E-Ink displays are a popular choice for many makers in the Raspberry Pi community. Their design lends to low energy consumption, and they’re relatively easy to program using Python, but if you’re new to this sort of project, it can be a lot to take in. That’s where developer Aaron Ciuffo’s PaperPi project comes into play.
According to Ciuffo, PaperPi features a selection of custom E-Ink display plugins that rotate through a set of predefined content. Instead of starting from scratch, PaperPi provides some of the most sought offer tools so makers can get started with using their hardware without much hassle.
PaperPi was tested and confirmed to work with Raspberry Pi 4B and 3B models running Raspberry Pi OS Buster. The Raspberry Pi Zero is currently untested, but there’s no reason to avoid experimenting with one if that’s all you have on hand. Ciuffo has published a complete list of compatible displays on the PaperPi GitHub page but assures most WaveShare SPI displays will work.
There are several built-in plugins to play with, ranging from tracking phases of the moon to tracking cryptocurrency prices. There’s even an option for a rotation of random XKCD comics. One of the more notable plugins is for LibreSpot, which integrates with Spotify and could easily pair with a HiFiBerry HAT for audio output.
Check out the original PaperPi thread shared to Reddit by Aaron Ciuffo to get a closer look at what it’s capable of, and be sure to follow him for future updates.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
