Energy Micro's EFM32 Gecko MCUs now complemented by emWin

Designers working with Energy Micro's EFM32 Gecko microcontrollers (MCUs) can now employ the emWin high-quality graphical software library from SEGGER to quickly and cost-effectively configure graphical user interfaces for products ranging from portable health and fitness monitors to smart accessories.

emWin delivers flicker-free animation, optimized drawing routines supporting anti-aliasing and a GUI builder for window objects (widgets). By integrating emWin within its Simplicity Studio design environment, Energy Micro allows designers to make immediate use of the autonomous on-chip TFT and LCD controller that is a feature of the EFM32 Gecko series of MCUs.

Incorporating a low-power display controller on-chip gives designers flexibility in HMI and display options for low-energy applications, especially for users of Energy Micro's large memory Giant and Leopard Gecko processors.

Working closely with SEGGER provides first-class software support for these features and allows users to produce high-quality graphics results quickly and without license agreement concerns.

emWin supports a wide range of graphics features including a unique font converter and unicode language support, color management and graphical layering. Compatible with single-task and multitask environments, proprietary operating systems or with any commercial RTOS, emWin can adapt to displays of any physical or virtual size.

The direct drive TFT controller within the EFM32 Giant and Leopard Gecko MCUs allows full-rate (60fps QVGA/30fps HVGA) video output from external memory while the CPU remains in an energy-saving deep sleep mode. It supports up to 16bit color and displays without an internal frame buffer, and offers functions such as scrolling, alpha blending and bit masking. EFM32 microcontrollers with an LCD driver can directly drive segment displays with a current consumption of just a few hundred nanoamps.