Sound, connectivity & expandibility

Resource-demanding and complex audio processing tasks can be offloaded from the host MCU by utilizing a dedicated audio CODEC IC, labeled as VS1053B. This IC supports many different audio formats, commonly found on various digital audio devices.

This development board is not limited to multimedia-based applications only. USB, digital motion sensor, battery charging functionality, SD card reader and much more expands its use beyond the multimedia.

Two standardized 1x26 pin headers expose the available MCU pins to the user, adding another layer of expandability. By using mikromedia 4 shield, connectivity can be further expanded with several mikroBUS™ sockets, additional connectors, peripherals, and so on.

State of the art power supply, Display & Graphic controller

A high-quality 4.3" TFT true-color display with a resistive touch panel is the most distinctive feature of the mikromedia 4. The display has a resolution of 480 by 272 pixels, and it can display up to 16.7M of colors. The display module is controlled by the SSD1963 graphics driver IC from Solomon Systech. This is a powerful graphics coprocessor, equipped with 1215KB of frame buffer memory. It also includes some advanced features such as the hardware accelerated display rotation, display mirroring, hardware windowing, dynamic backlight control, programmable color and brightness control, and more.

The Power Supply Unit (PSU) provides a clean and regulated power, necessary for a proper operation of the mikromedia 4 development board. It is equipped with three different power supply inputs, offering all the flexibility that mikromedia 4 needs.

More connectivity

The microSD card slot allows storing large amounts of data externally, on a microSD memory card. The microSD card detection circuit is also provided on the board.

The host MCU is equipped with the USB peripheral module, allowing simple USB connectivity. Ethernet physical layer is provided by the LAN8720A, an RMII 10/100 Ethernet PHY IC from Microchip.

A perfect solution for ultra-low power wireless applications, mikromedia 4 uses the nRF24L01+, a single-chip 2.4GHz transceiver with an embedded baseband protocol engine.

Additional sensors and other miscellaneous peripherals

An ambient light sensor (ALS) can be used for dimming the screen intensity in low-light conditions, allowing for the lower power consumption. It can also be used to detect the proximity and turn on the screen or increase its brightness when the user approaches.

An infrared (IR) receiver with the integrated PIN diode and a demodulation section allows simple control over an IR remote controller to be implemented.

The MCP9700A, an integrated low-power linear active thermistor allows measurement of the ambient temperature.

A high-brightness RGB LED option can be used to provide visual feedback in a very simple way.

Headers & On-Off switch

Most of the host MCU pins are routed to the two 1x26 pin headers, making them available for further connectivity. In addition to MCU pins, some additional peripheral pins are also routed to this header.

After a valid power supply source is connected mikromedia 4 can be powered ON. This can be done by a small switch at the right side of the board. A LED indicator labeled as PWR indicates that the mikromedia 4 is powered ON.

Reset & connectors access

The board is equipped with the Reset button, which is located on the front side of the board. It is used to generate a LOW logic level on the microcontroller reset pin. The reset pin of the host MCU is also routed to the pin 1 of the 1x26 pin header, allowing an external signal to reset the device.