How a Smart Embedded Display Solution can supercharge your Project: Efficiency, Customisation, and Industrial Integration
In modern product development, time and differentiation are everything. A smart embedded display solution is no longer a luxury – it’s a strategic enabler. Beyond offering a polished UI, these solutions dramatically streamline design cycles, reduce BOM complexity, and speed up your route to market.
In this article, we’ll explore how adopting a smart embedded display solution can transform your project from the ground up, touching on inventory optimisation, R&D efficiency, GUI customisation, industrial connectivity, and supply longevity. With integrated tools like TouchGFX, Embedded Wizard, and features like CAN, Modbus, and web-based remote access, the road from prototype to product has never been smoother.
- Accelerated Development and Scalable Architecture
Traditional embedded GUI development—writing drivers, optimising memory, and building display stacks from scratch—can eat up months of valuable engineering time.
Smart embedded display solutions change the game. Tools like TouchGFX (STM32) and Embedded Wizard enable developers to:
- Use drag-and-drop GUI design environments
- Auto-generate optimised C/C++ code
- Preview and debug in real time (WYSIWYG simulators)
- Leverage function templates and hardware abstraction
These capabilities dramatically reduce development overhead, allowing teams to focus on application logic and user experience. Many developers report saving four to six months of R&D time. In addition, smart display solutions are designed with scalability in mind. GUI components and application logic can be reused across different screen sizes or hardware variants – ideal for product families or tiered offerings.
Benefits:
- Faster time to prototype and production
- Minimal effort for GUI updates and iterations
- Seamless integration with STM32CubeIDE and embedded frameworks
- Scalable GUI design across product ranges
- Rapid GUI Customisation
Whether it’s brand identity, multilingual support, or UX enhancements, GUI changes are often needed late in the development cycle—or even after deployment.
Smart embedded display solutions provide the flexibility you need:
- Theme-based visual design systems
- Resource management for dynamic text, images, and animations
- Support for OTA (Over-the-Air) or USB-based GUI updates
This ensures your product stays fresh and competitive, even post-launch.
- Built-in Industrial Connectivity: CAN Bus, Modbus & More
For industrial and automation applications, connectivity is critical. Many smart embedded display modules built on STM32 or MPU offer native support for:
- CAN/CAN-FD for real-time industrial control
- Modbus (RTU/TCP) for PLC and sensor integration
- RS-485/UART for legacy equipment compatibility
This makes it easy to integrate the display as a front-end HMI panel into existing factory or building systems—no external converters required.
Result: Faster integration, simplified wiring, and robust communication in harsh environments.
- Remote Access & IoT-Ready via Web Server
Modern systems increasingly demand remote access and monitoring. Many smart embedded display platforms support a lightweight embedded web server, giving you:
- Web-based dashboards accessible from PC, tablet, or smartphone
- Remote diagnostics, firmware updates, and parameter tuning
- Secure connectivity over Ethernet
This adds IoT functionality to your system with minimal effort, enabling remote control and cloud integration without additional gateways or external controllers.
- Smarter Inventory Management
Maintaining separate part numbers for various display sizes or MCU configurations increases risk and complexity—especially in high-mix manufacturing environments.
Smart embedded display solutions address this by combining the MCU/MPU, display controller, flash memory, RAM and capacitive touch sensing into one cohesive module. This lets you standardise hardware across multiple products or variants and focus your differentiation at the software/UI level.
Benefits:
- Reduced SKU count and BOM complexity
- Streamlined procurement and stocking
- Easier servicing and replacement in the field
- Longevity and Supply Assurance
In industrial and medical markets, long product lifecycles are the norm. Your chosen components must be available – not just today, but for 10+ years to support serviceability and minimise redesigns.
STM32 and MPU-based smart embedded display solutions are backed by STMicroelectronics/NXP long-term supply commitment, ensuring availability and support for extended production runs. This is especially critical for OEMs operating in regulated or high-reliability sectors.
Benefits:
- Secure long-term availability for product families
- Reduced risk of unexpected EOLs (End-of-Life)
- Simplified compliance and maintenance planning
Conclusion: Why STM32 and MPU Smart Embedded Display Solutions are a smarter choice
If you’re building industrial, medical, or consumer products with a graphical interface, a smart embedded display solution can be the game-changer your team needs. You get:
- Simplified hardware design
- Accelerated development with TouchGFX or Embedded Wizard
- Seamless integration via CAN and Modbus
- Remote monitoring via built-in web servers
- Supply stability with long-term availability from ST
Inelco Hunter offers a wide range of STM32-based and MPU-based smart embedded display solutions, supporting screen sizes from 3.5 inches to 10.1 inches. Whether you’re building compact handheld devices or large-panel HMIs, these solutions scale with your needs—enabling faster development, easier integration, and a premium user experience.
Ready to modernise your product and de-risk your development? Let’s talk about the right STM32-based or MPU smart embedded display solution for you.