I am looking for a thin e-paper display similar to those used in retail stores. I know lots of people get the display and case and guts separately, but I just need something that works with minimal effort. I’ve seen lots of these displays recently in retail stores and I’m hoping just to get one fully functional off the shelf.
My project is an e-paper display for my dishwasher. I would like to show information such as the last time it was run, the current cycle stage (washing, drying, done), who is responsible for the dishes today, and other information. I already have these data points available; I just need a display I can connect to Home Assistant and then magnetically slap on the front of the dishwasher.
What easy options are available for this kind of project?
The ones in the store use the e-inks ability to keep an image for a long time with little to no power usage.
They are not updated on the shelf fronts but most be returned to a writer.
The refresh performance is exactly what I need since the dishwasher will run once or twice a day. The retail ones I saw were thin and light for (hopefully) easy magnetic adherence to the dishwasher. The part I’m unsure of is the connectivity to Home Assistant.
NFC and wired connections to update the display are out. Zwave, Zigbee, low power Bluetooth, and maybe WiFi are connection possibilities, but I’m not sure who makes them or which ones are quality built, hence my inquiry here. Homemade displays seem to be heavy or require custom 3D printed frames (I don’t have a 3D printer).
Are there any available for purchase or repurpose that fit my requirements?
It is none of those protocols.
It works as a wired NFC.
You connect it to a wire, which have power and sometimes also the programming signal and sometimes the programming signal is equivalent to NFC.
Still you need the power to change the displayed image.
You will then change the display and disconnect the wired connection and return the display to its place.
The benefit with E-ink is that it will keep the image for weeks if not month with little or no power.
Trying to build wireless connectivity into it will destroy that benefit, because the wireless connection can not last that long at all unless you use a big bulky battery.
A hue or other ZigBee, zwave or other wireless switch might work on a button cell battery for a long time, but they are transmitter devices, so they can limit the power on time to only when they need to transmit.
A display is a receiver device and needs to listen for updates and that require a lot more power.
The description sounds really good, but also a bit too good.
A 5 year battery life with a RF reviewer is pretty optimistic.
Likewise is 14-25m range with RF, at least with European RF limitations .
@BebeMischa Ya, that is similar to the ones I’ve found. It seems to be just the screen with no controller or frame/case. At € 60, it’s not the start of an inexpensive solution. I’m looking for the whole package of a screen, onboard controller, and a frame on the cheap.
@WallyR Now that’s more like it! However, it looks like there is a minimum order of 100 instead of just one. There are others like this one that supposedly connects with Bluetooth and $8 in bulk (probably $16-$20 if purchasing only one).
It is hard to tell from their description, but could I connect with it directly using Home Assistant on a Pi4? Would I need to use a Pi0w linking with Bluetooth and then use the Pi0w to connect to HA?
I feel we are getting close to a solution! Thank you!!
You will probably need to have some middleware that H can connect to.
There is no standard for such connection in BT and nor in HA, AFAIK.
The issue might be that the middleware does not provide a way for HQ to connect or require you to actually code your own program to do it.
And besides the hat the link you posted is for a 7,5" screen.
The shelf fronts are usually around 2,15".
It is a huge difference in size.
And btw. be aware that E-ink can easily be damaged by UV lights and mechanical bumps, so be sure to not have it on the washer when it is operating.
I’m looking for a screen a little bigger than a cell phone. 7.5" is probably the maximum I’d go. Grayscale or two color (red, black) are both fine. If the device API is straightforward, I could maybe deal with that.
I saw mentioned in another thread of converting an older Kindle Paperwhite as a remote screen. Does anyone have success with that? They seem durable enough.