Date: 01/09/2009

Free software tool and 3.2" display kit for PIC MCU based embedded applications

Microchip has introduced two new development tools to its graphics display portfolio for 16- and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers and dsPIC digital signal controllers. The Graphics PICtail plus daughter board with 3.2" display kit and related development tools, enables designers for quickly integrate graphics display functions into embedded applications using a single microcontroller, reducing development risk, total system cost and time to market. The suggested applications for this graphics display are home automation, home appliance, portable medical and industrial applications.

This free graphics display designer software tool allows the designer to visually create screens on a computer and then auto-generate the code that draws these screens for use with the free Microchip graphics library.

Key features for free graphics display designer software tool include,

Configurable display size
Enables multiple-screen displays/menus
Object re-sizing, movement and placement
Schemes, fonts and images resource management
16-bit color depth
Plug-in for Microchip's free MPLAB IDE integrated development environment


Key features for Graphics PICtail plus daughter board with 3.2" display kit include,

Daughter board for Explorer 16 development board and PIC32 USB starter board
Supports 4/8-bit STN, 4/8-bit CSTN, 18-bit HR-TFT and 9/12/18/24-bit TFT interfaces
SD/MMC card socket
16 Megabit (2Mx8) serial flash memory for additional storage

"Microchip makes it easy for our customers to add compelling interfaces to their designs with minimal development time, cost and risk via these new tools, which go one step further in enabling embedded graphics," said Derek Carlson, vice president of Microchip Development Tools.

Price: Display kit (part # AC164127-3) for $154.99
Availability: Now

For more details visit www.microchip.com