Need help finding a screen for PKE meter prop.

General project help for Adafruit customers

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
Zone_Dweebie
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:35 pm

Need help finding a screen for PKE meter prop.

Post by Zone_Dweebie »

I'm working on the 3d model for a Real Ghostbusters PKE meter and I want to add a working screen to it. Trouble is that I've never done anything with a screen more advanced than a 7-segment display and trying to find something that fits has been a real challenge.

Right now I am looking at the Adafruit 2.8" TFT shield https://www.adafruit.com/product/1651 because it is the best fit for a "plug and play", simple to use screen that I can find. Trouble is that it is bigger than necessary with the header pins sticking out the bottom, I don't need touch screen, it's still too small, and it is out of stock.

I'm not married to it having to be an Adafruit product but seeing that I'm totally new to screens it would great to have all the tutorials and examples. I tried finding the right screen on Digikey but holy crud, there are a lot of screens there and even if I did find one of the right size I would need to get a driver IC, make a pcb, and I'm assuming do some programming that is over my head (I consider myself an intermediate arduino coder, its basically the only coding I've done.)

I would love to get help and maybe a recommendation for picking the right screen. The space I have to work with is 80mm wide by 70mm tall and the screen really only needs to be able to display static images, maybe some simple animations from using several images.

Image

User avatar
mikeysklar
 
Posts: 13936
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: Need help finding a screen for PKE meter prop.

Post by mikeysklar »

Cool project. I love what you have done so far. Please post your finished project for us to share.

I would use one of our OLEDs or eInk displays. They are thin and easy to connect to. Arduino and CircuitPython support for most.

This is one of the larger OLEDs which is smaller than your designated space, but still sizable.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/4741

The eInks have more size options closer to what you are looking for. They update slowly, but that might work well for this project.

https://www.adafruit.com/?q=eink&p=1&sort=BestMatch

User avatar
Zone_Dweebie
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:35 pm

Re: Need help finding a screen for PKE meter prop.

Post by Zone_Dweebie »

Thank you, Mikey. Right now I feel like I want to have color and so I'm going to try to make the 2.8" shield work. Now I'm just waiting for it to be in stock. I do appreciate the suggestions.

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “General Project help”