DISPLAYS AND UIs
The Challenge of Implementing Graphical Touch Displays
In the realm of product design, graphical touch-enabled interfaces are celebrated for their ability to enhance user interfaces, providing intuitive user experiences and fl exibility in shaping the Human- Machine Interface (HMI).
H
owever, their integration can be perceived as a complex and intimidating task, even for seasoned engineers. This is often due to the belief that it demands a transition to high-end Microcontroller Units (MCUs) with graphics capabilities, rather than selecting the most suitable and cost-effective MCU. Engineers may foresee challenges such as signifi cant design modifi cations, increased component costs, a rise in hardware and software complexity, and steep learning curves for new tools and user interface design techniques.
Bridgetek: Solutions for Product Design
In response to this signifi cant and widespread challenge within the industry, Bridgetek has developed the Embedded Video Engine (EVE), to bring graphical touch display interfaces to life.
This integrated circuit (IC) is designed to simplify the enhancement of user experience for engineers, allowing them to distinguish their device in the market by incorporating innovative features without sacrifi cing usability. It also broadens the scope for a variety of products and applications to adopt graphical touch-enabled interfaces. The latest automotive qualifi ed version also supports applications with extended temperature ranges.
EVE: An Innovative Approach to Adding Touch Displays
EVE integrates full-colour graphics, touch, and audio output into a single IC, functioning like a ‘graphics card’ for MCUs. It allows compatibility with almost any microcontroller via the widely-used Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), minimising both hardware and fi rmware alterations to existing product designs. This makes it an ideal solution for both updating existing products and designing new ones.
EVE Display, Touch, and Audio Features
For Display, EVE supports full-colour graphics
up to 1280x800 resolution, based on the higher-end model of the EVE series. It has effi cient and easy-to-use object-oriented commands combined with built-in widgets and extensive image/font support. These enable comprehensive graphical interfaces to be created whilst minimising workload on the MCU, allowing use with the existing MCU in a product.
Resistive and capacitive touch versions of the IC are available, in both cases supporting their associated touch panel with minimal external hardware. With the unique Touch Tag feature, EVE’s graphics and touch engines work together to allow users to assign ‘tag’ numbers to on-screen items. Detecting touches on user interface items can then be implemented by simply reading a tag register, reducing the programming effort signifi cantly on the MCU side.
For audio, EVE offers sound generation to enhance the user experience with sounds that acknowledge touch and sounding user alerts. Its easy-to-use audio engine includes a built-in library of sound effects which can be played with a simple register write, as well as the fl exibility to play custom sounds.
Engineer-Focused Design Software Support
Graphical design tools such as EVE Screen MAY 2024 | ELECTRONICS FOR ENGINEERS 17
Designer, which encompasses HMI design, widget design, simulation, and code export, and EVE Screen Editor, which consists of drag- and-drop layout editing, assist engineers who are new to designing graphical interfaces, enabling them to achieve professional results with ease.
Additionally, Bridgetek offers a variety of development modules to facilitate the evaluation of the EVE device and to kickstart application development.
In Conclusion
In the face of the complex challenges of implementing graphical touch displays, Bridgetek’s Embedded Video Engine (EVE) presents a highly effective solution. Incorporating EVE into a design addresses the four previously mentioned challenges: •
• • •
It facilitates easy integration, reducing hardware and software complexity
It minimises alterations to existing hardware and fi rmware, which decreases design changes and costs
It streamlines product design, which eases the design engineer’s learning curve for new tools and technique.
It eliminates the need for high-end MCUs, allowing for cost-effective MCU selection and use with the product’s existing MCU
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50