Adafruit 2.13" Monochrome eInk / ePaper Display with SRAM - 250x122 Monochrome with SSD1680

Product ID: 4197
$22.50
Qty Discount
1-9 $22.50
10-99 $20.25
100+ $18.00

Description

Easy e-paper finally comes to microcontrollers, with this breakout that's designed to make it a breeze to add a monochromatic eInk display. Chances are you've seen one of those new-fangled 'e-readers' like the Kindle or Nook. They have gigantic electronic paper 'static' displays - that means the image stays on the display even when power is completely disconnected. The image is also high contrast and very daylight readable. It really does look just like printed paper!

We've liked these displays for a long time, but breakouts were never designed for makers to use. Finally, we decided to make our own!

This breakout as a 2.13" monochrome (black and white) display with 250x122 black pixels on a white-ish background. The monochrome displays take a lot less time to update than the tri-color displays, only a couple seconds instead of 15 seconds!

Using our CircuitPython or Arduino libraries, you can create a 'frame buffer' with what pixels you want to have activated and then write that out to the display. Most simple breakouts leave it at that. But if you do the math, 250 x 122 pixels x 2 colors = 7.6 KBytes. Which won't fit into many microcontroller memories. Heck, even if you do have 32KB of RAM, why waste 8KB?

So we did you a favor and tossed a small SRAM chip on the back. This chip shares the SPI port the eInk display uses, so you only need one extra pin. And, no more frame-buffering! You can use the SRAM to set up whatever you want to display, then shuffle data from SRAM to eInk when you're ready. The library we wrote does all the work for you, you can just interface with it as if it were an Adafruit_GFX compatible display.

For ultra-low power usages, the onboard 3.3V regulator has the Enable pin brought out so you can shut down the power to the SRAM, MicroSD, and display.

We even tossed on a MicroSD socket so you can store images, text files, whatever you like to display. Everything is 3 or 5V logic safe so you can use it with any and all microcontrollers.

Comes assembled and tested, with some header. You'll need a soldering iron to attach the header for breadboarding or installing into your project.

Technical Details

Uses SSD1680 chipset for driving E-Ink display

Revision History:

  • As of December 28, 2023 - we've updated this E-Ink breakout with a EYESPI connector to make cabling easier with an 18-pin FPC. We also used Adafruit Pinguin to make a lovely silkscreen. The board is otherwise the same size, pinout, and functionality.
  • As of May 9, 2021 - we're selling a version with SSD1680 chipset, instead of the SSD1675 chipset. Firmware code will need to be updated as they are not code compatible.

Product Dimensions: 61.5mm x 39.3mm x 5.3mm / 2.4" x 1.5" x 0.2"

Product Weight: 13.5g / 0.5oz

RoHS 2 2011 65 EU Compliant
RoHS 2 2015 863 EU Compliant

Learn

Easy E-Paper With Built In Memory
Show the current weather conditions using an Adafruit EInk Bonnet or EPaper Breakout
See what event is coming up with this handy eInk calendar.