4" 480x480 ESP32-S3 Smart Touch Display

1. Introduction

The UEDX48480040E-WB-A is a square-format HMI smart display module built around the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 (N16R8) module and a 4-inch 480x480 IPS TFT panel. The panel is driven by a GC9503V controller over a 3-wire SPI + RGB interface, and the capacitive touch panel is read through an FT6336U controller on I2C.

Everything fits on a single square PCB: a 2x21 2.54 mm expansion header for external peripherals, two USB Type-C ports for power, download and serial debug, a TF card slot, an addressable RGB LED, and BOOT / RESET buttons. Out of the box the board supports Arduino, ESP-IDF and PlatformIO, with LVGL examples already ported for each framework.

1.1 Product Features

Processor & Wireless

• Processor: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 (marked ESP32-S3-N16R8). Xtensa® dual-core 32-bit LX7 MCU up to 240 MHz.
• Wireless: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 5 (LE) and BLE Mesh.

Memory

• Flash: 16 MB.
• PSRAM: 8 MB (Octal SPI).

Display

Peripherals

• Connectivity: 2 x USB Type-C (USB download / program and UART), onboard CH340C USB-to-serial bridge.
• Expansion: 2x21 2.54 mm header breaking out GPIO, UART, 3.3 V, 5 V and GND.
• Storage: TF card slot (SPI interface).
• Indication: Onboard WS2812B addressable RGB LED.
• Buttons: BOOT (for download mode) and RESET.

Other

• Power supply: DC 5 V (4.0 - 5.5 V), 260 mA maximum with the backlight on. A 5 V / 1 A supply is recommended.
• Operating temperature: -20 ~ 70 ℃
• Storage temperature: -30 ~ 80 ℃
• Operating humidity: 10% ~ 90% RH (at 25 ℃)

1.2 Applications

With a square 480x480 panel and Wi-Fi / BLE connectivity, the UEDX48480040E-WB-A suits applications that need a balanced, rotatable UI surface:

• Smart home control panels and room thermostats
• Industrial HMI and machine status displays
• Smart appliance front panels
• IoT data dashboards and gateways
• Medical devices and laboratory instruments
• Knob-free, touch-first user interfaces

2. Hardware Description

2.1 Module Overview

The board is a single 94 x 94 mm PCB. The numbered callouts below mark each functional block on the back of the board:

2.2 GPIO Definition (Pinout)

Display (3-Wire SPI + RGB)

The panel is initialised over a 3-wire SPI bus, then fed pixel data over a parallel RGB bus.

Initialisation bus (3-wire SPI)

RGB data bus

Timing and control

Touch (FT6336U)

The touch controller answers at I2C address 0x38. The 01_i2c_scan example uses that address as its pass criterion.

Peripherals

3. Software

The repository ships ready-to-run examples for Arduino, ESP-IDF and PlatformIO, including LVGL ports and a hardware bring-up sequence.

3.1 Software Examples

Examples are available in the GitHub Repository.

3.2 Getting Started

3.2.1 Preparation

• Hardware: UEDX48480040E-WB-A board, USB-C cable, 5 V / 1 A power supply.
• Software: VS Code with ESP-IDF v5.1 / 5.2 / 5.3, or Arduino IDE with the ESP32 core v3.0.7 or newer, or VS Code with PlatformIO.
• Library: The following libraries are needed for the Arduino IDE and PlatformIO:

3.2.2 ESP-IDF Setup

Every folder under examples/esp_idf/ is a standalone ESP-IDF project. The first build fetches the board support package viewesmart/bsp_uedx48480040e_wb_a from the ESP Component Registry, so no manual component wiring is required.

Bring the hardware up in order — 01 → 02 → 03 → 04 — then run 05 and 06.

1. Open the example folder in VS Code (for example examples/esp_idf/01_i2c_scan).
2. Set the target to esp32s3.

3. Compile, flash and monitor using the VS Code buttons, or from the command line inside the example directory:

   idf.py set-target esp32s3
   idf.py build flash monitor
   

3.2.3 Arduino Setup

1. Install Arduino IDE Choose the installation matching your system. Newcomers can follow the beginner's tutorial.
2. Install the ESP32 board package:
   • Open Arduino IDE.
   • Go to File > Preferences.
   • Add to Additional boards manager URLs:

     https://espressif.github.io/arduino-esp32/package_esp32_index.json
     

   • Go to Tools > Board > Boards Manager.
   • Search esp32 by Espressif and install version 3.0.7 or newer.
3. Install the libraries:
   • Go to Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries.
   • Search ESP32_Display_Panel by Espressif and install version 1.0.0 or newer. When prompted about dependencies, click INSTALL ALL.
   • Install lvgl (v8.4.0 recommended).
4. Open an example:
   • From this repository: examples/arduino/gui/lvgl_v8/simple_port.
   • Or from the library: File > Examples > ESP32_Display_Panel > Arduino > gui > lvgl_v8 > simple_port.
5. Select the board:
   • Target: ESP32S3 Dev Module.
   • Settings:
     • Core Debug Level: None
     • USB CDC On Boot: Disabled
     • USB DFU On Boot: Disabled
     • Flash Size: 16MB (128Mb)
     • Partition Scheme: 16M Flash (3MB APP/9.9MB FATFS)
     • PSRAM: OPI PSRAM (Crucial!)
6. Enable the board configuration: Open esp_panel_board_supported_conf.h in the example. Set the supported-board flag to 1 and uncomment the macro for this board:

/**
 * @brief Flag to enable supported board configuration (0/1)
 *
 * Set to `1` to enable supported board configuration, `0` to disable
 */
#define ESP_PANEL_BOARD_DEFAULT_USE_SUPPORTED       (1)

// #define BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX32480035E_WB_A
// #define BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX48270043E_WB_A
 #define BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX48480040E_WB_A
// #define BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX80480043E_WB_A
// #define BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX80480050E_WB_A

3.2.4 PlatformIO Setup

1. Open the example Open examples/platformio/lvgl_v8_port in VS Code with the PlatformIO extension installed.
2. Choose the board The [platformio]:default_envs entry in platformio.ini selects which environment is built, and the matching board description file must exist in the boards/ directory. The example ships board files for several Espressif dev boards and for BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX80480070E_WB_A. To build for this board, add a board file for BOARD_VIEWE_UEDX48480040E_WB_A (copy an ESP32-S3 RGB board file and update the pin definitions), or select BOARD_CUSTOM and fill in src/esp_panel_board_custom_conf.h.
3. Configure the example
   • [Optional] Edit the macro definitions in lvgl_v8_port.h:
     • Set LVGL_PORT_AVOID_TEARING_MODE to 1 / 2 / 3 to enable the avoid tearing function for the RGB interface, then set LVGL_PORT_ROTATION_DEGREE to the rotation you need.
4. Compile and upload the project
   • Click the √ (Compile) button.
   • Connect the board to your computer. If the compilation is correct, click the → (upload) button.

4. Related Documents & Resources

5. Firmware Download

1. Open the tools folder of the repository and locate the ESP32 flash download tool (flash_download_tool_3.9.5). Extract and launch it.
2. Select the chip type ESP32-S3 and the download mode, then click OK. Follow the numbered steps 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 shown below to burn the firmware. If the download fails, hold the BOOT button and try again.
3. Select the binary to burn. Prebuilt binaries, when published, are placed in the repository's firmware directory — check the version notes inside and choose the appropriate build.

If no prebuilt binary is available for your target, build and flash from source instead — see 3.2 Getting Started.

6. FAQ