IDM2040-21R

[Rudolph]

Ok, with the post from marketing, I kind of have to ask. :-)

I saw the IDM2040-21R a while ago and found it interesting.
Round, IPS, capacitive touch, rotary dial.

A bit too small for me, 2,1" is 53mm in diameter, but unfortunately this seems to be the upper end of round displays.
I also found 3.4", but only with MIPI DSI.

However, the FT800 puzzles me.
Why does the IDM2040-21R use a FT800?
The FT800 does not even use capacitive touch, it is the resitive touch variant, so the firmware needs to be patched. Why not use a FT801?

And then, why not use a BT881?
The FT800 could be used with I2C instead of SPI, but it is connected by SPI on the IDM2040-21R.
The BT881 would be a drop-in replacement with GPIO2 on pin 10 instead of MODE.


And personally, the RP2040 is a bit of an odd choice for me.
This controller has close to nothing that would make it exciting, except maybe, the PIOs which are not used here.
And so the IDM2040-21R has I2C or RS485 as communication interface and neither would the interface I would choose to run things thru my home.
Ah yes, there is USB, but that is an even worse fit for home automation.

I would rather go for a small controller that has a CAN-FD interface, like an ATSAMC21E - which could also do RS485 and I2C.
Or use an ESP32 and add WLAN, but you need to run a cable to the unit anyways and there are already enough things in our homes sending out radio waves.

A modular approach with a second PCB on top of the EVE PCB would help with size limitations.
And would not only make more room for more features, but also would add the flexibility to use different controller boards.