justbuchanan / waveshare-epaper-213v3-circuitpython

Circuitpython displayio driver for Waveshare 2.13 V3 ePaper display

CircuitPython driver for Waveshare 2.13" V3 Pico ePaper display

This project is a driver for a small (122px X 250px) eInk/ePaper display for the Raspberry Pi Pico. See the product page for more details and pictures.

This driver implementation is based on code from https://github.com/waveshare/Pico_ePaper_Code, but ported to CircuitPython, using the displayio library.

There are multiple ways to interface with this display using a raspberry pi. The manufacturer provides code samples in C and python (based on micropython). I am currently using CircuitPython for a project, so I ported the supplied micropython code to CircuitPython.

Running the example

• Install CircuitPython (I'm using the 8.0.0 beta)

• Copy the driver and example to the pi:

  • copy waveshare213v3.py as-is
  • copy example.py, but rename to main.py

• Install required dependencies

  • Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Shapes
    • From https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Shapes/releases/tag/2.5.6, download adafruit-circuitpython-display-shapes-8.x-mpy-2.5.6.zip
    • Unzip it
    • From the unzipped folder, copy lib/adafruit_display_shapes/ into the /lib folder of the raspberry pi device

Limitations

• Doesn't support rotation of the display. The defaults work, but setting the display's rotation to something other than 0 causes problems.
• The display blinks on and off twice on startup. I understand some blinking is a necessary thing with ePaper, but this feels excessive...
• The initialization sequence is missing some busy-waits that the manufacturer-supplied code contained. I don't see a way to add them using the displayio.EPaperDisplay interface, so I left them out. So far I haven't had any issues, but this makes me uneasy...