FrameOSWaveshare 4.2" (C) e-Paper
400×300 black/white/yellow e-ink display for FrameOS - specs, setup and driver details.
Official Waveshare store
Official store page for this device.
- Vendor
- Waveshare
- Model
- 4.2" (C) e-Paper
- Technology
- E-ink
- Colors
- Black / White / Yellow
- Resolution
- 400×300 px
- Size
- 4.2″ diagonal
- Interface
- SPI
- Platforms
- Raspberry Pi · ESP32-S3
- Status
- 🟡 Should work
- FrameOS driver
waveshare.EPD_4in2c
Part of the FrameOS device database. Spotted an error, or tested this panel? Edit this page on GitHub - it's a markdown file.
The Waveshare 4.2" (C) e-Paper is a 4.2″ e-ink panel with a resolution of 400×300 pixels showing black, white and yellow. Panels with an accent ink run a multi-pass refresh that takes roughly 15-30 seconds, so they suit art, calendars and dashboards that update every few minutes rather than every second. Like all e-paper, it keeps the last image with zero power - the frame only wakes up to render.
How it works
FrameOS ships a native Nim driver
(waveshare.EPD_4in2c) compiled straight into the binary that runs on your Raspberry Pi - no Python, no
vendor libraries. Each render pass draws your scene into a full-color image,
dithers it to the panel's palette, and pushes the result to the display over SPI.
Setup
- Connect the panel to the Raspberry Pi - plug the HAT onto the GPIO header, or hook up the separate driver board with the bundled ribbon cable.
- Add a frame in the FrameOS backend and select the Waveshare 4.2" (C) 400x300 Black/White/Yellow driver.
- Save & deploy. The panel blinks through a refresh cycle and shows your scene.
Make sure the letter suffix on your panel's ribbon cable matches the driver - Waveshare reuses product names across revisions. More tips in the Waveshare buying guide.
Status
🟡 Should work, not yet confirmed on real hardware. The driver shares its controller logic with panels that are confirmed working. If you have this display, report your results with a photo and we'll mark it confirmed.