Sharp HAP Modules enable simple design-in of displays

17th November 2010

ES Admin

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Colour displays are being used more and more frequently for displaying image information in consumer applications. Customers expect to find displays in appliances such as coffee machines, door phones, microwave ovens and washing machines etc. In order to help manufacturers of, e.g., white goods and other household and CE-devices to produce functional and aesthetically appealing HMIs with the lowest possible development costs, Sharp is offering so-called HAP modules as a plug & play system solution for the design-in of displays. Industrial equipment manufacturers may also benefit from the use of HAP modules and insert them as a control element in appliances, as the HAP modules are designed for use at operating temperatures ranging from -10 to 60°C. The HAP modules are ready-fitted with an LCD, microcontroller, memory units, various interfaces and further peripherals, making complicated design-in processes superfluous.

As a high-end solution, Sharp offers the HAP2 module of the type LR0G94X. This is available with either a 4.3” WQVGA display or a 7” WVGA display (both with LED backlight), which may optionally be fitted with a touchscreen function and analogue video input. The core element of the system solution is the commonly used, powerful 32-bit ARM926EJ-S CPU, with a clock speed of up to 108 MHz. In addition, the processor includes numerous peripheral units for controlling the LCDs: a JPEG Codec, up to 608 kbytes of built-in RAM for the processing of images and graphics as well as a BG/SPRITE graphic controller, which can process up to 30 images per second and ensures the smooth showing of moving images even in WXGA format. The modules are also fitted with 4 Gbits of NAND flash for the storage of programs and data, 512 Mbits of SDRAM and 512 kbits of EEPROM. The display is controlled via an integrated digital 24-bit RGB interface.

Numerous peripheral devices can be connected via various interfaces. A microphone input and an integrated audio processor also make it possible to add sounds to applications with great ease, something which could be of interest not only to manufacturers of games and toys. Also included are serial interfaces: UART, I²C, IrSS, SD card Interface, SPI and GPIO.

For simpler applications Sharp has developed the HAP Di module of the type LR0G93X. It has basically the same design as the HAP2 module with a slightly more slim-line configuration. The display of the HAP Di module is a 3.5” QVGA-LCD with LED backlight and optional touchscreen functions, analogue video input and real time clock functions. The processor is a 1-chip controller IC of the type LR35503, based on a Z80 compatible 8-bit CPU with a 27 MHz cycle. The memory units are also slightly smaller: the HAP Di modules are, however, fitted with all the important peripheral units necessary to control the LCD: a JPEG Codec, up to 40 kbytes of built-in RAM for the processing of images and graphics as well as a BG/SPRITE graphic controller, which can process up to 30 images per second in QVGA resolution. It is also fitted with serial interfaces and digital I/O including PWM and an ADC.

Typical applications for these HMI system solutions with integrated display include door phones, control panels for household appliances (washing machines, ovens, refrigerators or coffee machines), games and remote controls for CE devices. Due to the operating temperature in the range of between -10 and 60°C, the HAP modules are also suitable for industrial purposes, e.g. as a display for plant control systems, remote visual inspection systems and control panels for automation systems in buildings and private homes. Sharp offers its HAP Di and HAP2 modules in a total of 16 variants with different features for the entire range of all possible applications.