ILI9488 TFT LCD controller connection guide

ILI9488 TFT LCD controller MSP3520 · 14-contact header wiring guide with power, signal assignments, and bench checks.

MSP3520 · 14-contact header

14 contacts Current package

ILI Technology ·

Bring up the display over SPI

Required

With power off, verify J1 is open for a 5 V module supply. Use a 3.3 V logic host and connect LED to its 3.3 V rail. Leave SDO and the touch bus open during write-only bring-up.

+5 V
- VCC (1)
- Regulated module supply
Ground
- GND (2)
- Host ground
Chip select
- CS (3)
- Host GPIO
Display reset
- RESET (4)
- Host reset GPIO
Command / data
- DC/RS (5)
- Host D/C GPIO
Serial clock
- SCK (7)
- Host SCK
Host to display
- SDI (6)
- Host MOSI
Backlight enable
- LED (8)
- Host 3.3 V rail

Bench checks

Confirm supply and ground at the module before starting the panel. Observe reset, chip select and clock with a logic analyzer if the panel stays blank.
Run the module’s initialization, select RGB666 and fill the display with a single primary color. Check that every pixel is transferred as three bytes.

LCDWiki MSP3520 User Manual CR2018-M13128, Interface Definition and 2018-08-06 module schematic. ILI Technology ILI9488 v1.00, pin descriptions, serial interface and 4-wire pixel formats. Manufacturer PDF hosted by Waveshare.

MSP3520 · 14-contact header wiring map

Highlighted contacts are used in the required step or selected circuit. Select a contact to inspect it.

MSP3520 · 14-contact header

Follow the numbered contact or silkscreen on the exact module. The display and solder sides mirror each other.

Selected pin details

13 · T_DO

Output · Outputs

Touch-controller-to-host data.

LCDWiki MSP3520 User Manual CR2018-M13128, Interface Definition and 2018-08-06 module schematic.

Electrical limits · Pin in the reference

Models and documents

The map covers the 14-contact LCDWiki MSP3520 with resistive touch. The MSP3521 lacks touch. The Ilitek datasheet describes the bare controller and its other interface modes.

MSP3520: 3.5-inch SPI display module with resistive touch.

LCDWiki MSP3520 manufacturer documentation· LCDWiki MSP3520 User Manual CR2018-M13128, Interface Definition and 2018-08-06 module schematic.
ILI9488 controller datasheet· ILI Technology ILI9488 v1.00, pin descriptions, serial interface and 4-wire pixel formats. Manufacturer PDF hosted by Waveshare.