Hardware NEXT firmware
Display Add-On Module
The Complete Kit’s 3.5″ TFT turns the HealthyPi 5 into a standalone vitals monitor — heart rate, SpO₂ and temperature as numeric readouts, with live ECG, PPG and respiration plots reachable from the side navigation switch. No phone, no laptop.
Firmware support today
The Arduino NEXT firmware does not drive the on-board LCD in this release. The LVGL vitals screen is still in bring-up and has been deliberately held back; it will return in a later version.
If you have the display add-on and want to use it, flash the Zephyr firmware.
| Firmware | Display |
|---|---|
| Zephyr | ✅ Vitals screen + ECG / PPG / respiration plots, navigation switch |
| Arduino (NEXT) | ❌ Not in this release |
Everything else — USB streaming, BLE, SD recording, on-device vitals — works identically on both. The display is the only capability that currently forces the choice.
Which panel do I have?
Two panels shipped, and the firmware build differs between them:
- ILI9488 — white display board
- ST7796 — black display board
Both are 3.5″ at the same resolution. If you flash the wrong one, the backlight comes on but the panel stays blank or shows scrambled output — harmless, just reflash the other image.
Earlier releases shipped a Basic image (numeric vitals) and a Display image (waveform plots) as two separate downloads. They have been merged: one image per panel now does both, and the navigation switch moves between the vitals screen and the plots.
Download and flash
Pre-built images for the current Zephyr release are on the releases page — pick the one matching your panel:
| Panel | Firmware |
|---|---|
| ILI9488 (white display) | Download |
| ST7796 (black display) | Download |
Flash by drag-and-drop: hold the RP2040 boot button while powering on, and drop the .uf2 onto the RPI-RP2 drive that appears. Full sequence on the Welcome page.
Prefer to compile it yourself, or want a headless build? See Building the Display Firmware.
Using the display
By default the screen shows the ECG plot with vital-sign numbers (HR, SpO₂, temperature) along the edges. Pushing the side-actuated navigation switch up or down cycles to the PPG plot, then respiration, then back round.
Requirements
- HealthyPi 5 Complete Kit (the Basic Kit has no display)
- USB-C cable for power (not included), or a charged 3.7 V LiPo battery
Next
- Building the Display Firmware — compile from source, or build without the graphics stack.
- Hardware Overview — where the display sits in the stack.