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

Description

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.