuffer which is double consumption, double space, well I dislike the idea because I already did it and is not my thing.

[DerPicknicker]

I will write you an email @martinberlin ...

[martinberlin]

Use this link to join SLACK https://join.slack.com/t/epdiy/shared_invite/zt-2g3dpt45i-V5vleYuxcwoM9Rbz2tXtRA

[martinberlin]

Sent 5x of this to fabrication: https://github.com/vroland/epdiy-hardware/tree/40-to-50-axe-adapter/adapters/40-to-50-pin-adapter
There are 2 versions of this adapter, for the moment just send 5 units of my take, and I still do not have the panel.

Linked to #290 since someone is hungry to try this.

moving this to discussions since there was also another person that wants to use this display. It’s also not an Issue with this library and more a feature request that can be solved with an adapter.

[martinberlin]

Does someone have an AliExpress link from trustable shop?
Would like to test this as well and I’ve ordered 5 adapters from JLCPCB that are on the way

[martinberlin]

Sorry but I was referring to the Aliexpress link where I don't see an HDMI connector. Maybe I will make an appointment with the ophthalmologist ;)
I really admire this Asian designers. Such a powerful boards. The only problem is that the documentation is either in Chinese, Japanese, or not existing. (Excepting @zephray , Espressif and a few others)
So I prefer to stick to the things I know that work. Or instead of buying a board from some random Aliexpress link to get the open source one and fabricate it in JLC so at least you get aware or the electronic components and do a bit of research

[DerPicknicker]

@martinberlin did you order the panel? Would becgteat if you keep us updated ;-)

[martinberlin]

I'm not going to order this panel at the moment. We will do the following: If you buy a PCB from me then I will send you one of my upcoming 5 adapter units free:

2024-04-13 01:00:00
Arrived at the origin international airport Hong Kong

And then you try it out. But I recommend also to get a display that guaranteed works like 9.7 with 33pins (cheapest you find)
Plus the ES108FC1 panel with the right connector. Then you try it out. It's actually you that have the drive to check this out right?
Me personally I do not have any special interest in driving this display since I don't have at the moment any project where I can use it.

[SpandexWizard]

what sort of boards do you have for sale? and where can i find them?

[martinberlin]

Hello @SpandexWizard you can search "epdiy" in Tindie. I have still 4 units left of epdiy v7

[martinberlin]

Related to this discussion #298 please give it a read also. I have 5 adapters coming to me in next weeks.
Still didn't decided to buy the panel though. Too many things at the same time going on and I want to find the relaxed moment to try it...

[vroland]

Hey, I tested it with the adapter @martinberlin sent me and also I also used a board with the proper voltages, but I only managed to produce a few stray lines :( I don't know if my display is just broken or there is something different for this display...
Has anyone else had any luck?

[SpandexWizard]

did you ever have luck with this?

[martinberlin]

I'm not going to try this. I've some adapters to give away if someone wants to try it out. I can send them for cheap 4 or max 5€ post without tracking (No guarantees that it will arrive, no complains taken if it doesn't get to destination) Just if someone wants to give it a try