ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board v1.5

Note

Please check the version number of your ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-MB indicated by the silk marking on the back. For boards of the v1.5 version, please refer to this user guide. For boards of the v1.4 and below versions, please refer to ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board v1.4.

Unless otherwise stated, the ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board in this document refers to both ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board and ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-2.

This user guide will help you get started with ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board and will also provide more in-depth information.

The document consists of the following sections:

Board Overview: Overview of the board hardware/software.
Start Application Development: How to set up hardware/software to develop applications.
Hardware Reference: More detailed information about the board’s hardware.
Hardware Revision Details: This is the first revision of this board released.
Sample Request: How to get a sample board.
Related Documents: Links to related documentation.

Board Overview

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board is an ESP32-S3-based development board with a touchscreen. Together with different subboards, ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board can drive LCDs with IIC, SPI, 8080, and RGB interfaces. It houses dual array microphones, supports voice recognition and near/far-field voice wake-up, and features screen and voice interaction. The board caters to development needs for touchscreen products with different resolutions and interfaces.

Currently, we have two boards available:

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board with 480x480 LCD
ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-2 with 800x480 LCD

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-2 with 800x480 LCD

Feature List

The main features of the board are listed below:

Module Embedded: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module with 16 MB flash and 16 MB PSRAM
Display: Compatibility with various subboards and support for displays with RGB, 8080, SPI, and I2C interfaces. Please refer to LCD Subboards for more information
Audio: Audio Codec + ADC amplifier and dual microphones
USB: USB to serial port chip plus USB Type-C download/debug

Block Diagram

The block diagram below shows the components of ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board and their interconnections.

Description of Components

The ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board consists of a mainboard and a subboard (see LCD Subboards for options). Additionally, it allows for a selection of a USB Type-A adapter.

Mainboard

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-MB is the core of the kit, which integrates the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module and provides ports for connection to the LCD subboard.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - Front (Click to Enlarge) — ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-MB - Front (Click to Enlarge)

The key components of the board are described in a counter-clockwise direction.

Key Component	Description
ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R16V Module	ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R16V is a generic Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE MCU module that is built around the ESP32-S3 series of SoCs. It is integrated with 16 MB flash and 16 MB PSRAM. On top of a rich set of peripherals, the acceleration for neural network computing and signal processing workloads provided by the SoC makes the module an ideal choice for a wide variety of application scenarios related to Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT).
Reset Button	Press this button to reset the system.
Boot Button	Holding down the Boot key and momentarily pressing the Reset key initiates the firmware upload mode. Then you can upload firmware through the serial port or USB.
Expansion Connector	Provides connections for all I/O expander pins, all power supply pins, and some module pins.
I/O Expander	TCA9554 is a device that provides 8 bits of general purpose parallel I/O expansion. It controls the I/O mode and level via two-line bidirectional I2C bus, offering a simple solution when additional I/Os are needed.
LCD Board Connector	Three different types of LCD subboards can be connected via connectors with 2.54 mm pitch.
LED	Supports configuring the RGB LED display to indicate status or behavior.
USB-to-USB Port	Provides power to the entire system (choose either USB-to-USB or USB-to-UART port). It is recommended to use at least a 5V/2A power adapter to ensure stable power supply. Used for USB communication between the PC and the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module.
USB-to-UART Port	Provides power to the entire system (choose either USB-to-USB or USB-to-UART port). It is recommended to use at least a 5V/2A power adapter to ensure stable power supply. Used for serial communication between the PC side and the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module.
Left Microphone	On-board microphone, connected to Audio ADC Chip.
Right Microphone	On-board microphone, connected to Audio ADC Chip.
Audio ADC Chip	ES7210 is a high performance, low power 4-channel audio ADC for applications of microphone arrays. Featuring Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), it is an ideal choice for music and voice applications.
USB-to-UART Bridge Controller	CP2102N, the single-chip USB-to-UART bridge controller, provides up to 3 Mbps connection for software download and debugging.
Audio Codec Chip	ES8311 is a low-power mono audio codec that includes a single-channel ADC and DAC, low noise pre-amplifier, headphone driver, digital audio, analog mixing, and gain function. It connects to the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module via I2S and I2C buses to process audio through hardware instead of the audio application.
Audio Amplifier	NS4150 is a low EMI, 3 W mono class D audio amplifier used to drive speakers by amplifying the audio signal from the audio codec chip.
Speaker Connector	External speaker playback is possible with the help of the audio amplifier.

LCD Subboards

The mainboard can be used together with three different kinds of subboards:

Board Name	Display (Inch)	Resolution (Px)	LCD Driver (Interface)	Touch Driver	Available Development Boards
ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB1 v1.0	0.96	128 x 64	SSD1315 (I2C)	N/A	Not Available
	2.40	320 x 240	ST7789V (SPI)	XTP2046	Not Available
ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB2 v1.5	3.50	480 x 320	ST7796S (8080)	GT911	Not Available
	3.95	480 x 480	GC9503CV (RGB)	FT5x06	ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board
ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB3 v1.3	4.30	800 x 480	ST7262E43 (RGB)	GT1151	ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-2

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB1 subboard has two interfaces, which support connection to a 2.4-inch display with the SPI interface or a 0.96-inch display with the I2C interface. This board is not yet configured, so it is not further explained here.
ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB2 subboard has two interfaces, which support connection to a display with the RGB interface or a display with the 8080 parallel interface. The current subboard has a 3.95-inch touchscreen with the RGB565 interface and 480x480 resolution. The LCD driver IC is GC9503CV and the touchscreen driver IC is FT5x06.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB2 - Front (Click to Enlarge)

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB2 - Back (Click to Enlarge)

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB3 subboard only supports a 4.3-inch touchscreen with the RGB565 interface and 800x480 resolution. The LCD driver IC is ST7262E43 and the touchscreen driver IC is GT1151.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB3 - Front (Click to Enlarge)

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-SUB3 - Back (Click to Enlarge)

USB Type-A Adapter

With the USB Type-A adapter, the mainboard can serve as a USB host for connection to USB devices.

