The proliferation of graphical interfaces in ordinary devices is becoming noticeable. As we go along our daily activities, more and more products we encounter have some form of graphical interface. As this feature becomes a de facto standard, the need to manufacture these devices at a lower cost becomes apparent. PIC® microcontrollers, with their reputation for low risk product development, lower total system cost solution and faster time to market, makes this realizable. The free Microchip graphics library makes it very easy to integrate graphical features in an application. This application note details how a 16-bit microcontroller with a graphical library is used to drive a QVGA display supporting 16-bit colors.

The Microchip Graphics Library was created to cover a broad range of display device controllers. Targeted for use with the PIC microcontrollers, it offers an Application Programming Interface (API) that performs rendering of primitive graphics objects as well as advanced widget-like objects. The library also facilitates easy integration of input devices through a messaging interface. Applications created using the library will also find a simple and straightforward process to change display devices if the need arises. The layered architectural design of the library makes all of these possible.

The Application Layer is a program that utilizes the Graphics Library. The Graphics Object Layer (GOL) renders the widgets, such as Button, Slider, Window, etc. Throughout this document, widgets will be referred to as GOL Objects or Objects. To control these Objects, the GOL layer has a message interface which accepts messages from the Application Layer. This interface supports a variety of input devices, such as keyboards, side buttons, touch screens, mice, etc. The Graphics Primitive Layer implements the primitive drawing functions.

Read more: Using Widgets in Graphics Library