Adafruit Monochrome 128x32 I2C OLED graphic display

These displays are small, only about 1" diagonal, but very readable due to the high contrast of an OLED display. This display is made of 128x32 individual white OLED pixels, each one turned on or off by the controller chip. Because the display makes its own light, no backlight is needed.

This design feature reduces the power required to run the OLED, resulting in high contrast and remarkable crispness. The driver chip SSD1306 communicates via I2C, requiring only 3 pins, two of which are I2C data/clock pins. This model includes auto-reset circuitry and a STEMMA QT / Qwiic connector.

The OLED and driver require a 3.3V power supply and logic levels for communication. To enhance compatibility, a 3.3v regulator and level shifter are included, allowing use with any 5V microcontroller, such as Arduino. Power consumption averages around 20mA depending on display usage.

A simple switch-cap charge pump, built into the OLED driver, converts 3.3v-5v into a high voltage drive for the OLEDs, simplifying integration into projects. In addition to providing a datasheet, a detailed tutorial and example code in an Arduino library are available, facilitating text and graphics display. The code requires a microcontroller with over 512 bytes of RAM for buffering but ensures fast performance.

Note that keeping each OLED pixel continuously illuminated for over 1000 hours may result in dimming, so turning off the display when not in use is recommended to maintain brightness.