A uniquely square, high-resolution, high-speed, 4.0" display with optional touchscreen for Raspberry Pi – it's hip to be square!
HyperPixel 4.0 Square has all the great features of our standard HyperPixel 4.0—a crisp, brilliant IPS display, optional touchscreen, and high-speed DPI interface. This square version of HyperPixel 4.0 is great for custom interfaces and control panels, and works really well for Pico-8 games.
Note that the images of the displays on this page have not been Photoshopped. That's the Raspberry Pi OS desktop with our HyperPixel Square wallpaper on!
Hyperpixel 4.0 Square is not yet fully compatible with recent versions of Raspberry Pi OS, scroll down to the software section for more info.
Features
- High-speed DPI interface
- 4.0" IPS (wide viewing angle, 160°) display (72x72mm)
- 720x720 pixels (~254 PPI)
- 18-bit colour (262,144 colours)
- 60 FPS frame rate
- Optional capacitive touchscreen
- 40-pin female header included to boost height for full size Raspberry Pi
- Standoffs included to securely attach to your Pi
- Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models
HyperPixel 4.0 Square uses a high-speed DPI interface, allowing it to shift 5x more pixel data than the usual SPI interface that these small Pi displays normally use. It has a 60 FPS frame rate and a resolution of approximately 254 pixels per inch (720x720px) on its 4.0" display. The display can show 18-bits of colour (262,144 colours).
The touchscreen variant is capacitive touch, that's more sensitive and responsive to touch than a resistive touch display, and it's capable of multi-touch!
Please note: when installing HyperPixel 4.0 Square onto your Pi make sure not to press down on the screen surface! Hold the board by its edges and wiggle it to mate with the extended header (or GPIO header). Also take care not to pull on the edges of the glass display when removing your HyperPixel.
It'll work with any 40-pin version of the Pi, including Pi Zero and Pi Zero W. If you're using it with a larger Pi then use the extra 40-pin header that's included to boost it up to the required height. If you're using a Pi Zero or Pi Zero W then just pop it straight onto the GPIO.
The included standoff kit allows you to mount your HyperPixel 4.0 Square safely and securely to your Pi. Just screw them into the posts on the underside of the HyperPixel 4.0 Square PCB and then secure with screws through the mounting holes on your Pi.
Software
If you're using a recent version of Raspberry Pi OS (Bullseye or later) then you'll need to use the built in kernel drivers - just add the following line to the end of your boot/firmware/config.txt (and then reboot):
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dpi-hyperpixel4sq
You will need to have I2C disabled (sudo raspi-config nonint do_i2c 1) along with any other interfaces that use the GPIO.
If you need to rotate the display you can do this using Pi OS's 'Screen Configuration' utility.
⚠ Note that touch rotation commands are not currently working with the kernel drivers for square, and the kernel display drivers will only work with newer square boards (marked Hyperpixel XP).
Note also that the screen backlight will not automatically turn off when you shut down / power off your Pi. We'd suggest unplugging the power cable from your Pi (or turning off your power supply at the socket) when you're not using it to ensure longevity of the display.
Notes
- Dimensions: Touch: 84x84x9.5mm, Non-touch: 75x80x8.9mm (WxHxD, depth includes header and display).
- The HyperPixel 4.0 Square Touch in the main photo here is on its side, and that the slightly narrower and slightly wider bezels are usually at the bottom and top respectively, although there's very little difference in size (5.5mm for the left and right sides, 4.5 for the top, and 6.5mm for the bottom). The Non-touch is also on its side, so the wider bezel is usually at the bottom, although because the display is square you can use it any way round!
- HyperPixel uses basically all of the GPIO pins to communicate with the Pi (including the standard I2C pins) so it's not generally possible to use it with other HATs and devices that connect via the GPIO...
- ...but we have provided an alternate I2C interface broken out on the back that will let you use I2C devices (like sensor breakouts) at the same time as HyperPixel. Check out this forum post for more info!