←back to thread

SSD1306 display drivers and font rendering

(subalpinecircuits.com)
76 points todsacerdoti | 3 comments | 14 Apr 25 17:08 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
arghwhat ◴[14 Apr 25 17:54 UTC] No.43684165[source]▶
Go for the SPI version, which is the same chip but just s different breakout board.

Many ESP32's can only do 400kHz I2C, whereas their SPI peripheral can often do 80 MHz or more (although you wouldn't want to go that fast here). 400kHz sort of works, but if you also want to handle other I2C devices it can easily become a problem.

replies(2): >>43684255 #>>43684297 #
1. generj ◴[14 Apr 25 18:04 UTC] No.43684297[source]▶
I2C is nice because it is (with Adafruit and Sparkfun’s Stemma QT/Qwiik) literally plug and play for beginners, with a wide variety of sensors available.

Plus not needing to dedicate a control pin per device added to the bus. Though of course if data throughout is an issue SPI is better than I2C.

replies(2): >>43684823 #>>43685955 #
2. arghwhat ◴[14 Apr 25 18:58 UTC] No.43684823[source]▶
I2C is fine for sensors and other low-bandwidth devices, but inappropriate for displays and other high-bandwidth devices.

When used with those kits, you'd use the QWIIC/whatever connector for all the sensors and other low-bandwidth things like I2C is meant for, while the display would be connected with SPI.

(I2C isn't more plug and play than SPI though, and a preterminated plug shouldn't be a big deal.)

3. hadlock ◴[14 Apr 25 20:28 UTC] No.43685955[source]▶
If you're going to do I2C just get an LCD display. This OLED can be driven at 150fps by simple devices like an ardunio which is where it really shines - super crisp, high contrast, smoove as buttah graphics for realtime readouts etc. OLED over SPI is really visually impressive stuff and effectively 0 latency. Using the SSD1306 for static displays over I2C is almost a crime.