4D Insights

4D Systems unveils the uLCD-90DT/DCT series, featuring a 9.0” Diablo16 Integrated Display Module to meet the rising demand for large displays. The module, part of the microLCD range, emphasizes intuitive integration and user-friendliness. With a resolution of 800 x 480 and RGB 65K colors, it offers a visually pleasing experience for a variety of projects. The display, available with either Resistive or Capacitive Touch, is powered by the Diablo16 Graphics Processor, supporting touch detection, microSD storage, GPIO, and communications. Ensuring compatibility with the Workshop4 IDE, this new series facilitates faster prototyping, heralding a blend of aesthetic and functional advancement in display solutions.

Técnico Solar Boat are a competitive team of 33 university students from a range of engineering disciplines based at Instituto Superior Técnico from Lisbon, Portugal. With a mission to promote the use of renewable energy and electric mobility, they develop vessels from scratch, compete internationally at competitions held in Netherlands & Monaco each year and contribute to the broader industry’s knowledge by sharing their work as an open-source project. With two prototypes & 2 years of competing under their belt, the team wanted to build a new boat – the São Rafael 02. The objective was to be lighter, faster & more efficient than its predecessor, the São Rafael 01. Being a manned vessel, they knew they needed a custom display in the cockpit for the pilot to use to drive the boat in a safe manner.

Based in New York, USA, Carl Darby set out to create a scale model of the EVA Pod from the Movie 2001: A Space Odyssey – a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Not content with simply backlighting the panels, he wanted the panels to be animated just as they did in the film. Using the 1:8 scale model kit from Moebius, Darby needed to find small enough LCD screens that he could program and add into his model to replicate exactly the video screens seen in the movie.

In modern embedded designs, interactive displays are pivotal, thanks to early smartphone innovations. Designers choose between creating from scratch or utilizing off-the-shelf modules like 4D Systems' gen4-uLCD-43DCT-CLB. These modules, pre-equipped with drivers and graphical interfaces, significantly simplify design processes and hasten market entry. By handling display tasks, they enable the use of cost-effective MCUs, presenting an appealing choice over discrete design, especially in rapid consumer markets where a quick market entry could denote success.