4Duino-24 is an Arduino compatible 2.4″ Color IoT Display Module with Atmel MCU and ESP8266 Module

I played with ITEAD Studio NEXTION serial color displays for Arduino boards and the likes a few months ago, and while the hardware seems good and the company offer a large choice of 2.4″ to 7″ models at a very affordable price, I didn’t find the Windows software to create the user interface to be very user-friendly. 4D Systems, an Australian company specializing in “graphics solutions”, will soon launch a similar 2.4″ display, but integrated into an Arduino compatible board also featuring an ESP8266 module for WiFi connectivity.

4Duino-24 “LCD  IoT Display Module” specifications:

• MCU – Atmel ATmega32U4 micro-controller with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM
• Storage – micro SD card slot (FAT16 support) for data and logging
• WiFi Module – ESP8266 based with 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, 1MB flash, support for Wi-Fi Direct (P2P), soft-AP
• Display – 2.4” LCD-TFT resistive touch display module with 240×320 resolution, 65K colors, and powered by PICASO embedded graphics processor with 14KB flash, 14KB  SRAM
• Expansion – Headers with up to 20 digital I/O pins, up to 7 PWM, and up to 12 analog inputs
• Programming / debugging
  • 1x micro USB for power and programming (ATmeaga32U4)
  • 2×5 way header for programming Picaso and ESP8266 via a 4D Systems Programming Cable or Adapter
• Power Supply – 4.0V to 5.5V DC via power jack
• Dimensions – Complete board: 72.8 x 53.3 x 14.6mm; Display viewing area: 36.72 x 48.96mm.
• Weight – ~36 g.
• RoHS and CE Compliant.

The display can handle full color images, animations, icons and even video clips. Windows fonts are also supported. The board can be programmed with the Arduino IDE, or the company’s 4D Systems’ Workshop4 IDE. I’d assume the latter is recommended if you want to design neat user interface. Sadly the program only works in Windows,  so Linux and Mac OS users will have to revert to run the program through Wine (TBC) or in a Windows virtual machine. The promo video explains fairly well the features and capabilities of this “IoT display”.

4Duino-24 will officially be launched on August 17, 2016, and it will sell for $79 US. However, you may want to go with the $99 US Starter kit as it includes the programming cable for the Picasso processor. More details should be available on 4Duino.com at launch about a week from now.

Thank you Nanik!

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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