EspHoMaTriX version 2 (EHMTXv2)

Tip

If you like this project, please donate a star on GitHub and consider sponsoring me 🙏 !

Important breaking news for ulanzi TC001 users

With the ulanzi-hardware and esphome 2024.2.0 you have to remove all the rtttl stuff to make things work!!!

Details

The hardware design of the ulanzi isn't perfect. If your ulanzi makes a crazy beeping noise after removinf the rtttl-component you may use this setting to make it silent again.

output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin:
      number: GPIO15
      ignore_strapping_warning: true
    id: buzzer_pin

Introduction

EspHoMaTriXv2 is a flexible, highly customizable DIY LED Matrix display, built with a 8×32 RGB LED panel and implemented with esphome.io

You can control it with home assistant using service calls or by using lambda with esphome.

How to install

For starters, I assume you use an Ulanzi TC001 pixel clock. For tinkerers and people that want more, read the For experienced user part.

1. Copy all three files (ulanzi-easy.yaml, 1pixel.gif , MatrixChunky6.ttf) from the install folder to your esphome folder.
2. Define your secret settings (OTA password, Wi-Fi settings) in the secrets.yaml file or with the ESPHome UI.
3. Define the weekdays variable for your language (see parameters).
4. Install it via USB and the device should boot.

and after a while (~30 seconds) it should display the correct time.

Overview

The base file is configured to show a clock with the day of the month over a calendar icon:

Then, you can add screens to a queue and all these screens are displayed one after another.

Each screen can display different information or animation or text, even in rainbow color. They all have a lifetime, if a screen isn't refreshed during its lifetime it will be removed from the queue. If there is nothing left in the queue, the time screen is displayed.

Some screens can show additional display elements:

The alarm is in the upper-right corner (red) The rindicator is in the lower-right corner (yellow) The lindicator is in the lower-left corner (yellow)

You can add/remove/emphasize screens and toggle elements from home assistant with service-calls or from esphome via lambdas in your YAML (see API reference).

There are some preinstalled icons in the YAML, so you can easily start showing information on your display with home assistant service calls.

Screen types

The following screen types are available:

Normal icon screen

This is the regular screen, designed to show an icon and text aside.

The example below shows the icon "solar" icon_name with the scrolling text text "sun is shining" for 10 seconds screen_time in a queue with all the other screens in the queue; after 2 minutes of lifetime it disappears from the queue. The text color (r,g,b) is specified with RGB values. The display decides when to display this screen depending on the queue.

Example home assistant service call:

service: esphome.ulanzi_icon_screen
data:
  default_font: true
  icon_name: solar
  text: sun is shining
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 10
  r: 200
  g: 200
  b: 200

Alert icon screen

Occasionally, you have to display information immediately; this one does not have a lifetime parameter:

service: esphome.ulanzi_alert_screen
data:
  default_font: true
  icon_name: home_assistant
  text: What a great software!
  screen_time: 10
  r: 20
  g: 180
  b: 240

For funny colors, there is also a service: esphome.ulanzi_rainbow_alert_screen

Rainbow icon screen

This shows the icon "solar" icon_name with the scrolling text text "sun is shining" for 10 seconds screen_time in a queue with all the other screens in the queue, after 2 minutes lifetime it disappears from the queue. The text color changes automatically. The display decides when to display this screen depending on the queue.

example home assistant service call:

service: esphome.ulanzi_rainbow_icon_screen
data:
  default_font: true
  icon_name: solar
  text: sun is shining
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 10

Progress screen

To visualize e.g., a print progress you can use:

service: esphome.ulanzi_icon_screen_progress
data:
  default_font: true
  icon_name: print3d
  text: 67% done
  progress: 67
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 9
  r: 200
  g: 200
  b: 200

A positive progress value is getting greener on its way to 100 a negative value is going to red.

Text-only screen

service: esphome.ulanzi_text_screen
data:
  default_font: true
  text: What a long text
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 10
  r: 200
  g: 200
  b: 200

Same with rainbow-colored text esphome.ulanzi_rainbow_text_screen

Combined icons screen

Try this and enjoy the cool animations.

service: esphome.ulanzi_bitmap_stack
data:
  icons: solar,power,temp,error
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 10

Blank screen

Try this:

service: esphome.ulanzi_blank_screen
data:
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 120

These were only static examples, in your automations you can customize a lot more. See the upcoming chapter for more possibilities.

Removing a screen from the queue

If you added e.g. an icon screen (MODE_ICON_SCREEN which is 5, see modes) with icon power, just call:

service: esphome.ulanzi_del_screen
data:
  icon_name: "power"
  mode: 5

If you want to remove a screen generated with the service: esphome.ulanzi_blank_screen, you can do this via:

service: esphome.ulanzi_del_screen
data:
  icon_name: "*"
  mode: 1

Since a blank screen has no icon, you have to use "*" as icon_name.

Emphasizing a specific screen

To show one of the screens from the queue right now, use:

service: esphome.ulanzi_force_screen
data:
  icon_name: "solar"
  mode: 5

For experienced users

Icons and Animations

Download and install all needed icons (.jpg/.png) and animations (.GIF) under the ehmtxv2: key. All icons have to be 8x8 or 8x32 pixels in size. If necessary, you can scale them with the option resize: 8x8 or resize: 32x8. Pro user should use gimp.

You can also specify a URL to directly download the image file. The URLs will only be downloaded once at compile time, so there is no additional traffic on the hosting website.

All other solutions provide ready-made icons, especially Lametric has a big database of icons. If you find an icon, you can use it with its ID. e.g., lameid: 1234 Please, check the copyright of the icons you use. The maximum number of icons is limited to 90 in the code and also by the flash space and the RAM of your board.

Sample

emhtx:
  icons: 
    - id: boot 
      file: icons/rocket.GIF
      duration: 75     
    - id: temp 
      lameid: 1234
    - id: yoga
      file: icons/yoga-bridge.GIF
      pingpong: true
    - id: jackshome
      url: https://awtrix.blueforcer.de/animations/JackHomePage
      resize: 32x8
    - id: garage
      lameid: 1234
      duration: 100
    - id: homeassistant
      url: https://github.com/home-assistant/assets/raw/master/logo/logo-special.png      

The ID of the icons is used later to configure the screens to display. So, you should name them wisely. If you like to group icons, you should prefix them, e.g., with “weather_”.

The first defined icon will be used as a fallback icon, in case of an error, e.g., if you use a non-existing icon ID.

There are some more advanced parameters

Fonts

In the easy configuration is one TTF-font from Trip5 included.

You can configure two fonts if you like.

The font needs to be readable on a matrix display. I use a font with 6 pixels height and one with 8 Pixel height. The 6px font is my default on all screens, with a progress bar or the day of week lower line.

Some people use a “normal” font from Trip5 and another for Cyrillic, Korean or Hebrew letters. For the RTL based users, take a look at bidi from @iodov to enhance the readability.

