Gen 4D System LCD Touchscreen Display for the Raspberry

The gen4-4DPi range of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) touchscreen modules was recently released by 4D Systems. The modules support the Raspberry family of single board computers (SBCs), which means that the modules work with all versions of the raspberry that supports the 40-pin header which includes Pi A+, B+, Pi2, Pi3, Pi3B, Pi Zero and Pi Zero W. The display will serve as the primary output of the Raspberry Pi, and they come in three different screen sizes which are 4.3-inch, 5.0-inch and a 7.0-inch.

Projecting from the Raspberry Pi has mostly been with the use of the HDMI connection to an external monitor or through the official Raspberry pi touch display which comes only in 7-inch display size and supports 800 x 600 display resolution. The 4D System is expected to provide different display size options to the user. The 4.3 sized screen has a 480×272 resolution while the 5.0 and 7.0 screen sizes have an 800×480 resolution.

The gen4-4DPi range connects to the Raspberry Pi’s 40 pin header using the gen4-4DPi Adaptor, which then connects to the gen4-4DPi display module using a 30-way FFC Cable. The adapter board conforms to the Raspberry Pi expansion header pin-out and Pi’s HAT device identification standard.

The communication between the gen4-4DPI display and the Raspberry Pi is through a high speed 48MHz SPI connection which is made possible by an onboard processor and also features a customized DMA enabled kernel, a combination that allows the display to output high frame rate as compared to other SPI display solutions.

The Gen4 display is designed for the Raspbian operating system and is capable of working with other applications like Pixel and Scratch. The module is built with a capacitive or resistive touch control options depending on the variant. There are 4*4.0mm mounting holes on the resistive touch modules and adhesive on the bezel for the capacitive touch modules. This simply means then a person can mount the gen4-4DPi by using the mounting holes for the resistive touch modules or through the adhesive provided on the Cover Lens Bezel (CLB) for the capacitive touch modules.

The following are some of the features of the Gen4 Displays

• The range is RoHS and CE compliant.
• The modules are a universal primary display for the raspberry pi.
• There are resistive touch display modules which also have a capacitive touch version.
• The resistive modules come with a TFT Screen with integrated 4-wire Resistive Touch Panel (T), while the capacitive versions have a Capacitive Touch Panel (CT) with Cover Lens Bezel (CLB).

The Gen4 Display comes in six different variants as shown below:

• gen4-4DPi – 43T: This 4.3inch variant cost $49.95
• gen4-4DPi -43CT – CLB: This 4.3inch variant cost $59.95
• gen4-4DPi – 50T: This 5inch variant cost $65.95
• gen4-4DPi – 50CT – CLB: This 5inch variant cost $69.95
• gen4-4DPi – 70T: This 7inch variant cost $75.95
• gen4-4DPi – 70CT – CLB: This 7inch variant cost $79.95

More information about the product is available on the product page. The product is also available for purchase on Digikey here with a slightly higher price.

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