Add touchscreen display module starter kits to Raspberry Pi

Feature articles | March 20, 2014

By eeNews Europe

RS has two touchscreen display starter kits for the Raspberry Pi; the starter kits for the 2.8-in. uLCD-28PTU-PI and 4.3-in. uLCD-43PTU-PI modules have been developed by 4D Systems and provide all the components needed for users to connect their Raspberry Pi to these newly available touchscreen displays and get their project up and running and ready for programming within a few minutes. The kits feature the 4D Pi Adapter Shield, which connects to the serial GPIO port on the Raspberry Pi and to the touchscreen display module via a 5-way cable. The Adapter Shield also replicates the Raspberry Pi GPIO lines and allows users to gain easy access to other Raspberry Pi functions.

These displays deliver a powerful HMI (Human Machine Interface) solution for Raspberry Pi applications featuring resistive-touch capability, on-board audio amplifier and speaker, and resolutions of 480 x 272 and 240 x 320 pixels for the 4.3- and 2.8-in. screens respectively.

Each starter kit contains: a 4D serial Pi adaptor shield; a 2 GB microSD card; a uUSB-PA5 programming adaptor; a 150 mm 5-way female-female jumper cable for quick connection to another device or a breadboard; a 5-way male-male adaptor to convert the cable to male-female; and a quick-start user guide. A series of ViSi-Genie application software libraries are also available to communicate with the Raspberry Pi board and user code.

Jonathan Boxall, Global Head of Semiconductors at RS Components, comments, “There is huge enthusiasm for Raspberry Pi among businesses and electronics enthusiasts, and these two touchscreen display modules and associated tools from 4D Systems further boost the Raspberry Pi platform for prototype development, enabling users to quickly start developing innovative Raspberry Pi based applications.”

The two display options are priced at around £60 and £95 (UK Pounds, or local equivalent)

RS Components; www.rs-components.com