@dbuezas has also contributed tow optimized fonts with umlauts for this kind of display mateine.ttf and mateineThin.ttf see here.

font:
  - file: mateine.ttf
    id: default_font
    size: 16
    glyphs:  |
      !"%()+*=,-_.:°0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz€@

You find my first attempt to adapt a font also in the resources-folder.

Configuration

This component is highly customizable.

Example

ehmtxv2:
  id: rgb8x32
  show_seconds: true
  advanced_clock: false
  matrix_component: ehmtx_display
  time_component: ehmtx_time
  icons2html: true
  iconcache: true
  default_font_id: default_font
  default_font_yoffset: 6
  special_font_id: special_font
  special_font_yoffset: 7
  brightness: 80 # percent
  time_format: "%H:%M"
  date_format: "%d.%m."
  rtl: false # write vom left to right
  vertical_scroll: false
  week_start_monday: true # false equals sunday
  scroll_count: 2 # scroll long text at least two times
  scroll_interval: 80 # milliseconds
  rainbow_interval: 32 # milliseconds
  icons: 
  .....

Parameters reference

id (required, ID): Manually specify the ID used for code generation and in service definitions.

date_format (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%d.%m." (use "%m.%d." for the US)

show_seconds (optional, boolean): toggle/blink an indicator-pixel each seconds while the clock is displayed (default: false)

time_format (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%H:%M" (use "%I:%M%p" for the US)

default_font_yoffset (optional, pixel): yoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the baseline defaults to 6

default_font_xoffset (optional, pixel): xoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the left defaults to 1

special_font_yoffset (optional, pixel): yoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the baseline defaults to 6

special_font_xoffset (optional, pixel): xoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the left defaults to 1

scroll_small_text (optional, boolean): normally small text is centered on the display if possible, with this set to true even small text is scrolled in text_screen and rainbow_text_screen (default: false)

matrix_component (required, ID): ID of the addressable display

show_dow (optional, boolean): draw the day of week rindicator on the bottom of the clock screen. Disable, e.g., if you want larger fonts, defaults to true.

time_component (required, ID): ID of the time component. The display shows !t! until the time source is valid.

default_font (required, ID): ID of the default font

special_font (required, ID): ID of the special font, you can reuse your default font, but occasionally, it's nice to have a special font to minimize scrolling

week_start_monday (optional, boolen): default Monday is first day of week, false => Sunday

weekdays (optional, string, default: "SUMOTUWETHFRSA"): Abbreviations of the days of the week, starting from Sunday, from 7 to 14 characters.

Example:

• weekdays: "SUMOTUWETHFRSA"
• weekdays: "일월화수목금토"
• weekdays: "НДПНВТСРЧТПТСБ"
• weekdays: "DiLuMaMeJeVeSa" # french

scroll_interval (optional, ms): the interval in ms to scroll the text (default=80), should be a multiple of the update_interval of display

rainbow_shimmer (optional, boolean): If true, enables color shimmer when displaying text in rainbow modes.

multicolor_text (optional, boolean): If true, enables text multi color support when displaying text.

Example:

ehmtxv2:
  id: rgb8x32
...
  multicolor_text: true

service: esphome.ulanzi_text_screen
data:
  default_font: true
  text: "Default Color Text #00FF00Green Color Text #FF0000Red Color Text #0000FFBlue Color Text #000000Default Color Text"
  lifetime: 2
  screen_time: 10
  r: 255
  g: 255
  b: 255

Shows text in different colors, Default Color Text in the default color #FFFFFF (r: 255, g:255, b: 255), followed by Green Color Text in green #00FF00, then Red Color Text in red #FF0000, then Blue Color Text in blue #0000FF and finally Default Color Text in default color, due #000000.

Warning

In this mode, with a large number of color changes, or with long lines, a short-term decrease in performance is possible.

[13:26:02][W][component:237]: Component display took a long time for an operation (55 ms). [13:26:02][W][component:238]: Components should block for at most 30 ms.

icons2html (optional, boolean): If true, generate the HTML-file (filename.html) to show all included icons. (default = false)

iconscache (optional, boolean): If true, it caches icons in the .cache\icons folder and if it finds the specified icons in the cache, it uses them instead of trying to download them again from the Internet. (default = false)

Modes

mode	value
MODE_BLANK	1
MODE_CLOCK	2
MODE_DATE	3
MODE_FULL_SCREEN	4
MODE_ICON_SCREEN	5
MODE_TEXT_SCREEN	6
MODE_RAINBOW_ICON	7
MODE_RAINBOW_TEXT	8
MODE_RAINBOW_CLOCK	9
MODE_RAINBOW_DATE	10
MODE_BITMAP_SCREEN	11
MODE_BITMAP_SMALL	12
MODE_COLOR	13
MODE_FIRE	14
MODE_ICON_CLOCK	15
MODE_ALERT_SCREEN	16
MODE_GRAPH_SCREEN	17
MODE_ICON_DATE	18
MODE_ICON_PROGRESS	19
MODE_RAINBOW_BITMAP_SMALL	20
MODE_ICON_TEXT_SCREEN	21
MODE_RAINBOW_ICON_TEXT_SCREEN	22
MODE_BITMAP_STACK_SCREEN	23
MODE_TEXT_PROGRESS	24
MODE_PROGNOSIS_SCREEN	25
MODE_RAINBOW_ALERT_SCREEN	26

More details, for curious users

Background

There are some “RGB-matrices” status displays/clocks out there, the commercial ones from LaMetric and Ulanzi, also some excellent DIY-alternatives.

• LaMetric commercial ~ €199
• Ulanzi TC001 commercial ~ €50
• AWTRIX (project has been discontinued after more than 4 years in August 2022)
• PixelIt (project is under active development)
• Pixelix controlled via REST API or Websocket
• AWTRIX-Light From the developer of AWTRIX, optimized for the Ulanzi TC001 hardware

All the various solutions have their pros and cons. I tried some and used AWTRIX for a long time, but I found it lacking in many ways (in my opinion), so I started work on an esphome.io variant. Targeted for an optimized and extensible Home Assistant integration without paid blueprints, MQTT broker requirement, or the need to upload files to the ESP board.

Warning

Some updates of esphome will interfere with EspHoMaTriXv2, like the update of esphome to 2023.7.0. It made a change to all YAML files necessary.

Compile errors animation.h is missing

Error:
In file included from src/esphome.h:25,
                 from src/esphome/components/ehmtx/EHMTX.cpp:1:
src/esphome/components/ehmtx/EHMTX.h:6:10: fatal error: esphome/components/animation/animation.h: No such file or directory
 #include "esphome/components/animation/animation.h"
          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
... 

You have to add this to your YAML ()

image:
   - file: 1pixel.gif
     id: breaking20237

animation:
  - file: 1pixel.gif
    id: breaking202371

You have also to copy the file 1pixel.gif from the installation folder to the esphome directory with your YAML.

Also, there might be breaking changes due to a redesign of EspHoMaTriXv2.

Tip

It is highly recommended to use an ESP32 device. There are conditions where the RAM size is too limited in a ESO8266 device so some features had to be removed for these boards (Example: bitmap_screen).

API

Home Assistant services

There are many services and parameters to use, some are only available on ESP32-platform due to resource limitations.

You can call this from, e.g., the developer tools service.

  get_status
  set_display_on
  set_display_off
  hold_screen
  hide_rindicator
  hide_lindicator
  hide_gauge
  hide_alarm
  night_mode_on
  night_mode_off
  set_weekday_accent_on
  set_weekday_accent_off
  hide_icon_indicator
  show_gauge {"percent", "r", "g", "b", "bg_r", "bg_g", "bg_b"});
  show_alarm {"r", "g", "b", "size"}
  show_rindicator {"r", "g", "b", "size"}
  show_lindicator {"r", "g", "b", "size"}

  set_today_color {"r", "g", "b"}
  set_weekday_color {"r", "g", "b"}
  set_clock_color {"r", "g", "b"}
  set_text_color {"r", "g", "b"}
  set_infotext_color {"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b", "default_font", "y_offset"}
  expand_icon_to_9 {"mode"}

  set_solid_color {"r", "g", "b"}
  set_calendar_color {"r", "g", "b"}
    
  del_screen {"icon_name", "mode"}
  force_screen {"icon_name", "mode"}

  full_screen {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time"}
  icon_screen {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  alert_screen {"icon_name","text", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  rainbow_alert_screen {"icon_name","text", "screen_time", "default_font"}
  icon_clock {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  icon_date {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  
  graph_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time"}
  icon_graph_screen {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time"}
  
  rainbow_icon_screen {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}

  icon_text_screen {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  rainbow_icon_text_screen {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}

  text_screen {"text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  rainbow_text_screen {"text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}

  clock_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}

  rainbow_clock_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}

  date_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  rainbow_date_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}

  blank_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time"}
  color_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time", "r", "g", "b"}

  brightness {"value"}

  color_gauge {"colors"}
  bitmap_screen {"icon", "lifetime", "screen_time"}
  bitmap_small {"icon", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  rainbow_bitmap_small {"icon", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}
  bitmap_stack {"icons", "lifetime", "screen_time"}

  show_icon_indicator {"r", "g", "b", "size", "pos", "height"}
  
  fire_screen {"lifetime", "screen_time"}

  set_clock_infotext_color {"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b", "default_font", "y_offset"}
  set_date_infotext_color {"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b", "default_font", "y_offset"}
  set_adv_clock_color {"hr", "hg", "hb", "mr", "mg", "mb", "sr", "sg", "sb"}

  text_screen_progress {"text", "value", "progress", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "value_color_as_progress", "r", "g", "b"}
  icon_screen_progress {"icon_name", "text", "progress", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
  set_progressbar_color {"icon_name", "mode", "r", "g", "b", "bg_r", "bg_g", "bg_b"}

  icon_prognosis_screen {"icon_name", "text", "prognosis", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}
  icon_prognosis_screen_rgb {"icon_name", "text", "prognosis", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}

[hint] The rainbow_* variants don't display the day of week bar.

Lambda

You can use the above functions also in lambdas in your esphome YAML.

all parameters have a default value.

void clock_screen(int lifetime=D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME,bool default_font=true,int r=C_RED, int g=C_GREEN, int b=C_BLUE);
void rainbow_clock_screen(int lifetime=D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME, bool default_font=true);
void date_screen(int lifetime=D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME,bool default_font=true, int r=C_RED, int g=C_GREEN, int b=C_BLUE);     

Icon screen

Service via API

icon_screen => {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}
rainbow_icon_screen => {"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"}
alert_screen => {"icon_name","text", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"}

Lambda

void icon_screen(std::string icon, std::string text, int lifetime=D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME,bool default_font=true,int r=C_RED, int g=C_GREEN, int b=C_BLUE);
void rainbow_icon_screen(std::string icon, std::string text, int lifetime=D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME,bool default_font=true);
void alert_screen(std::string icon_name, std::string text, int screen_time, bool default_font, int r, int g, int b)

icon_screen and rainbow_icon_screen are in the queue for lifetime minutes. alert_screen and rainbow_alert_screen is displayed once, immediately for at least screentime seconds. For long text, the screentime is calculated automagically.

Full_screen

For 8x32 icons or animations

Service via API

full_screen => {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time"}

Lambda

void full_screen(string iconname, int =D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME);

Icon clock

display the clock with an icon. the time format an the show_dow are the same as the normal clock. take care of the font size, the time should not need more then 23 pixels width.

Service via API

icon_clock => {"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"});

Lambda

void icon_clock(std::string iconname, int lifetime, int screen_time, bool default_font, int r, int g, int b)

Bitmap screen

Warning

This feature is only available on ESP32 platform !!!

For 8x32 images as text. You can generate these images with, e.g., Pixel Bitmap Creator (8x32) or just open bitmap-convert.html (in the resources-folder) in your browser and select the images you want. For good results, the images should have a ratio of 4x1 or 1x1 to look good on your display. For better results, you could add black borders as needed to your image.

Service via API

bitmap_screen => {"[0,4523,0,2342,0,..... (256 values 16bit values rgb565)]", "lifetime", "screen_time"}

Lambda

void bitmap_screen(string text, int =D_LIFETIME, int screen_time=D_SCREEN_TIME);

Display Elements

Alarm

The alarm is displayed in the upper-right corner on all screen types! You can set its color and its size.

Home Assistant Service

show_alarm => { "r", "g", "b","size"}

To remove it, call:

hide_alarm => no parameter

Lambda

void EHMTX::show_alarm(int r, int g, int b, int size=2);

r, g, b: 0-255 color components size: 0-3 (zero turns it off)

To remove it, call:

void hide_alarm();

rindicator

The rindicator is in the lower-left corner, but not displayed in full screen 8x32 animations. You can set its color.

Home Assistant Service

show_rindicator => { "r", "g", "b","size"}

To remove it, call:

hide_rindicator => no parameter

Lambda

void show_rindicator(int r, int g, int ,int size=3);

r, g, b: 0-255 color components size: 0-3 (zero turns it off)

To remove it, call:

void hide_rindicator();

lindicator

Same as above but in the lower-left corner, this is not visible while icons are displayed.

gauge

The gauge is displayed in the left most column. You can set its color and its value from 0-100, the resolution is limited to 8 pixels, so it is not a precision gauge.

Home Assistant Service

show_gauge => {"value","r", "g", "b","bg_r", "bg_g", "bg_b"}

To remove it, call:

hide_gauge => no parameter

Lambda

void show_gauge(int percent, int r, int g, int b, int bg_r, int bg_g, int bg_b);

percent: 0-100 (resolution: one pixel per 12.5%) r, g, b: 0-255 foreground color components bg_r, bg_g, bg_b: 0-255 background color components

To remove it, call:

void hide_gauge();

Installation of EspHoMaTriXv2 custom component

EspHoMaTriXv2 is a custom component, you have to include it in your YAML configuration. To always use the newest features, you should use the repo, to use a stable version, you copy a working version to your esphome installation.

Use of local copy

If you download the components-folder from the repo and install it in your esphome you have a stable installation. But if there are new features, you won't see them. If needed, customize the YAML to your folder structure.

external_components:
   - source:
       type: local
       path: components # e.g. /config/esphome/components

Use from repo

Use the GitHub repo as a component. Esphome refreshes the external components “only” once a day, perhaps you have to refresh it manually. In this mode, there may be breaking changes, so read the changelog and check the logs while installing the firmware.

external_components:
  - source:
      type: git
      url: https://github.com/lubeda/EspHoMaTriXv2
      ref: stable # optional select a special branch or tag

[tipp] Use the ref parameter to stay on the feature set you know. Using the main or other version will cause problems with breakting changes. But in case of esphome is breaking something i will always only fix the latest version.!

Addressable_light component

The EspHoMaTriXv2 component requires a 8x32 pixel addressable_light, it is referenced by the ID matrix_component.

See the default options

There are some different matrices-types on the market, to adapt them to EspHoMaTriXv2 you have to find the proper pixel mapper. If there is garbage on your display, try the other pixel_mapper. Here are the most common types for flexible 8x32 matrices:

Type 1

Common for 8x32 RGB flexible matrices.

Under the display tag, specify this pixel mapper:

display:
  - platform: addressable_light
    .....
    pixel_mapper: |-
      if (x % 2 == 0) {
        return (x * 8) + y;
      }
      return (x * 8) + (7 - y);
    .....

Type 2 (e.g., Ulanzi TC001)

Under the display tag, specify this pixel mapper:

display:
  - platform: addressable_light
    .....
    pixel_mapper: |-
      if (y % 2 == 0) {
        return (y * 32) + x;
      }
      return (y * 32) + (31 - x);
    .....

Type 3 (daisy-chained 8x8 panels)

display:
  - platform: addressable_light
    .....
    pixel_mapper: |-
      return ((int) (x/8 * 64)) + x % 8 + y * 8;
    .....

How to configure the pixel_mapper

You have to configure this lambda under the display: section to use the EspHoMaTriXv2 component

display:
  - platform: addressable_light
    id: ehmtx_display
    .....
    lambda: |-
      id(rgb8x32)->tick();
      id(rgb8x32)->draw();

Light component

The light component is used by the addressable_light component and referenced by ID under addressable_light_id:.

To use the light component directly from home assistant, add the sample lambdason_turn_on and on_turn_off to the light component.

Sample

light:
  - platform: neopixelbus
    id: ehmtx_light
    ....
    on_turn_on:
      lambda: |-
         id(ehmtx_display)->set_enabled(false);
    on_turn_off:
       lambda: |-
         id(ehmtx_display)->set_enabled(true);

To hide the light component in home assistant use: internal: true

light:
  - platform: neopixelbus
    id: ehmtx_light
    internal: true
    ...

Time component

Since it is a clock, you need a time component, e.g., home assistant. It is referenced by its ID under time_component: The display shows !t! until the time source is synchronized and valid.

ehmtxv2 component

Here are also the more advanced parameters listed

Example

ehmtxv2:
  id: rgb8x32
  show_seconds: true
  advanced_clock: false
  matrix_component: ehmtx_display
  time_component: ehmtx_time
  icons2html: true
  default_font_id: default_font
  .....

Parameters

id (required, ID): Manually specify the ID used for code generation and in service definitions.

date_format (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%d.%m." (use "%m.%d." for the US)

date_format_big (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%d.%m." (use "%m.%d." for the US), works only in advanced_clock mode and sets the time format for a screen with a date without an icon

show_seconds (optional, boolean): toggle/blink an indicator-pixel each seconds while the clock is displayed (default: false)

time_format (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%H:%M" (use "%I:%M%p" for the US)

time_format_big (optional, string): formats the date display with strftime syntax, defaults "%H:%M:%S", works only in advanced_clock mode and sets the time format for a screen with a clock without an icon

advanced_clock (optional, boolean): Enables or disables advanced clock mode. (default: false) You can specify the color for hours,minuted,seconds in RGB separatly: set_adv_clock_color(hr,hg,hb,mr,mg,mb,sr,sg,sb) More info

flip_flop_clock (optional, boolean): Enables or disables flip_flop_clock clock mode. (default: false), works only in advanced_clock mode.

flip_flop_speed (optional, int): Set flip_flop_clock speed. (default: 2, range 1..10), works only in advanced_clock mode.

advanced_bitmap (optional, boolean): Enables or disables advanced bitmap mode. (default: false) More info

default_font_yoffset (optional, pixel): yoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the baseline defaults to 6

default_font_xoffset (optional, pixel): xoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the left defaults to 1

special_font_yoffset (optional, pixel): yoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the baseline defaults to 6

special_font_xoffset (optional, pixel): xoffset the text is aligned BASELINE_LEFT, the left defaults to 1

scroll_small_text (optional, boolean): normally small text is centered on the display if possible, with this set to true even small text is scrolled in text_screen and rainbow_text_screen (default: false)

rtl (optional, boolean): if true write text (but only the scroll direction, the words, and numbers aren't changed!) from right to left (Arabic, Hebrew etc.). Default is false

vertical_scroll (optional, boolean): If true, the screen change is vertical scrolling. Default is false

matrix_component (required, ID): ID of the addressable display

show_dow (optional, boolean): draw the day of week rindicator on the bottom of the clock screen. Disable, e.g., if you want larger fonts, defaults to true.

blend_steps (optional, int): on screen transition you can blend in the new screen, a value of 16, 32, 64 works nice, defaults 0. The blend_steps is proportionally reduced depending on the brightness, from the maximum specified in the configuration to half its value at a brightness of 50 units. If the brightness is less than 50 units, then the blend_steps is not applied.

time_component (required, ID): ID of the time component. The display shows !t! until the time source is valid.

default_font (required, ID): ID of the default font

special_font (required, ID): ID of the special font, you can reuse your default font, but occasionally, it's nice to have a special font to minimize scrolling

week_start_monday (optional, boolean): default Monday is first day of week, false => Sunday

weekdays (optional, string, default: "SUMOTUWETHFRSA"): Abbreviations of the days of the week, starting from Sunday, from 7 to 14 characters.

Example:

• weekdays: "SUMOTUWETHFRSA"
• weekdays: "일월화수목금토"
• weekdays: "НДПНВТСРЧТПТСБ"

scroll_interval (optional, ms): the interval in ms to scroll the text (default=80), should be a multiple of the update_interval of the display

clock_interval (optional, s): the interval in seconds to force the clock display. By default, the clock screen, if any, will be displayed according to the position in the queue. If you set the clock_interval close to the screen_time of the clock, you will only see the clock! (default=0)

boot_logo (optional, string , only on ESP32): Display a fullscreen logo defined as rgb565 array for boot_logo_mode 0/1 or a binary array for the other boot_logo_modes

  boot_logo: "[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,63519,63519,63519,63519,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,63519,0,0,0,0,2016,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,31,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,63488,0,63488,0,0,0,63519,0,0,0,0,2016,2016,0,0,0,65514,0,65514,0,0,0,31,0,0,0,64512,0,0,64512,0,63488,63488,0,63488,63488,0,0,63519,63519,63519,0,0,2016,0,2016,0,65514,0,65514,0,65514,0,31,31,31,0,0,0,64512,64512,0,0,63488,63488,63488,63488,63488,0,0,63519,0,0,0,0,2016,0,2016,0,65514,0,65514,0,65514,0,0,31,0,0,0,0,64512,64512,0,0,0,63488,63488,63488,0,0,0,63519,63519,63519,63519,0,2016,0,2016,0,65514,0,65514,0,65514,0,0,0,31,31,0,64512,0,0,64512,0,0,0,63488,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]" 

Allows you to show a custom boot logo instead of the default animation when booting. advanced_boot (optional, boolean, only on ESP32, Default: false) Enables advanced mode of boot logo display. boot_logo (optional, string, only on ESP32): Mask defined as rgb565 array used to display boot logo, color is entirely ignored, output depends on boot logo display mode.

boot_logo_mode (optional, integer, only on ESP32, Default: 0) Mode of displaying boot logo, can take value from 0 to 7:

• 0 - Display the boot_logo with the defined colors (default)
• 1 - Display the boot_logo with the defined colors, the logo appears from the center to the sides.
• 2 - Display boot_logo in white color
• 3 - Display boot_logo in white color, the mask appears from the center to the sides.
• 4 - Display boot_logo with rainbow color
• 5 - Display boot_logo in rainbow color, the mask appears from the center to the sides
• 6 - Display boot_logo in white color, in pseudo-animation mode, this mode for true starship astronavigators.
• 7 - Display boot_logo in rainbow color, in pseudo-animation mode, this mode for true starship astronavigators.

Mode 3 is best used with the option

display:
    auto_clear_enabled: false

After startup, to save memory, you can clear the array with the boot logo by calling the boot_logo setup function with an empty parameter.

id(rgb8x32)->set_boot_logo("");

Mode 6,7 - True starship astronavigator modes. Each element of the image mask array can take values from 0 to 255 (if the value is greater than 255, it is automatically reset to 255). Each pixel is output depending on the bit that is set in its value byte, for example:

• 1 - 10000000 - Will be displayed at every 1 cycle of the boot logo image output.
• 4 - 00100000 - Will be displayed at every 3 cycle of the boot logo image output.
• 255 - 11111111 - Will be displayed at each cycle of the boot logo image output.

night_mode_screens (optional, screen array, default [2, 3, 16]): List of screens displayed in night mode.

icon_indicator_screens (optional, screen array, default [15, 18]): List of screens on which the icon indicator will be displayed.

icons2html (optional, boolean): If true, generate the HTML-file (filename.html) to show all included icons. (default = false)

iconscache (optional, boolean): If true, it caches icons in the .cache\icons folder and if it finds the specified icons in the cache, it uses them instead of trying to download them again from the Internet. (default = false)

always_show_rl_indicators (optional, boolean): If true, always show the r/l indicators on all screens. The default is to not show either on clock, date, full, and bitmap screens, left on icon, or if display gauge displayed. (default = false)

Example output:

Advanced icon parameters

Parameters See icon details

• frame_duration (optional, ms): in the case of a GIF-file, the component tries to read the default interval for each frame. The default/fallback interval is 192 ms. In case you need to override the default value, set the duration per icon.

• pingpong (optional, boolean): in the case of a GIF-file, you can reverse the frames instead of starting from the first frame.

• file (Exclusive, filename): a local filename

• url (Exclusive, url): a URL to download the icon

• lameid (Exclusive, number): the ID from the LaMetric icon database

• resize (Optional, "8x8" or "32x8"): If the source file hasn't the right dimensions.

Example

    - id: jackshome
      url: https://awtrix.blueforcer.de/animations/JackHomePage
      resize: 32x8

Control your display

Numerous features are accessible with services from home assistant and lambdas that you can use in your YAML.

Public functions/services

 

service	parameter	result
get_status	none	write some status information to the esphome logs
display_on	none	turn display off
display_off	none	turn display on
hold_screen	none	show the screen that is currently displayed for the number of seconds longer
hide_rindicator	none	hides the rindicator
hide_gauge	none	hides the gauge
hide_alarm	none	hides the alarm
night_mode_on	none	turn night mode on
night_mode_off	none	turn night mode off
show_gauge	"percent", "r", "g", "b"	set the height of the gauge according to the percentage in the given color
show_alarm	"r", "g", "b", "size"	shows the color with the given size in the upper-right corner
show_rindicator	"r", "g", "b", "size"	shows the color with the given size in the lower-right corner
set_today_color	"r", "g", "b"	set the special color for today in the day of week line
set_weekday_color	"r", "g", "b"	set the default color in the day of week line
set_clock_color	"r", "g", "b"	set the default color of clock and date display
set_solid_color	"r", "g", "b"	set the color for solid pseudo icon
set_calendar_color	"r", "g", "b"	set the header color for calendar pseudo icon
set_weekday_accent_on	none	turns on the display of small days (accent) of the week when brightness is insufficient
set_weekday_accent_off	none	turns off the display of small days (accent) of the week when brightness is insufficient
del_screen	"icon_name", “mode”	deletes the specified icon screen from the queue, the mode is a filter
force_screen	"icon_name", “mode”	displays the selected the specified icon screen from the queue, the mode is a filter
full_screen	"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time"	show the specified 8x32 icon as full screen
icon_screen	"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with text
rainbow_icon_screen	"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show the specified icon with text in rainbow color
text_screen	"text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified text
rainbow_text_screen	"text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show the specified text in rainbow colors
clock_screen	"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the clock
rainbow_clock_screen	"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show the clock in rainbow color
blank_screen	"lifetime", "screen_time"	"show" an empty screen
date_screen	"lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the date
brightness	"value"	set the display brightness
alert_screen	"icon_name", "text", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with text, screen forced and lifetime = screen_time
rainbow_alert_screen	"icon_name", "text", "screen_time", "default_font"	show the specified icon with text in rainbow color, screen forced and lifetime = screen_time
icon_screen_progress	"icon_name", "text", "progress", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with text and with progress bar on bottom
set_progressbar_color	"icon_name", "mode", "r", "g", "b", "bg_r", "bg_g", "bg_b"	sets the specified by name and mode screen with progress bar, the specified color of the progress bar, and the background color of the progress bar. if you set the color to black, the color display will work according to the progress value
icon_clock	"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with time, there is support for displaying text on top of the icon
icon_date	"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with date, there is support for displaying text on top of the icon
graph_screen	"lifetime", "screen_time"	show graph as defined in the YAML file
icon_graph_screen	"icon_name", "lifetime", "screen_time"	show the specified icon with graph as defined in the YAML file
set_infotext_color	"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b","default_font","y_offset"	set the special color for left and right char on info text
bitmap_small	"icon", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show 8x8 image as text, and text
rainbow_bitmap_small	"icon", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show 8x8 image as text, and text in rainbow colors
icon_text_screen	"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified icon with text and scroll icon along with long text
rainbow_icon_text_screen	"icon_name", "text", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show the specified icon with text in rainbow color and scroll icon along with long text
bitmap_stack	"icons", "lifetime", "screen_time"	show or scroll from 1 to 64 icons described in the configuration
text_screen_progress	"text", "value", "progress", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "value_color_as_progress", "r", "g", "b"	show the specified short text with value and with progress bar on bottom
icon_prognosis_screen	"icon_name", "text", "prognosis", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font"	show an icon, text, and a prognosis bar consisting of 24 dots of specified colors
icon_prognosis_screen_rgb	"icon_name", "text", "prognosis", "lifetime", "screen_time", "default_font", "r", "g", "b"	show an icon, text, and a prognosis bar consisting of 24 dots of specified colors
set_adv_clock_color	"hr", "hg", "hb", "mr", "mg", "mb", "sr", "sg", "sb"	available only in advanced clock mode advanced_clock: true, allows you to set the color for the Hours (hr, hg, hb), Minutes (mr, mg, mb) and Spacer (sr, sg, sb), color is set by analogy with r,g,b. If the color is set as black, the standard color is used (see set_clock_color).
set_clock_infotext_color	"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b","default_font","y_offset"	set the special color for left and right char on info text on icon clock screen, work only in advanced clock mode
set_date_infotext_color	"left_r", "left_g", "left_b", "right_r", "right_g", "right_b","default_font","y_offset"	set the special color for left and right char on info text on icon date screen, work only in advanced clock mode
show_icon_indicator	"r", "g", "b", "size", "pos", "height"	shows the line indicator in the Icons area on the specified screens, in the specified color and at the specified vertical position
hide_icon_indicator	none	hides the icon indicator
expand_icon_to_9	"mode"	Extends the icon display on the clock screen and date screen by one line (9 pixels wide). Mode 0 (default) - do not expand. Mode 1 - expand only on the clock screen. Mode 2 - expand only on the date screen. Mode 3 - expand on the screen with clock and on the screen with date. More info

Parameter description

• r, g, b: Color components for red, green, and blue 0..255
• size: The size of the rindicator or alarm, 1-3
• percent: values from 0..100
• icon_name: the id of the icon to show, as defined in the YAML file (or pseudo-icon blank - empty icon, solid - solid icon, calendar - calendar icon), it is also possible to set the arbitrary screen identifier, for example icon_name|screen_id
• icons: the list of id of the icon to show, as defined in the YAML file, like: icon1,icon2.
• text: a text message to display
• lifetime: how long does this screen stay in the queue (minutes)
• screen_time: how long is this screen display in the loop (seconds). For short text without scrolling it is shown the defined time, longer text is scrolled at least scroll_count times.
• default_font: use the default font (true) or the special font (false)
• progress: can take a value from -100 to 100, the color of the progress bar is calculated automatically, if no colors are specified in the function set_progressbar_color, then if the progress is in the range 0..100, then from red to green, if in the range -100..0, then from green to red.
• value_color_as_progress: display the value with the color of the current color on the progress bar
• value: the brightness 0...255
• prognosis: 24 triplets of digits (72 in total), each triplet, one point on the prognosis bar in the specified color in the triplet color. Like: [200,200,200, ..., 100,100,100] see details

Night mode

When night mode is enabled, only the screens specified in night_mode_screens are displayed (default: 2, 3, 16) the other screens can be added, deleted, and will follow their life cycle but will not be displayed. Screen numbers in the table mode.

Icon Indicator

Shows the line indicator in the Icons area on the specified screens, in the specified color and at the specified vertical position.

ehmtxv2:
...
  icon_indicator_screens:
    - 15

Home assistant service call:

service: esphome.ulanzi_show_icon_indicator
data:
  r: 240
  g: 240
  b: 240
  size: 6
  pos: 7
  height: 1

Local lambdas

Add screen to your display queue

You can add screens locally and display data directly from any local sensor. See this sample:

Lambda

Take care that the char text[30]; has enough space to store the formatted text.

sensor:
  - platform: bh1750
    id: sensorlx
    ...
    on_value:
      then:
        lambda: |-
          char text[30];
          sprintf(text,"Light: %2.1f lx", id(sensorlx).state);
          // 5 Minutes,each time at least 11 seconds,no alarm
           id(rgb8x32)->icon_screen("sun", text); // uses default values for color etc.

Force screen

Force the selected icon_screen icon_name to be displayed next. Afterward, the loop continues from this screen. e.g., helpful for alarms. Or after an update of the value/text.

    id(rgb8x32)->force_screen("homeassistant");

Change configuration during runtime

Configuration variables/functions:

Experienced programmers can use these public methods:

Local triggers

To use the display without home assistant automations, you may use the advanced functionality with triggers. The triggers can be fired by sensors, time or by the ehmtxv2 component.

on_empty_queue

This trigger is called without parameters every time the queue is empty.

See the examples:

Show icon_screen if queue is empty

on_empty_queue:
     then:
       lambda: |-
          id(rgb8x32)->icon_screen("error","I'm bored`);

on_start_running

This trigger is called without parameters once after the device boots.

See the examples:

Show only date after boot

on_start_running:
     then:
       lambda: |-
          id(rgb8x32)->date_screen(10,5);

on_add_screen

There is a trigger available to do some local magic. The trigger on_add_screen is triggered every time a new screen with an icon is added to the queue. In lambda's you can use two local variables:

icon (Name of the icon, std::string): value to use in lambda

mode (mode of the screen, uint8_t): value to use in lambda

See the examples:

Write information to esphome log

ehmtxv2:
  ....
    on_add_screen:
    then:  
      - logger.log:
          format: 'add screen: %s, mode: %d'
          tag: "EHMTXv2 sample"
          args:
            - icon.c_str()
            - mode

on_start_running

The trigger on_start_running is triggered when the display starts. It is triggered when time sync is done, and initial clock / date / version screens are loaded. This is to allow you to customize the default screens (for instance set colours for the clock).

on_icon_error

The trigger on_icon_error is triggered if you try to add a screen with a non defined icon. In lambda's you can use one local string variable:

icon (Name of the icon, std::string): value to use in lambda

See the examples:

ehmtxv2:
  ....
  on_next_screen:
    lambda: |-
        ESP_LOGD("Check CONFIG","Icon_name: %s",icon.c_str());

on_next_screen

The trigger on_next_screen is triggered every time a new screen is displayed (it doesn't trigger on the clock/date display!!). In lambda's you can use two local string variables:

icon (Name of the icon, std::string): value to use in lambda

text (displayed text, std::string): value to use in lambda

See the examples:

Write information to esphome log

ehmtxv2:
  ....
  on_next_screen:
    lambda: |-
        ESP_LOGD("TriggerTest","Icon_name: %s",icon.c_str());
        ESP_LOGI("TriggerTest","Text: %s",text.c_str());

Send an event to Home Assistant

To send data back to home assistant, you can use events.

ehmtxv2:
  ....
  on_next_screen:
    - homeassistant.event:
        event: esphome.next_screen
        data_template:
          iconname: !lambda "return icon.c_str();"
          text: !lambda "return text.c_str();"

Result

on_next_clock

The trigger on_next_clock is triggered every time a new clock display circle starts. See the examples:

on_show_display

The trigger on_show_display is triggered when the screen is turned on or off. In lambda's you can use one local boolean variable:

state (Display state, boolean): value to use in lambda

on_night_mode

The trigger on_night_mode is triggered when the night mode is turned on or off. In lambda's you can use one local boolean variable:

ehmtxv2:
  ....
  on_night_mode:
      lambda: |-
          if (state) 
            id(rgb8x32)->icon_screen("night","true");
          else
            id(rgb8x32)->icon_screen("night","false");

state (Night mode state, boolean): value to use in lambda

Change something for each clock circle

ehmtxv2:
  ....
  on_next_clock:
    lambda: |-
      id(rgb8x32)->.......

(D) Service brightness

Sets the overall brightness of the display (0..255)

parameters:

• brightness: from dark to bright (0..255) (default = 80) as set in the light component by color_correct: [30%, 30%, 30%]

There's an easier way, by using a number component:

number:
  - platform: template
    name: "LED brightness"
    min_value: 0
    max_value: 255
    step: 1
    lambda: |-
      return id(rgb8x32)->get_brightness();
    set_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_brightness(x);

(D) Service del_screen

Removes a screen from the display by icon name. If this screen is actually displayed while sending this command, the screen will be displayed until its "show_screen"-time has ended.

Optionally, you can suffix a * to the icon name to perform a wildcard delete, which will delete all screens beginning with the icon_name specified.

For example, if you have multiple icons named weather_sunny, weather_rain & weather_cloudy, you can issue a del_screen weather_* to remove whichever screen is currently in a slot and replace it with a new weather screen.

Parameters:

• icon_name: Icon id defined in the YAML (see installation)
• mode: The mode is a filter to select different screen types, e.g. use 5for icon_screen

(D) Service display_on / display_off

Turns the display on or off

There's an easier way in using a switch component:

Sample

switch:
  - platform: template
    name: "$devicename Display"
    icon: "mdi:power"
    restore_mode: ALWAYS_ON
    lambda: |-
      return id(rgb8x32)->show_display;
    turn_on_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_display_on();
    turn_off_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_display_off();

Service skip_screen

If there is more than one screen in the queue, it skips the actual displayed screen to the next screen.

e.g., on the Ulanzi TC001

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin:
      number: $left_button_pin
      inverted: true
    on_press:
      lambda:
        id(rgb8x32)->skip_screen();

Service hold_screen

Displays the current screen for a configured amount (default=30) seconds longer.

e.g., on the Ulanzi TC001

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin:
      number: $right_button_pin
      inverted: true
    on_press:
      lambda:
        id(rgb8x32)->hold_screen(120);

(D) Service get_status

This service displays the running queue and a list of icons in the ESPhome device logs (INFO level or above).

[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:175]: status status: 1  as: 1
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:176]: status screen count: 3
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:181]: status slot: 0 icon: 36  text: 47.9°C end: 400
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:181]: status slot: 1 icon: 23  text: Supa langer Text end: 310
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:181]: status slot: 2 icon: 1  text: 10.3°C end: 363
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:186]: status icon: 0 name: boot
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:186]: status icon: 1 name: temp
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:186]: status icon: 2 name: garage
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:186]: status icon: 3 name: wind
[13:10:10][I][EHMTX:186]: status icon: 4 name: rain

Advanced options

screen_id

Screen identifier allows you to display the same icons on the same screen type without overlapping each other, for example, weather and weather forecast:

- service: esphome.esp_pixel_clock_icon_screen
  data:
    icon_name: "weather_{{ states('weather.current_weather') | replace('-','_') }}|weather"
...
- service: esphome.esp_pixel_clock_icon_screen
  data:
    icon_name: "weather_{{ states('weather.forecast_weather') | replace('-','_') }}|forecast"
...

If the screen identifier is specified, then all work on identification of the screen is carried out by it, as well as in functions like del_screen, force_screen it will be necessary to specify it and not the name of the icon.

icon_text

A common format for specifying output options: icon|mode#draw_mode

• icon - Icon from YAML that will be displayed
• mode - Mode, what will be displayed on the icon
• draw_mode - Mode how the text will be displayed on the icon

mode that are supported:

• day - Displays the current day of the month on the icon
• weekday - Displays the current day of the week on the icon

draw_mode that are supported:

• 0 - default - To the edges
• 1 - To the center
• 2 - Left to center, Right to edge
• 3 - To the center, the left one is a pixel higher
• 4 - To the center, the right one is a pixel higher
• 5 - To the center, without leading 0 (only for day)

lubeda#92 (comment)

Example: calendar|day#1 - Show the calendar icon, display the current day of the month on it with the numbers centered.

Integration in Home Assistant

To control your display, it has to be integrated in Home Assistant. Then it provides several services, all prefixed with the configured devicename e.g.,, "ehmtx". See the default services marked as (D) above, but you can add your own (see alarm and screen).

Services

All communication with Home Assistant use the homeasistant-api. The services can be provided by default or also defined additionally in the YAML. To define the additional services, you need the ID of the ehmtx-component e.g. id(rgb8x32).

Use in Home Assistant automations

The easiest way to use ehmtx as a status display is to use the icon names as trigger ID. In my example, I have an icon named “wind” when the sensor.wind_speed has a new state, this automation sends the new data to the screen with the icon named “wind” and so on.

alias: EHMTX 8266 Test
description: ''
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.wind_speed
    id: wind
  - platform: state
    entity_id: sensor.actual_temperature
    id: temp
  - platform: state
    entity_id: sensor.wg_cover_device
    id: cover
condition: []
action:
  - service: esphome.ehmtx8266_icon_screen
    data:
      icon_name: '{{trigger.id}}'
      text: >-
        {{trigger.to_state.state}}{{trigger.to_state.attributes.unit_of_measurement}}
mode: queued
max: 10

Tips

Display sensor precision after home assistant 2023.3.0

See templating for possibilities to optimize the output e.g. {{ states(sensor.solarpower, rounded=True) }} kWh

Specific icons per condition

Add an icon per weather condition to the ehmtxv2 component

  - id: weather_clear_night
      lameid: 52163
    - id: weather_cloudy
      lameid: 25991
    - id: weather_fog
      lameid: 52167
    ......

Sample automation to show the weather with local temperature

alias: EHMTX weather
description: weather with icon per condition
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: weather.metno
action:
  - service: esphome.ulanzi_del_screen
    data:
      icon_name: weather_*
      mode: 5
  - service: esphome.ulanzi_icon_screen
    data:
      icon_name: weather_{{ trigger.to_state.state }}
      text: >-
        {{ states("sensor.external_actual_temperature") }}°C
      ....

or another sample automation for the trashcan type

alias: "EHMTX Müllanzeige"
description: Anzeige welche Tonne raus muss. iconnamen gekürzt
trigger:
  - platform: time
    at:
      - "06:30"
      - "08:30"
      - "10:30"
      - "15:00"
      - "17:00"
      - "19:00"
condition:
  - condition: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.mulltrigger
    below: "3"
action:
  - service: esphome.ulanzi_del_screen
    data:
      icon_name: trash_*
      mode: 5
  - service: esphome.ulanzi_icon_screen
    data:
      icon_name: >-
        trash_{{ states("sensor.mulldetails") | replace("Biotonne",   "brow")|
        replace("Papiertonne","blue")| replace("Restmüll",   "grey")|
        replace("gelbe Tonne","yell|") | truncate(4,true,"")  }}     
      text: >-
        {{ states("sensor.mulldetails")|replace(" in","")|replace(" days","
        Tagen") | replace ("0 Tagen","heute") | replace ("1 Tagen","morgen")}}
      lifetime: 120
      ...

Integrate into Home Assistant UI

Add entities to the Home Assistant UI for interactive control of the display

Brightness

number:
  - platform: template
    name: "$devicename brightness"
    min_value: 0
    max_value: 255
    step: 1
    lambda: |-
      return id(rgb8x32)->get_brightness();
    set_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_brightness(x);

Display switch

switch:
  - platform: template
    name: "$devicename Display"
    icon: "mdi:power"
    restore_mode: ALWAYS_ON
    lambda: |-
      return id(rgb8x32)->show_display;
    turn_on_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_display_on();
    turn_off_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_display_off();

Night mode switch

switch:
  - platform: template
    name: "$devicename Night Mode"
    icon: "mdi:weather-night"
    restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF
    lambda: |-
      return id(rgb8x32)->night_mode;
    turn_on_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_night_mode_on();
    turn_off_action:
      lambda: |-
        id(rgb8x32)->set_night_mode_off();

automatic brightness

Awtrix and PixelIt have hard-coded functionality. EHMTX is also capable of building something like that with lambdas. You are welcome to experiment as you see fit. See the Ulanzi simple YAML as a guide.

Example: automatic brightness control with a bh1570 sensor

sensor:
  - platform: bh1570
    # ...
    on_value:
      then:
         lambda: |-  
            if (x > 200)
            {
               id(rgb8x32)->set_brightness(50);
            } else {
               id(rgb8x32)->set_brightness(250);
            }

bitmap_stack example

In the icons list (icons), you can pass a modifier (currently supported only two, works only for 1, 2, 3 icons in the list), which will change the method of displaying icons.

ehmtxv2:
  icons: 
    - id: skull
      lameid: 11241

Default icon display mode:

service: esphome.esp_hall_pixel_clock_bitmap_stack
data:
  icons: "skull,skull,skull"
  lifetime: 1
  screen_time: 10

Mode of displaying icons with two modifiers:

service: esphome.esp_hall_pixel_clock_bitmap_stack
data:
  icons: "skull,skull,skull|two"
  lifetime: 1
  screen_time: 10

It's easier to see what it looks like than to describe it, try both options, choose the one that suits you best.

Advanced Bitmap mode

Enables advanced mode of Bitmap screen (MODE_BITMAP_SCREEN), allows the use of screen identifiers, which in turn makes it possible to display more than one Bitmap screen on the clock. But it can also increase RAM consumption, each screen + 256 bytes.

ehmtxv2:
  advanced_bitmap: true

It is also possible to specify the required brightness when displaying a given Bitmap screen (MODE_BITMAP_SCREEN).

icon: [....]|screen_id#    - Brightness 240 (Default)
icon: [....]|screen_id#200 - Brightness 200

Select for Expand Icon to 9

select:
  - platform: template
    name: "Expand icon to 9"
    optimistic: true
    options:
      - "not"
      - "clock"
      - "date"
      - "clock and date"
    restore_value: true
    on_value:
      then:
        - lambda: |-
            if (x == "not") {
              id(rgb8x32)->expand_icon_to_9(0);
            }
            else if (x == "clock"){
              id(rgb8x32)->expand_icon_to_9(1);
            }
            else if (x == "date"){
              id(rgb8x32)->expand_icon_to_9(2);
            }
            else if (x == "clock and date"){
              id(rgb8x32)->expand_icon_to_9(3);
            }

Breaking changes

Please take a look at the changelog for more details also.

2024.1.0

• new and “clean” release

EspHoMaTriX in the media

See this German tutorial video with information on setting up your display RGB-LED Status Display für Home Assistant mit ESPHome | ESPHoMaTrix.

Another German tutorial video focused on the Ulanzi Smarte Pixel Clock über Home Assistant steuern - Entitäten / Icons und mehr in der Ulanzi

See this nice article about EsphoMaTrix on a Ulanzi TC001 from blakadder.

Short video on Instagram @blak_adder

See these English discussions: Share your projects ESPHOME

It was also mentioned in the blog Building the Open Home and in the home assistant livestream

Or in German: Showroom

Disclaimer

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, use at your own risk!

Special Thanks

• andrewjswan Boot animation centered. alert_screen and issue and the additions to 2023.9.1
• trip5 for his work on optimized fonts and user support and work on the wiki

Thanks

• blakadder for his contribution (cleanup README.md, fixed sample)

• dbuezas for his fonts infos

• jfurtner for his the on_start_running trigger and a new parameter

• andrew-codechimp for his contribution (display on/off & del_screen "*" & show_clock with 0) and improved blueprint selection

• jd1 for his contributions

• aptonline for his work on the Ulanzi hardware

• wsbtak for the work on the Ulanzi hardware

• ofirsnb for his contributions

• pplucky for his 8x32 GIF animation

• dennisse Auto brightness for the Ulanzi

• hco fixing documentation

• geekofweek fixed sample YAML, cleanup documentation

• joncar fixed scroll small text

• TheGroundZero PRs and discussion about bootloop

• N3rdix PRs

• lukasleitsch PRs

• trvrnrth PRs with fixing an error

• malinovsku Issues and testing.

• chertvl Issues and testing.

• fthiery for improving documentation

• Everybody who has fun by using this software

• Everybody who found bugs/issues and reported them!

  Contact me if I missed mentioning your contribution

Special thanks to all sponsors

As of the 6/1/2024 there were only six of them. 😿