Future Development and Trends of Color TFT Display and Internet Connection Ability

[NuvotonMarcom]

Influences of IoT on global product trends


Apart from being one of the significant technological advancements in the 21st century, the Internet of Things (IoT) has drawn closer everything in daily life, including interpersonal relations, and facilitated the rapid development of everyday-life products. By enabling the sharing of life, making of more unique products, and sharing of research findings and different types of technical information, the IoT makes life more convenient and advances the whole world at the same time.


With the internet, Alibaba makes product sales freer and more convenient, allows people to trade products more easily across the world, speeds up product sales, and turns product prices friendlier. Thanks to the internet, people around the globe unite again. It is evident that the IoT has also accelerated development across society, such as smart homes, smart cities, smart industry, smart agriculture, and so on, and brought the same benefits.


An internet connection is a prerequisite for IoT products. In the absence of an internet connection, products without an internet connection are not IoT products. Therefore, a product must provide an internet connection before it is qualified for use on the IoT. There are different ways to connect to the internet. In terms of distance, there are short-distance and long-distance connections. In terms of connection medium, there are wireless and wired connections. The commonly seen Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection is wireless connections.


Common ways of IoT connection are as follows:
1. Ethernet
The 10/100Mb Ethernet is the most popular way of wired connection so far. As it requires a wire connection, it is very inconvenient to mobility. In general, Ethernet is used on stationary devices with Ethernet access in the vicinity.


2. Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi has recently been a trendy way of indoor wireless connection suitable for smart-home and consumer products. Its convenience to use enables us to easily connect mobiles, tablets, and PCs to the internet. Therefore, Wi-Fi has become the most popular way of internet connection for consumer products.


3. Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a technology for short-distance IoT connection. However, its application is restricted by relative limitations, such as the number of connected devices, the distance of connection, and interference. Therefore, it is rather suitable for use on personal devices and not popular for the IoT.

4. 4G-LTE
It is the most common way of wireless communication over mobiles and suitable for use on IoT products. As it requires telecommunication service fees and the module unit price is too high, field applications have many obstacles.


5. Sub-1GHz and LoRa
Both are non-business bands without the need for a wired connection as in Ethernet, the higher cost as in 4G-LTE, and the short-distance limit as in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. However, there are two problems for Sub-1GHz and LoRa: (1) Lack of corresponding ecosystems: Devices using them are less popular than that of Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. (2) Deficient transfer capacity: Some applications will be limited.


What types of connections are needed for devices with color displays requiring IoT connection to achieve the intended effectiveness?
The choice of connection depends on the types of products with color displays requiring internet connections. For example, some stationary devices requiring color display and an internet connection, such as fire safety, smart home, and smart city devices, can be connected to the internet via wired or wireless connection. However, the connection should be achieved by the standard Ethernet network, which has considerable bandwidth for transferring data in different fields. As Ethernet is not energy-saving, it is very suitable for use on stationery products.


The commonly seen Wi-Fi connection is the most popular internet connection for smart homes, smart agriculture, and intelligent terminal products. Wi-Fi connection is suitable for many devices with color displays requiring an internet connection, either stationary or mobile. The majority of smart home devices with a color display will be connected to the internet over Wi-Fi in the future. Although we need a router to achieve an internet connection over Wi-Fi, as the router is a standard device in the smart home environment, an internet connection over Wi-Fi will be very convenient.


Nuvoton has developed a range of convenient interfaces for users and developers for platforms using color display controllers. With emWin from Nuvoton, users and developers can speed up the research and development of beautiful GUIs and beautiful interfaces to add value to their products. Different types of interfaces are provided for convenient linkage of other connection modules, including serial port connection for a quick link with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Sub-1 GHz modules and easy connection to the cloud. There are other interfaces, such as the high-speed USB host for connecting 4G-LTE or NB-IoT. In this case, users can connect products directly to the internet without a router.


Color display controllers with IoT bring a better experience to users and add value to products. Cloud connection is a future product trend. IoT enriches our society and speeds up world development. Nuvoton will continue to provide more IT products for users to create more value.