ESPHome now supports LVGL - Elecrow 5-inch ESP32 display

All the videos I made on displays relied on a 3rd party HMI editor. They were nice to create, but how about long-term supportability? Will the programs still be available? Will the libraries be compatible? Some generate C source code and need to be tweaked and compiled - this is a barrier for many of you. And the SquareLine Studio has a lot of limitations unless you get an expensive license.

So, I always thought that the best way to make displays for Home Assistant would be in ESPHome.
However, the current primitive drawing functions will only allow for a very basic HMI.
But this is changing now - the popular LVGL graphics library is coming to ESPHome, with a large library of useful widgets!
I got a nice ESP32 5" display from Elecrow, that supports LVGL - so let's take it for the ride.

The Elecrow 5" RGB display:

The display configuration in the ESPHome Device Repository:

ESPHome LVGL documentation preview:

YouTube videos:

00:00 - intro
00:23 - compare to: Nextion display
01:09 - compare to: Elecrow with SquareLine Studio
02:49 - today: Elecrow with ESPHome
03:19 - display
04:16 - ESPHome configuration
09:08 - LGVL in ESPHome - documentation
10:30 - LGVL configuration
16:30 - updating the values
21:33 - touch screen

[JamesTenniswood-fs]

I'd love to see a video going into detail about how esphome could control devices directly (like dimming lights) rather than just outputting sensors that require setting up automations to take actions. Thanks!

[Waveshare_Ruan]

Thank Vaclav Chaloupka for putting so much effort into creating and sharing this video with everyone. This video provides a wealth of information for ESPHome LVGL project users and offers detailed guidance for some Waveshare users in their practical applications. If you have any ideas about incorporating other new Waveshare products in your future videos, I believe Waveshare should provide you with the greatest support. I will certainly provide you with the strongest backing for your future video productions!

[FrankGraffagnino]

this is a really great video that will be really useful for folks that want to try this. I wonder if squareline will eventually support an export of EspHome Yaml also. One thing I've been trying to do with my display running LVGL is get something working that can be used inside our car project. For that, we need a display that is easily readable in bright sunlight. I've seen these new dash displays in newer cars that are super easy to read in sunlight, but I can't seem to find any hobby displays that use the same technology. If you come across one of these displays, it would be super awesome to see a similar video on making a display that could be used outdoors or in a car!

[chrislambe]

Good show Vaclav. I could imagine one of these as a low power dashboard on each floor and in the garage. Dicking around with tablets and the workarounds does not make sense if you have basic programming skills and a 3D printer. An E-Ink version would be cool.

[Tntdruid]

Very cool i got a 7" I'm not using.

[DmitriyKhazansky]

Great walkthrough. I’m considering making a car dashboard and looking for something I can diy. Do you think this screen is visible in sunlight and would it update the display fast enough from local sensors?

[petervercruysse]

i have bought recently the "CrowPanel 7.0" -HMI ESP32 Display 800x480 RGB TFT LCD Touch Screen Compatible with Arduino/LVGL/ PlatformIO/Micropython"
When I want to install the yaml fiile it says esps3box board is not correct .
is there a difference between the 5 inch and the 7 inch ?

[petervercruysse]

Can this also work for the Waveshare ESP32 - S3 -Touch LCD 7 ?

[williammckee]

This all really cool but I just want to display chosen overview dash cards

[Airbag]

Genius.. I'm getting 3.. will start just like you with battery/pv/grid usage then try to have conditional screens show depending on time of the day show if all openings are closed and locks locked etc.
Would love more in depth examples on how to do that (to save me loads of time hah)

[christofferappelhansen]

Awesome but will stick to Openhasp for now.