Display HAT Mini

Les Pounder thinks that Pimoroni’s latest display was designed for ants, or at least younger people with better eyesight than him.

- Les Pounder

IN BRIEF

A two-inch IPS display that fits to the GPIO of the Raspberry Pi may not sound like a big deal, but Display HAT Mini brings much more to the table. With four buttons, an RGB LED and a hidden Stemma QT/Qwiic connector, this display offers much more over the cheaper SPI displays that have flooded the maker market.

The Raspberry Pi isn’t exactly short of display options. We have HDMI, DSI and SPI screens via the GPIO. The latter option (SPI) is where we see the Display HAT Mini, which connects to all of the GPIO pins, but only uses 13. We can access the free GPIO pins using a breakout board, such as Flat Hat Hacker.

The Display HAT Mini features a two-inch (320x240px) IPS screen. While small, the screen is clear and easy to read, thanks to IPS technology which permits greater viewing angles and bright vivid images. Display HAT Mini’s form factor lends itself to the Raspberry Pi Zero range of boards, too. Display HAT Mini excels as a simple user interface and information output for embedded projects. Think home automation, network and server data.