Coloured displays are in. But not all applications do allow a TFT display and it's also not always reasonable. Besides to the typical minimum order quantities and the huge development effort for a TFT, it makes absolutely sense to have a look at the DOG familiy from ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY.
Those monochrome but however colored display series was especially designed for industrial and medical needs. The displays are easy to connect and drive (SPI or I²C). They are available from 1 piece off. The German stock makes them permanent available without lead time.

Another advantage for this display family is the perfect readablity even under direct sun light. In fact when backlight is switched off, theses displays can be read excellent. The displays are long-term available and do not need a high-performance uCsystem. A graphic ontroller with RAM is built-in.
Because this display series contains more than 40 different types (all made for 3.3V supply), a cost-free simulator software with configurator is available. This helps for the choice of display size and colour. Also available is an USB test board for immediate operation without any software or hardware expense.
The DOG family spans character and graphic types with the formats of 1x8, 2x16, 102x64, 128x64, 160x104 and some others more. By the way, the display and the backlight are shipped seperately. Together with the 6 different LED backlights a lot various coloured display designs become true. Even a full coloured RGB backlight for special requirements is available as a standard.

The latest member EA DOGXL160-7 is a 3.3“ display, which is set up ultra compact. Thanks to the pins with a pitch of 1/10“ (2.54mm) cost-effective standard material can be used all the time. After all this display alternatively can be interfaced via SPI (3- or 4-wire) also. Even with this small size an analogue touch panel is available. All touch areas are defined by software. With that any inputs can be done in a smart way.

 Helpful link: DOG, Flyer, Data Sheet: EA DOGXL160-7, EA USBSTICK-FONT
June, 9th. 2010 Ralph Tischer