Crowpanel 2.4 Inch Display Review

Elecrow CrowPanel 2.4"-ESP32 HMI 320x240 SPI TFT LCD Touch Screen Compatible with Arduino/LVGL/ Esphome-Homeassistant/PlatformIO/Micropython

The Elecrow offers electronic kits for IoT displays and STEAM, and custom PCBA manufacturing for prototypes and production.

They have sent me one of their awesome touch displays. Inside this box, we get the CrowPanel 2.4-inch display itself, which comes with an ESP32 chip on board. This is a resistive touchscreen, and here we also get some connectors with it

We get a Type-C USB port for programming and power. Depending on the kit, you may also get pin headers or accessories.

The CrowPanel ESP32 display is a 2.4 HMI screen of a 240 x 320 resolution LCD display powered by the ESP32 WROOM 32. It has a dual-core 32-bit LX6 microprocessor, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and up to 240 MHz frequency. Great for IoT and more. It can be powered and programmed using Type-C, and it can also be powered using a battery. Supports development environments like Arduino IDE, Espressif IDF, Lua RTOS, and MicroPython. It is also compatible with open-source graphics libraries like the LVGL.

It has peripheral interfaces and expansion functions that enable it to meet the needs of different fields.

Here are some of the features and specifications.

1. Model: 2.4-inch ESP32 display
2. Main Processor: ESP32-WROOM-32-N4
3. Resolution: 240*320
4. ColorDepth: 26
5. Touch Type: Resistive Touch Screen
6. Touch Panel: TN Panel
7. Screen: TFT-LCD Screen
8. Display driver: ILI9341V
9. Interface: 1xTF Card Slot, 1xI2C, 1x GPIO, 1xSpeak, 1x UART1, 1xUART0
10. Button: BOOT Button and Reset Button
11. Active Area: 36.72x48.96mm(WxH)

Programming the CrowPanel is not that straightforward. You can use the Arduino IDE or PlatformIO, but it has some steps. It also supports the LVGL graphics library, which makes creating a professional-looking GUI much easier. You can actually use the Square Line Studio for doing the same. I'll be sharing how to work with the Square Line Studio in the next few posts. For now, I won't be covering that, but I'll show you the demo of it. So, this is the demo sketch that comes into your hand.

To work with our display, we have to take some steps. Before that, I'll show you some of the things that this thing is capable of doing.

First of all, you need to have the ESP32 boards installed in the Arduino IDE. Then you should go and download the library TFT_ eSPI by bodmer.

Next, you go to this GitHub repo and navigate to the user setup.h for 2.4, 2.8, 3.5 inch display, and go for the 2.4 inch. - https://github.com/Elecrow-RD/CrowPanel-ESP32-Display-Course-File/blob/main/CrowPanel_ESP32_Tutorial/Code/V1.X/Lesson%202%20Draw%20GUI%20with%20LovyanGFX/2.4inch_2.8inch_3.5inch/Draw/Draw.ino

Copy that and go to your file manager and find the Arduino, then libraries, search for TFT_eSPI, and find the user setup.h file and replace it with the code you just copied, and then save the file.

Next, go to the examples TFT_eSPI 320x240.

The board should be set to the ESP32 WROOM DA module. After making sure everything is right, you can upload the code (press down the boot button while uploading).

It's better if you choose the huge MP Spiffs app for better memory management to get lots of memory.

The code you copy and paste directly from the GitHub repo may not work properly. You need to add the pin mode 27, also set it to high because it is actually the backlight of the display, otherwise it won't work properly. If you haven't done that, then you may not be able to see anything.

Where can you actually use this thing? It can be used as a home automation dashboard to control smart devices, as an IoT display for sensors and data logging, for industrial control panels or prototyping HMI systems, or even as a standalone mini gadget like a pomodoro timer or a media controller, or as a calendar, whatever you can imagine

CrowPanel 2.4-inch HMI ESP32 display is a solid choice if you want a small but powerful touch display for your projects. It's affordable, versatile, and beginner-friendly. If you're interested, you can check it out. 🛒 Get your CrowPanel 2.4" HMI ESP32 Display here: https://www.elecrow.com/esp32-display-2-4-inch-intelligent-spi-tft-lcd-touch-screen-hmi-display.html?idd=6

This isn't the only size. They have multiple different boards available in different sizes and specifications. You can definitely go and check out the Elecrow website.

I really love this board. It's really fantastic. And you can expect more projects and tutorials based on this thing.

📚 Documentation & Tutorials:

https://github.com/Elecrow-RD/CrowPanel-2.4-ESP32-HMI-320x240

💻 GitHub Repository (Examples & Libraries):

https://github.com/Elecrow-RD/CrowPanel-ESP32-Display-Course-File/blob/main/CrowPanel_ESP32_Tutorial/Code/V1.X/Lesson%202%20Draw%20GUI%20with%20LovyanGFX/2.4inch_2.8inch_3.5inch/Draw/Draw.ino