Adafruit 1.8" Color TFT Shield with microSD and Joystick - v2

The Adafruit 1.8" Color TFT Shield is the perfect way to add a bright, colorful display to your Arduino or compatible project. This shield features a 1.8" diagonal TFT display with a 128x160 pixel resolution and 18-bit color depth (262,144 colors), providing clear and vibrant visuals. It includes a built-in microSD card slot for loading full color bitmaps and other data, plus a 5-way joystick navigation switch and three selection buttons for easy user interface control.

This shield is redesigned in Arduino R3 format to ensure compatibility with a wide range of Arduino boards including the Metro M0, M4, Arduino Mega, Zero, and others. With the use of Adafruit seesaw, backlight control, reset, and button inputs operate over I2C requiring only two pins for communication with eight switches.

The display communicates via a 4-wire SPI interface and includes features such as an ultra-low-dropout 3.3V regulator and level shifting to support both 3.3V and 5V systems. The shield comes fully assembled and tested, with headers included requiring soldering for installation onto your board.

Features:

• 1.8" diagonal TFT display with 128x160 resolution and 18-bit (262,144) color
• Built-in microSD card slot for FAT16/FAT32 cards (card not included)
• 5-way joystick switch (left, right, up, down, select) plus three tactile buttons labeled A, B, C
• Compatible with 3.3V and 5V logic levels for Arduino and Metro boards
• Onboard 3.3V @ 150mA LDO regulator
• TFT backlight controlled via I2C with PWM using the Adafruit seesaw chip
• Solder-on header included for shield compatibility
• Low current draw, approximately 100mA with full backlight (not including microSD card)

Technical Specifications:

• Display size: 1.8" diagonal TFT LCD
• Resolution: 128x160 pixels
• Color depth: 18-bit (262,144 colors)
• Interface: 4-wire SPI
• Dimensions: 68.5mm x 53.0mm x 11.8mm (2.7" x 2.1" x 0.5" including joystick)
• Weight: 22.0 grams
• Power: 3.3V regulated, 3/5V logic compatible
• Built-in joystick and three control buttons

Additional Notes: Header pins require soldering. MicroSD card is sold separately. Adafruit provides open source graphics libraries and example code for easy implementation in Arduino projects. Updated PCB version available with improved silkscreen. Includes a rubber knob cover for joystick for improved usability.