As the demand for user experience in embedded devices continues to rise, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have become an increasingly important aspect of product development. Recently, LVGL, one of the most popular open-source embedded graphics libraries, launched its commercial professional UI editor, LVGL PRO version 1.0.
Renesas Electronics, a global supplier of MCUs/MPUs, has maintained a deep collaboration with the open-source graphics library LVGL. For the LVGL PRO, Renesas will also provide customers with a free commercial license, which means that Renesas has achieved comprehensive coverage of GUI design solutions based on LVGL, from low-level drivers and development environments to specialized design tools.
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LVGL PRO: A Professional UI Editor
LVGL PRO is a commercial-grade UI editor officially launched by LVGL. It is centered around a modular XML project structure and supports features such as real-time preview, online sharing, automatic generation of standard LVGL C code, animation design, translation management, and data binding. Although it does not support visual design through drag-and-drop controls, it emphasizes engineering processes, version control friendliness, and team collaboration capabilities, making it very suitable for development teams that require high stability and maintainability in embedded projects.
The C language code for the UI layer generated by LVGL PRO can be seamlessly integrated into projects using Renesas RA and RZ series chips, allowing for the rapid construction of high-performance graphical interfaces when combined with Renesas’s low-level drivers and middleware.
Currently, LVGL adopts a commercial subscription fee model, providing a free online version for individual developers, but Renesas will offer its customers free access to the commercial license of LVGL PRO, further lowering the development threshold and costs.
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Renesas FSP: Deep Integration with LVGL
The Flexible Software Package (FSP) is a software configuration framework officially launched by Renesas, integrated into the e² studio development environment, supporting graphical configuration of MCU peripherals, middleware, and graphics libraries.
In terms of GUI development, FSP provides native support for LVGL, allowing developers to perform the following operations through a graphical interface:
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One-click import of the LVGL library
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Automatic generation of display controllers (such as GLCDC, MIPI DSI) and touchscreen drivers
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Configuration of color depth, memory allocation, GPU acceleration, and other parameters
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Quick integration of LVGL sample projects and debugging.
In addition, Renesas has integrated dedicated graphics acceleration modules in its RA series chips:
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GLCDC (Graphics LCD Controller): Used to drive TFT LCD displays, supporting layer blending, color conversion, transparency control, and other functions, suitable for medium to high-resolution graphic display needs.
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Dave2D: A 2D graphics acceleration engine that supports hardware rendering of basic shapes (such as lines, rectangles, circles), image rotation, scaling, and Alpha blending, significantly enhancing LVGL’s rendering performance and reducing CPU usage.
FSP can automatically recognize whether the chip has these graphics acceleration modules and generate the corresponding driver code and LVGL configuration, allowing developers to achieve high-performance GUI displays without manually adapting the low-level graphics interfaces. This collaborative design of software and hardware greatly simplifies the development process of embedded graphics projects, especially suitable for applications in industrial control, human-machine interfaces (HMI), and smart home scenarios that have high graphic performance requirements.
With the release of LVGL PRO and Renesas’s deep integration of LVGL in FSP and e² studio, Renesas is continuously promoting the efficiency, professionalism, and systematization of embedded graphical interface development.
Renesas not only provides a powerful hardware platform, with solid underlying support for high-performance GUIs through graphics acceleration modules like GLCDC and Dave2D, but also lowers the development threshold further by offering free access to the commercial license of LVGL PRO and deep integration of LVGL configuration, helping customers quickly build embedded products with modern visual experiences.
Need Technical Support?
If you have any questions while using Renesas MCU/MPU products, you can scan the QR code below or copy the URL into your browser to access the Renesas Technical Forum for answers or online technical support.
https://community-ja.renesas.com/zh/forums-groups/mcu-mpu/
To Be Continued
Recommended Reading
Getting Started with LVGL Development – RZ MPU Industrial Control Tutorial Series (45)
Developing the First LVGL Program and Implementing Key Operations – RZ MPU Industrial Control Tutorial Series (46)
Operations Related to LVGL Frontend Program Development – RZ MPU Industrial Control Tutorial Series (51)
