WSAL19173 – 3.5inch DPI LCD/en

Documentation notice: This technical documentation was independently rewritten from an archived supplier source. Check technical details and commands against the product version and manufacturer documentation before use.

Summary

Technical guide for the Waveshare 3.5inch capacitive touch LCD (640×480) with DPI interface, IPS panel and toughened glass cover.

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WSAL19173 – 3.5inch Capacitive Touch Screen LCD For Raspberry Pi, 640×480, DPI, IPS, Toughened Glass Cover, Low Power

Technical overview

Resolution: 640×480 pixels; display type: 3.5-inch IPS with 5-point capacitive touch.
Connects via the Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header; refresh rate up to 60 Hz through the DPI channel.
Touch is driven over I2C; the toughened glass cover has a hardness rating of up to 6H.
Supported systems: Raspberry Pi OS (Bookworm, Trixie, Bullseye, Buster) as well as Ubuntu/Kali.
For Bookworm/Trixie, three dtoverlay entries are added to config.txt and the matching DTBO file is copied into /boot/overlays.
For Bullseye, four dtoverlay entries are set; for Buster/Ubuntu, dpi_mode=87, hdmi_timings and other parameters are defined in config.txt.
Display rotation is performed either via the graphical screen configuration or via cmdline.txt/config.txt entries, depending on the system version.
When DPI and HDMI outputs are used simultaneously, they share the same rotation value.
The touch rotation angle is configured on older systems via udev rules (LIBINPUT_CALIBRATION_MATRIX) or an X11 libinput configuration.
Pinout: RGB signal lines on GPIO pins 1–29, PWM backlight on pin 12, touch I2C on pins 19/23, LCD_CLK on pin 27 and DE on pin 28.

Commands and examples – verify before use:

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
dtoverlay=waveshare-35dpi
dtoverlay=waveshare-touch-35dpi
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-DPI-35inch
dtoverlay=waveshare-35dpi-3b-4b
dtoverlay=waveshare-35dpi-3b
dtoverlay=waveshare-35dpi-4b
gpio=0-9=a2
gpio=12-17=a2
gpio=20-25=a2
dtoverlay=dpi18
enable_dpi_lcd=1
display_default_lcd=1
extra_transpose_buffer=2
dpi_group=2
dpi_mode=87
dpi_output_format=0x6f006
hdmi_timings=640 0 20 10 10 480 0 10 5 5 0 0 0 60 0 60000000 1
video=DPI-1:640x480M@60,rotate=90
video=DPI-1:640x480M@60,rotate=180

Notes and version constraints

The exact steps for touch rotation under Bullseye/Buster are truncated in the source text; the full X11 configuration must be completed manually.
On Raspberry Pi 4, the entry dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-V3D must be commented out; this is version-dependent and requires technician confirmation.
Extending the cable beyond 10 cm is not recommended; for longer connections, use differential-signal-capable interfaces such as HDMI, MIPI DSI, or LVDS.
The power consumption figure of 5 V / 130 mA reflects only the stated value; other operating states or additional loads may change actual consumption.
All configuration files (config.txt, cmdline.txt, udev rules) must be saved before rebooting; forgotten changes only take effect after a restart.

Source and revision record

3.5inch DPI LCD - Waveshare Wiki
Source revision: 105190
Captured: 2026-09-01T03:59:08+00:00
SHA-256: c653bdad64dfd99649622bd272f3e509905c044675a692f0afcce617b570e9c7