A ["Discussions"](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/discussions) facility has been added for Q&A etc. Use the ["Issues"](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/issues) tab only for problems with the library. Thanks!
# News
1.New anti-aliased graphics functions to draw lines, wedge shaped lines, circles and rounded rectangles. [Examples are included](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/tree/master/examples/Smooth%20Graphics). Examples have also been added to [display PNG compressed images](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/tree/master/examples/PNG%20Images)(note: requires ~40kbytes RAM).
1.There is a [test branch](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/tree/RP2040_16bit_parallel) for the RP2040 with 16 bit parallel displays. This has been tested and the screen update performance is very good (4ms to clear 320 x 480 screen with HC8357C). The use of the RP2040 PIO makes it easy to change the write cycle timing for different displays. DMA with 16 bit transfers is also supported.
2.Frank Boesing has created an extension library for TFT_eSPI that allows a large range of ready-built fonts to be used. Frank's library (adapted to permit rendering in sprites as well as TFT) can be [downloaded here](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI_ext). More than 3300 additional Fonts are [available here](https://github.com/FrankBoesing/fonts/tree/master/ofl). The TFT_eSPI_ext library contains examples that demonstrate the use of the fonts.
2.Support for HX8357B and HX8357C screens has been added (only tested with RP2040 and 16 bit parallel interface)
3.Users of PowerPoint experienced with running macros may be interested in the [pptm sketch generator here](https://github.com/Bodmer/PowerPoint_to_sketch), this converts graphics and tables drawn in PowerPoint slides into an Arduino sketch that renders the graphics on a 480x320 TFT. This is based on VB macros [created by Kris Kasprzak here](https://github.com/KrisKasprzak/Powerpoint-ILI9341_t3).
3.Support for the ESP32-S3 and ESP32-C3 has been added (DMA not support at the moment). Tested with v2.0.3 RC1 of the ESP32 board package. Example setups:
4. The library contains two new functions for rectangles filled with a horizontal or vertical coloured gradient:
4. Smooth fonts can now be rendered direct to the TFT with very little flicker for quickly changing values. This is achieved by a line-by-line and block-by-block update of the glyph area without drawing pixels twice. This is a "breaking" change for some sketches because a new true/false parameter is needed to render the background. The default is false if the parameter is missing, Examples:
tft.setTextColor(TFT_WHITE, TFT_BLUE, true);
spr.setTextColor(TFT_BLUE, TFT_BLACK, true);
Note: background rendering is also now available when using the print stream e.g. with: tft.println("Hello World");
5. New anti-aliased graphics functions to draw lines, wedge shaped lines, circles and rounded rectangles. [Examples are included](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/tree/master/examples/Smooth%20Graphics). Examples have also been added to [display PNG compressed images](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/tree/master/examples/PNG%20Images)(note: requires ~40kbytes RAM).
6. Frank Boesing has created an extension library for TFT_eSPI that allows a large range of ready-built fonts to be used. Frank's library (adapted to permit rendering in sprites as well as TFT) can be [downloaded here](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI_ext). More than 3300 additional Fonts are [available here](https://github.com/FrankBoesing/fonts/tree/master/ofl). The TFT_eSPI_ext library contains examples that demonstrate the use of the fonts.
7. Users of PowerPoint experienced with running macros may be interested in the [pptm sketch generator here](https://github.com/Bodmer/PowerPoint_to_sketch), this converts graphics and tables drawn in PowerPoint slides into an Arduino sketch that renders the graphics on a 480x320 TFT. This is based on VB macros [created by Kris Kasprzak here](https://github.com/KrisKasprzak/Powerpoint-ILI9341_t3).
8. The library contains two new functions for rectangles filled with a horizontal or vertical coloured gradient:
tft.fillRectHGradient(x, y, w, h, color1, color2);
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@@ -14,24 +31,20 @@ A ["Discussions"](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/discussions) facility has b
5. The RP2040 8 bit parallel interface uses the PIO. The PIO now manages the "setWindow" and "block fill" actions, releasing the processor for other tasks when areas of the screen are being filled with a colour. The PIO can optionally be used for SPI interface displays if #define RP2040_PIO_SPI is put in the setup file. Touch screens and pixel read operations are not supported when the PIO interface is used.
9. The RP2040 8 bit parallel interface uses the PIO. The PIO now manages the "setWindow" and "block fill" actions, releasing the processor for other tasks when areas of the screen are being filled with a colour. The PIO can optionally be used for SPI interface displays if #define RP2040_PIO_SPI is put in the setup file. Touch screens and pixel read operations are not supported when the PIO interface is used.
The RP2040 PIO features only work with [Earle Philhower's board package](https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico), NOT the Arduino Mbed version.
The use of PIO for SPI allows the RP2040 to be over-clocked (up to 250MHz works on my boards) in Earle's board package whilst still maintaining high SPI clock rates.
6. DMA can now be used with the Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) when used with both 8 bit parallel and 16 bit colour SPI displays. See "Bouncy_Circles" sketch.
10. DMA can now be used with the Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) when used with both 8 bit parallel and 16 bit colour SPI displays. See "Bouncy_Circles" sketch.
7. Support hase been added for the ESP32 S2 processor variant. A [new user setup](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/blob/master/User_Setups/Setup70_ESP32_S2_ILI9341.h) file has been added as an example setup with an ILI9341 TFT.
