Add a bright, hi-res, square LCD screen to your Raspberry Pi (or Pico) projects with this 1.54" Breakout Garden-compatible SPI display.
We sourced this vibrant LCD display to use on Pico Explorer Base and we've become rather fond of it. We've given it the full Breakout Garden treatment and now it's super-easy to incorporate into other Raspberry Pi or Raspberry Pi Pico projects. The screen is around 40% bigger (by area) than the one on our 1.3" square breakout, giving you plenty of room to fill with detailed graphs or lots of data from sensors. Its 1:1 aspect ratio means it would also be good for displaying square images (like album art or Instagram photos), or perhaps even for using as the screen on a mini handheld games console?
Like our other LCD breakouts, it's an IPS display so has great viewing angles and it's super-crisp and bright. It's driven by SPI and you should be able to run it at up to ~50FPS, although we've found that anywhere from 10FPS looks good for most uses.
You can use this breakout completely solder-free (which is very handy for prototyping) by combining it with any of our Breakout Gardens with SPI - check out the extras tab for some options! We've also included a strip of male header in case you want to hook it up to your SBC or microcontroller with wires, all traditional-like.
Features
1.54" colour LCD (240x240 pixels)
SPI interface
3.3V or 5V compatible
Reverse polarity protection
Compatible with all models of Raspberry Pi (Python library)
Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico (C++/MicroPython libraries)
Specifications
240x240 pixels (~220 PPI)
27.72mm x 27.72mm active area
Brightness: 250 cd/m^2
900:1 contrast ratio
160° viewing angle (horizontal and vertical)
ST7789V driver chip
Dimensions: approx 45mm x 32mm x 5mm
Getting Started (Raspberry Pi)
This breakout uses the same ST7789 library as our square and round LCDs. The library makes it straightforward to display images, text or graphics, and even display animated GIFs!
If you're not using a Breakout Garden, then this is how to connect your LCD Breakout up to your Raspberry Pi.
Our Python library is set up to use SPI 0 by default on the Pi (BCM 7 for CS, BCM 11 for SCK, and BCM 10 for MOSI), BCM 9 for DC, and BCM 19 for the backlight.
Here's which pins to connect between your LCD breakout and your Pi's GPIO (note that it's BCM pin numbering):
3-5V to any 5V or 3V pin
CS to BCM 7
SCK to BCM 11
MOSI to BCM 10
DC to BCM 9
BL to BCM 19
GND to any ground pin
You can of course use other pins with your LCD Breakout, but you'll have to change them accordingly when you instantiate the display in your code.
Getting Started (Raspberry Pi Pico)
If you're using a Raspberry Pi Pico you can copy our custom MicroPython uf2 to your Pico which includes drivers for this screen.
Getting Started with MicroPython tutorial
C++ example for 1.54" screen
MicroPython example for 1.54" screen
MicroPython function reference for Pico Display library (bear in mind you will need to init your breakout as per the 1.54" example)
The easiest way to use our SPI breakouts with a Raspberry Pi Pico is by plugging them into a Pico Breakout Garden Base or a Pico Breakout Garden Pack.
If you'd rather wire them up to a Pico directly, here's how it goes!
3-5V to any 5V or 3V pin
CS to GP17
SCK to GP18
MOSI to GP19
DC to GP16
BL to GP20
GND to any ground pin
Notes
This display has a shinier surface than its smaller cousin, so if you're after more of a matte effect you might be better off going for the 1.3" one.