planar-EL512.256-H/docs

Notes

• Plan: https://claude.ai/code/artifact/3b9eda11-a87e-4eea-bbb9-e6454e558991
• Datasheet: datasheet/EL512.256-H3 FRB.pdf

Approach

I2S0 in 8-bit parallel (LCD) mode with a circular DMA descriptor chain. BCK rises once per two DMA bytes (measured with PCNT: 2.5 MHz BCK at a 5 MHz byte rate), so each VCLK period is two identical bytes:

Bit	Signal
0	VID (even columns)
1	TVID (odd columns)
2	HS
3	VS

The I2S0 BCK output drives VCLK. ENABLE (GPIO 25) and _LOWPWR (GPIO 26) are plain GPIO.

I2S0 setup (EL512Panel::startI2S()), following bitluni's ESP32Lib 8-bit mode:

• Clock: PLL_D2_CLK 160 MHz / clkm_div_num 16, tx_bck_div_num 1 -> 10 MHz byte rate, 5 MHz BCK (two bytes per BCK period).
• lcd_en, lcd_tx_wrx2_en, tx_bits_mod 8, tx_fifo_mod 1, tx_chan_mod 1, tx_right_first. With this setup each 32-bit DMA word goes out as bytes 2, 3, 0, 1, so encodeRow() stores stream byte i at i ^ 2.
• Stream bits 0..3 -> I2S0O_DATA_OUT16_IDX + n; BCK -> VCLK (INVERT_VCLK flips it).
• Ring: 8 descriptors of 4 lines (2176 bytes each, 17 KB total), looped, eof on every descriptor. The EOF interrupt (IRAM, so it keeps running during flash writes) re-encodes the descriptor that just finished with the lines 32 later, so the ring stays ~1.7 ms ahead of the panel. Each descriptor tracks its own first line, so a missed interrupt costs one stale chunk instead of shifting the picture.
• Encoding: a 256-entry table turns one framebuffer byte (8 pixels) into its 8 stream bytes, already in ^ 2 order; a line takes about a microsecond.
• Double buffer: drawing goes into _fb; show() asks the interrupt to copy it to the displayed buffer just before it encodes line 0, and waits for that (≤ 1 frame).
• The driver uses ESP-IDF calls only and lives in components/el512/; PlatformIO builds it from there as library EL512Core (lib_extra_dirs), ESPHome as the el512 external component.
• Health counters (takeStats()): refills, largest refill gap, swaps, swap timeouts, TX FIFO underruns. With Wi-Fi on: ~4600 refills/s, max gap < 0.4 ms, no underruns.

From the datasheet

The datasheet is the source of truth for everything in this section and wins over any other doc, comment or the plan.

• Two-bit parallel mode is selected by removing jumper 2 (DCONFIG) of pin strip PS1 (Table 3; factory default has jumpers 1 and 2 fitted). Even columns on VID, odd columns on TVID, numbered from the left as seen by the viewer; 256 VCLKs per row. The datasheet numbers from 1 (Fig. 3: "row 1", "Last pixel (512 / 256)"), so the leftmost pixel, x = 0 in the code, is column 1 and goes on TVID.
• VCLK is active on the rising edge and should be kept running.
• HS envelopes the pixels of a row: the visible pixels are the last 512 (two-bit mode: last 256 clocks) before HS falls. The number of VCLKs during HS high should be even.
• The topmost row is the first HS high time ending after the rising edge of VS. Only the rising edge of VS is used; VS high/low time is at least 1 VCLK (T2).
• Table 5: front porch T1 >= 100 µs, HS setup to VS T4 >= 1 VCLK, HS hold from VS T5 >= 3 µs, HS low T6 >= 4 VCLK, HS period T8 >= 50 µs, VS 70 Hz typ / 75 Hz max.
• Figure 4 / Table 6: VID, TVID, HS and VS need 8 ns setup and 8 ns hold around the rising VCLK edge; VCLK period >= 33 ns (30 MHz max).
• Inputs are HCT compatible with pull-ups (Table 4: high >= 2 V, low <= 0.8 V, abs. max Vcc1 + 0.5 V). ENABLE and _LOWPWR are on J2 and pulled high internally.

Open items

Done:

• Implement EL512Panel::startI2S() (I2S0 LCD mode, GPIO matrix routing, circular lldesc_t chain).
• Handle the 8-bit LCD-mode byte-pair swap in encodeRow() (byte i at i ^ 2).
• Map x = 0 (datasheet column 1, odd) to TVID, not VID.
• VCLK rate: PCNT showed BCK at half the byte rate (panel saw every other byte, image squeezed and repeated). Fixed with two bytes per VCLK at a 10 MHz byte rate; PCNT now reads VCLK 5.0 MHz, VS 70 Hz.
• I2S0 data signal base I2S0O_DATA_OUT16_IDX: GPIO 19/21/22/23 all toggle.
• Panel shows a correct image in two-bit mode.

Hardware checks:

• Self test (Table 3): remove PS1 jumper 1, power up; all pixels except the first half of the top row should light. Refit jumper 1.
• HS reads ~18,030 Hz on PCNT where 5 MHz / 272 = 18,382 Hz is expected (~2% low) while VCLK reads 5.0 MHz. Frame rate is still ~70 Hz; cause unknown, check on a scope (HS 256 clocks high / 16 low, T6-T8).
• VCLK edge phase: with INVERT_VCLK = false the image jittered (rising edge on the byte-pair boundary); true puts it mid-pair and the jitter is gone.
• "row stripes" test image: brightness drifts in slow waves. Panel behaviour, not the signal: unchanged at 73.7 Hz (260 clocks/row) vs 70.4 Hz, on a 15 V 4 A Vcc2 supply, while the checkerboard (same average load, spread within each row) and all other images are stable. Attributed to the panel's drive reacting to whole rows alternating fully on / fully off; kept 272 clocks/row.
• Confirm the ^ 2 byte order. HS edges sit on word boundaries, so a wrong order does not show on HS; on the panel it shuffles pixels in groups of 8 (a 1-pixel line at x = 0 lands at x = 4).
• Confirm the column parity: the "checkerboard" and "VID/TVID columns" test images in src/test_images/main.cpp must look as drawn, and the left border must sit on the panel's first column.
• Add the 5 V buffer (74HCT245/74AHCT541) and a pull-down on ENABLE so the panel stays off while the ESP32 boots without VCLK (Table 1: ENABLE pulled high internally; Table 5 note 3: VCLK should be kept running). The panel blanks a few times during boot until then.
• Wi-Fi blanking: with Wi-Fi on (RSSI -90 dB, so full transmit power) the panel blanks for a moment now and then, mostly at page changes (each reports the new page to Home Assistant). Gone with wifi: enable_on_boot: false; ENABLE/_LOWPWR were not connected; the health counters stayed clean during 3 blinks in 2 min. So the signal is disturbed on the wires, not late from the ESP32. Next: all six J1 GND pins along the signal wires, antenna away from the cable, the 5 V buffer; output_power: 14dB as a quick check.

Software:

• Tear-free updates: back buffer copied to the displayed buffer at line 0.
• Memory: the full-frame stream (142 KB) is replaced by a 17 KB ring; ~190 KB internal heap is left with Wi-Fi, the API and the ESPHome pages running.
• Unit test for encodeRow() (see test/README).