USB Type-A Adapter v1.1 - Connected to the Mainboard (Click to Enlarge)

USB Type-A Adapter v1.1 - Connected to USB Devices (Click to Enlarge)

Start Application Development

This section provides instructions on how to do hardware and software setup and flash firmware onto the board to develop your own application.

Required Hardware

1 x ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board-MB
1 x LCD subboard
1 x USB 2.0 cable (standard Type-A to Type-C)
1 x PC (Windows, Linux, or macOS)

Note

Please make sure to use the appropriate USB cable. Some cables can only be used for charging, not for data transfer or program flashing.

Optional Hardware

1 x Speaker

Hardware Setup

Prepare the board for loading of the first sample application:

Connect the LCD subboard to the LCD Board Connector.
Plug in the USB cable to connect the PC with the board.
The LCD lights up and you can start to interact with it.

Now the board is ready for software setup.

Software Setup

The development framework of ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board is ESP-IDF. ESP-IDF is a FreeRTOS-based SoC development framework with a bunch of components including LCD, ADC, RMT, and SPI. An example is provided for ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board under the folder Examples . You can configure project options by entering idf.py menuconfig in the example directory.

To learn how to quickly set up your development environment, please go to Get Started > Installation.

Note

ESP-IDF v5.1.2 is required. It is recommended to use the latest release/v5.1 branch for development.
For more information about developing LCD applications, please refer to ESP-IoT-Solution Programming Guide.

Hardware Reference

This section provides more detailed information about the board’s hardware.

GPIO Allocation

The table below provides the allocation of GPIOs exposed on terminals of ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module to control specific components or functions of the board.

ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 GPIO Allocation
Pin	Pin Name	Function
1	GND	GND
2	3V3	Power supply
3	EN	RESET
4	IO4	LED
5	IO5	I2S_MCLK
6	IO6	I2S_CODEC_DSDIN
7	IO7	I2S_LRCK
8	IO15	I2S_ADC_SDOUT
9	IO16	I2S_SCLK
10	IO17	LCD_DE
11	IO18	LCD_DATA7
12	IO8	LCD_DATA6
13	IO19	USB_D-
14	IO20	USB_D+
15	IO3	LCD_VSYNC
16	IO46	LCD_HSYNC
17	IO9	LCD_PCLK
18	IO10	LCD_DATA0
19	IO11	LCD_DATA1
20	IO12	LCD_DATA2
21	IO13	LCD_DATA3
22	IO14	LCD_DATA4
23	IO21	LCD_DATA5
24	IO47	I2C_SDA
25	IO48	I2C_SCL
26	IO45	LCD_DATA8
27	IO0	BOOT
28	IO35	No connection
29	IO36	No connection
30	IO37	No connection
31	IO38	LCD_DATA9
32	IO39	LCD_DATA10
33	IO40	LCD_DATA11
34	IO41	LCD_DATA12
35	IO42	LCD_DATA13
36	RXD0	UART_RXD0
37	TXD0	UART_TXD0
38	IO2	LCD_DATA14
39	IO1	LCD_DATA15
40	GND	GND
41	EPAD	GND

The pins on the I/O expander connected to the module can be used for different functions.

I/O Expander GPIO Allocation
IO Expander Pin	Pin Name	Function
1	A0	GND
2	A1	GND
3	A2	GND
4	P0	PA_CTRL
5	P1	LCD_SPI_CS
6	P2	LCD_SPI_SCK
7	P3	LCD_SPI_MOSI
8	GND	GND
9	P4	Free
10	P5	Free
11	P6	Free
12	P7	Free
13	INT	No connection
14	SCL	I2C_SCL
15	SDA	I2C_SDA
16	VCC	Supply voltage

Power Distribution

Power Supply over USB

There are two ways to power the development board via USB power port.

Via USB-to-USB port

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - USB-to-USB Power Supply

Via USB-to-UART port

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - USB-to-UART Power Supply

Independent Audio and Digital Power Supply

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board features independent power supplies for the audio components and ESP module. This should reduce noise in the audio signal from digital components and improve the overall performance of the components.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - Digital Power Supply

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - Audio Power Supply

AEC Path

The acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) path provides reference signals for AEC algorithm.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board provides two compatible echo reference signal source designs. One is Codec (ES8311) DAC output (DAC_AOUTLP/DAC_AOUTLP), the other is PA (NS4150) output (PA_OUT+/PA_OUT+). The former is a default and the recommended selection. Resistors R54 and R56 shown in the figure below should not be installed.

The echo reference signal is collected by ADC_MIC3P/ADC_MIC3N of ADC (ES7210) and then sent back to ESP32-S3 for AEC algorithm.

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - AEC Codec DAC Output (Click to Enlarge)

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - AEC PA Output (Click to Enlarge) — SP32-S3-LCD-Ev-Board - AEC PA Output (Click to Enlarge)

ESP32-S3-LCD-EV-Board - AEC Reference Signal Collection (Click to Enlarge)

Hardware Setup Options

Automatic Download

There are two ways to put the development board into the download mode.

Press the Boot and Reset buttons. Release the Reset button first and then the Boot button.
The download is performed automatically by the software. The software uses the DTR and RTS signals from the serial port to control the status of the EN and IO0 pins.

Hardware Revision Details