8. The library now supports the Raspberry Pi Pico with both the [official Arduino board package](https://github.com/arduino/ArduinoCore-mbed) and the one provided by [Earle Philhower](https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico). The setup file "Setup60_RP2040_ILI9341.h" has been used for tests with an ILI9341 display. At the moment only SPI interface displays have been tested. SPI port 0 is the default but SPI port 1 can be specifed in the setup file if those SPI pins are used.
11. The library now supports the Raspberry Pi Pico with both the [official Arduino board package](https://github.com/arduino/ArduinoCore-mbed) and the one provided by [Earle Philhower](https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico). The setup file "Setup60_RP2040_ILI9341.h" has been used for tests with an ILI9341 display. At the moment only SPI interface displays have been tested. SPI port 0 is the default but SPI port 1 can be specifed in the setup file if those SPI pins are used.
9. The library now provides a "viewport" capability. See "Viewport_Demo" and "Viewport_graphicstest" examples. When a viewport is defined graphics will only appear within that window. The coordinate datum by default moves to the top left corner of the viewport, but can optionally remain at top left corner of TFT. The GUIslice library will make use of this feature to speed up the rendering of GUI objects ([see #769](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/issues/769)).
10. The library now supports SSD1963 based screen, this has been tested on a [480x800 screen](https://www.buydisplay.com/7-tft-screen-touch-lcd-display-module-w-ssd1963-controller-board-mcu) with an ESP32. The interface is 8 bit parallel only as that controller does not support a SPI interface.
12. The library now provides a "viewport" capability. See "Viewport_Demo" and "Viewport_graphicstest" examples. When a viewport is defined graphics will only appear within that window. The coordinate datum by default moves to the top left corner of the viewport, but can optionally remain at top left corner of TFT. The GUIslice library will make use of this feature to speed up the rendering of GUI objects ([see #769](https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/issues/769)).
# TFT_eSPI
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@@ -41,7 +54,7 @@ An Arduino IDE compatible graphics and fonts library for 32 bit processors. The
Optimised drivers are incorporated for the following processors:
@@ -51,20 +64,26 @@ Generic (non-optimised Arduino function calls) are used by the library for other
Displays using the following controllers are supported:
* GC9A01
* ILI9163
* ILI9225
* ILI9341
* ILI9342
* ILI9481 (DMA not supported with SPI)
* ILI9486 (DMA not supported with SPI)
* ILI9488 (DMA not supported with SPI)
* HX8357B (16 bit parallel tested with RP2040)
* HX8357C (16 bit parallel tested with RP2040)
* HX8357D
* R61581
* RM68120
* RM68140 (support files added but untested)
* S6D02A1
* SSD1351
* SSD1963
* ST7735
* ST7789
* ST7796
* GC9A01
ILI9341 and ST7796 SPI based displays are recommended as starting point for experimenting with this library.
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@@ -72,7 +91,7 @@ The library supports some TFT displays designed for the Raspberry Pi (RPi) that
A "good" RPi display is the [MHS-4.0 inch Display-B type ST7796](http://www.lcdwiki.com/MHS-4.0inch_Display-B) which provides good performance. This has a dedicated controller and can be clocked at up to 80MHz with the ESP32 (55MHz with STM32 and 40MHz with ESP8266). The [MHS-3.5 inch RPi ILI9486](http://www.lcdwiki.com/MHS-3.5inch_RPi_Display) based display is also supported.
Some displays permit the internal TFT screen RAM to be read, some of the examples use this feature. The TFT_Screen_Capture example allows full screens to be captured and sent to a PC, this is handy to create program documentation.
Some displays permit the internal TFT screen RAM to be read, a few of the examples use this feature. The TFT_Screen_Capture example allows full screens to be captured and sent to a PC, this is handy to create program documentation.
The library supports Waveshare 2 and 3 colour ePaper displays using full frame buffers. This addition is relatively immature and thus only one example has been provided.
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@@ -119,7 +138,7 @@ Configuration of the library font selections, pins used to interface with the TF
Anti-aliased (smooth) font files in "vlw" format are generated by the free [Processing IDE](https://processing.org/) using a sketch included in the library Tools folder. This sketch with the Processing IDE can be used to generate font files from your computer's font set or any TrueType (.ttf) font, the font file can include **any** combination of 16 bit Unicode characters. This means Greek, Japanese and any other UCS-2 glyphs can be used. Character arrays and Strings in UTF-8 format are supported.
The .vlw files must be uploaded to the processors FLASH filing system (SPIFFS, LittleFS or SD card) for use. Alternatively the .vlw files can be converted to C arrays (see "Smooth Font -> FLASH_Array" examples) and stored directly in FLASH as part of the compile process. The array based approach is convenient, provides performance improvements and is suitable where: either use of a filing system is undesirable, or the processor type (e.g. STM32) does not support a FLASH based filing sytem.
The .vlw files must be uploaded to the processors FLASH filing system (SPIFFS, LittleFS or SD card) for use. Alternatively the .vlw files can be converted to C arrays (see "Smooth Font -> FLASH_Array" examples) and stored directly in FLASH as part of the compile process. The array based approach is convenient, provides performance improvements and is suitable where: either use of a filing system is undesirable, or the processor type (e.g. STM32) does not support a FLASH based filing system.
Here is the Adafruit_GFX "FreeSans12pt" bitmap font compared to the same font drawn as anti-aliased:
