In our daily life, most LCD products are square or rectangular, while relatively speaking, circular screens are relatively few. However, in recent years, with the change of people’s aesthetics and the emergence of various personal customization needs, circular LCD screens are also increasingly used in various fields, such as smart watches, smart wall clocks, electric vehicle instruments, automobile display instruments and so on.
In the market, there are mainly small-scale application scenarios, and different applications require different displays. So how to choose a screen suitable for your own product is particularly important. Next, I will briefly introduce the existing circular screens on the market that are already in mass production, their characteristics, the use of terminals and the existing problems of circular screens
In fact, the display principle of the round LCD display is the same as that of the conventional rectangular and square LCD screens. Only through the production technology of the LCD glass and the adjustment of the screen parameters, the circular LCD screen can display normally in the circular state. The key factor that plays a decisive role is the design and formulation of the drive scheme, which is how to build a good bridge between the circular LCD screen and the motherboard.
Terminal Application
Round LCD displays are divided into large size and small size. Small round LCD screen is more widely used, such as smart wear, smart watch, smart wall clock, electric vehicle instrument, car display instrument, smart home appliances, smart handheld devices, etc. Large size circular screens are also used, generally more than 20 inches in size, such as new medical equipment, industrial equipment central control, museum exhibition halls, enterprise conference rooms, financial media centers, commercial venues, etc. See the following example diagram.
Round Displays Feature
The display size is relatively small. The commonly used ones are 1.28inch/ 1.3inch, 1.45inch, 1.6inch, 2.1inch, 2.5inch, 2.8inch, 3.4inch, 4.0inch, etc. All features as below:
Size
0.71inch
Resolution
160*160
Dimension
20.12*22.3*1.81mm
Active Area
18*18mm
Driver IC
GC9D01
Interface
4-SPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
350cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
0.99inch
Resolution
128*115
Dimension
26.71*26.22*1.86mm
Active Area
24.36*21.89mm
Driver IC
GC9107
Interface
4-SPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
450cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.28inch/1.3inch
Resolution
240*240
Dimension
35.6*37.74*1.6mm
Active Area
32.4*32.4mm
Driver IC
GC9A01
Interface
4-SPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
420cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.28inch/1.3inch
Resolution
240*240
Dimension
47.3*47.3*3.05mm
Active Area
32.4*32.4mm
Driver IC
GC9A01/ CHSC6413
Interface
4-SPI/ I2C
Touchscreen
Capacitive Touch
Brightness
380cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.28inch/1.3inch
Resolution
240*240
Dimension
41*41*3.85mm
Active Area
32.4*32.4mm
Driver IC
GC9A01/ CHSC6413
Interface
4-SPI/ I2C
Touchscreen
Custom Cover Glass
Brightness
350cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.39inch
Resolution
360*360
Dimension
39.77*37.8*1.41mm
Active Area
35.3*35.3mm
Driver IC
GC9B71
Interface
QSPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
400cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.45inch
Resolution
412*412
Dimension
39.36 *41.53*1.63mm
Active Area
36.96*36.96mm
Driver IC
WEA2010
Interface
QSPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
400cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.52inch
Resolution
360*360
Dimension
41.97*40.08*1.46mm
Active Area
35.58*37.58mm
Driver IC
ST77916
Interface
QSPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.52inch
Resolution
360*360
Dimension
42.7*42.7*3.05mm
Active Area
39.84*39.84mm
Driver IC
ST77916/ CT816D
Interface
QSPI
Touchscreen
Capacitive Touch
Brightness
260cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
1.6inch
Resolution
400*400
Dimension
42.94*45.89*1.6mm
Active Area
39.84*39.84mm
Driver IC
ST7797
Interface
MIPI/ QSPI
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
260cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
2.1inch
Resolution
480*480
Dimension
58.18*59.71*2.3mm
Active Area
52.88*52.88mm
Driver IC
ST7701S
Interface
SPI+RGB
Touchscreen
NONE/ HDMI
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
2.1inch
Resolution
480*480
Dimension
61.27*59.26*4.33mm
Active Area
53.28*53.28mm
Driver IC
ST7701S/ FT3267
Interface
SPI+RGB/ I2C
Touchscreen
Capacitive Touch/ HDMI
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
2.47inch
Resolution
480*480
Dimension
69.19*71.74*2.5mm
Active Area
62.64*62.6mm
Driver IC
HX8379C
Interface
MIPI
Touchscreen
NONE/ HDMI
Brightness
400cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
2.8inch
Resolution
480*480
Dimension
73.0376.482.3mm
Active Area
70.13*70.13mm
Driver IC
ST7701S
Interface
SPI+RGB
Touchscreen
NONE/ HDMI
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
3.0inch
Resolution
480*480
Dimension
58.01*61.38*2.5mm
Active Area
53.28*53.28mm
Driver IC
HX8369A
Interface
SPI+RGB
Touchscreen
NONE/ HDMI
Brightness
450cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
3.4inch
Resolution
800*800
Dimension
96.6*99.0*2.05mm
Active Area
87.6*87.6mm
Driver IC
ILI9881C
Interface
MIPI
Touchscreen
NONE/ HDMI
Brightness
380cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
3.4inch
Resolution
800*800
Dimension
99.0*96.6*3.98mm
Active Area
87.6*87.6mm
Driver IC
ILI9881C
Interface
MIPI
Touchscreen
Capacitive Touch/ HDMI
Brightness
350cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
3.6inch
Resolution
544*506
Dimension
95.46*91.81*2.3mm
Active Area
89.76*83.49mm
Interface
LVDS
Driver IC
ST72566
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
350cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
4.0inch
Resolution
720*720
Dimension
109.9*105.6*1.0mm
Active Area
101.5*101.5mm
Interface
SPI+RGB
Driver IC
NV3052C
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Size
4.0inch
Resolution
720*720
Dimension
109.9*105.6*1.0mm
Active Area
101.5*101.5mm
Interface
MIPI
Driver IC
JD9365DA
Touchscreen
NONE
Brightness
300cd/m2
MOQ
2pcs
Existing problems of the round screen
Yield problem. Generally, the defect rate of round LCDs is a little bit higher than rectangle and square LCD screens. With the progress of technology, the yield is the same as that of ordinary screens.
Price. Normally, the price of round LCDs is higher than normal displays. But for small round LCDs like 1.28inch, the unit sample price is the same as 1.3inch square displays.
The circular LCD screen also has its own common faults, such as the display screen is not full around the arc, or the arc is white.
Round displays also have their advantages. For example, it has a wide viewing angle, low power consumption, a long lifetime, a good appearance…ect.
Customers need to choose the right round screen. Everyone has different requirements for the round screen and their main points. I hope everyone can find a display suitable for their own projects.
Nora Wong
Hi, I’m Nora Wong, the owner of lcdscreenmfg.com. I’ve been running a business in China that makes TFT LCD and OLED Displays, and I am working in LCD Field for more than 8 years now, and the purpose of this article is to share with you the knowledge related to displays from a Chinese supplier’s perspective.