MSC - Low-cost implementation of TFT displays in microcontroller applications

A new reference design kit has been introduced by MSC as part of its VisuRDK series offering. It now offers a H8SX-based single-chip solution with a resolution up to WVGA (800x480, 32 bit computing POWER, larger on-chip memories of 1MB FLASH as well as additional interfaces like USB and Ethernet, says the company.

With the VisuRDK kits the company presents an economic solution for the direct control of TFT displays using a general purpose microcontroller. With the intelligent hard and software combination, a TFT display can be controlled directly and without an additional graphics controller. The system costs can be significantly reduced by omitting the graphics controllers used so far in such applications. This microcontroller-based approach of the VisuRDK kits offer an interesting alternative for applications where the embedded PC solution or the use of an expensive graphics subsystem would be much too powerful and expensive.

The kit is a fast and easy introduction to graphic programming for developers. Graphic interfaces can be quickly created and tested with the help of graphics libraries and program examples. Within the shortest time, you can adapt the examples to your own requirements. The software drivers are provided in the source code and the touch panel support is also integrated. Besides the provided QVGA TFT with touch, the kit also offers support for TFT displays from different manufacturers.

The kit also contains a complete microcontroller developer environment including IDE, complier (test license) as well as an E10A-JTAG emulator, says the company.