nRF5340: QSPI + display?

[Knut]

Dear Nordic,

I am considering to make a board that includes an nRF5340 + display. I am looking at a display that supports QSPI and I was wondering if the nRF5340 QSPI can be used for this purpose. The datasheets says the following: "The QSPI peripheral provides support for communicating with an external flash memory device using SPI" (https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/index.jsp?topic=%2Fps_nrf5340%2Fqspi.html)

So can the QSPI also be used for a connection to a display

Many Thanks,

Knut

[Dmitry]

Hi,

What display model do you have?  QSPI bus is commonly used to communicate with flash and PSRAM memories, displays are usually connected via SPI or 8-bit parallel bus. To work with SPI display, take a look at SPIM peripheral. There are drivers in nRF SDK for displays based on ST7735 and ILI9341 controllers.

Edit: if you mean FT81x-based display, unfortunately it won't work. QSPI engine in nRF5340 has a hardcoded set of commands that is incompatible with FT81x.

[Knut]

Hi again, 

I am looking at using an LCD+touch display with an ST7796SI driver IC. I suppose this means that I would have to write a driver myself...

In regards to your comment " There are drivers in nRF SDK for displays based on ST7735 and ILI9341 controllers" - are these drivers also available in nRF Connect SDK, which is needed for the nRF5340 chip I am using on the board I have designed?

There is extensive documentation on the nRF SDK, but I am not able to find the same comprehensive documentation on the nRF Connect SDK.

Many Thanks,

Knut

[Dmitry]

Hi,

Knut said:

I am looking at using an LCD+touch display with an ST7796SI driver IC. I suppose this means that I would have to write a driver myself...

I didn't look deeeply but it seems command set is almost the same as for ILI9341 - most of work already done.

Knut said:

are these drivers also available in nRF Connect SDK, which is needed for the nRF5340 chip I am using on the board I have designed?

Even if not - there are only two backend interfaces used by driver, GPIO and SPI master.

[ThomH]

Hi Knut,

I came across your post regarding the use of a QSPI display with the nRF5340, and I was curious about your final outcome. Did you eventually manage to get the QSPI display working, or did you switch to another solution?

I'm currently working on a similar project and would appreciate any insights you could share.

Thanks in advance!