WSAL18396 – 5inch DSI 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

Brief overview of the Waveshare 5-inch capacitive touch display with DSI interface for Raspberry Pi (800×480).

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WSAL18396 – 5inch Capacitive Touch Display for Raspberry Pi, DSI Interface, 800×480

Technical overview

5-inch capacitive touch panel, resolution 800×480, hardened glass rated up to 6H.
Supports 5-point touch input.
DSI interface connects directly to the Raspberry Pi; refresh rate up to 60 Hz.
Compatible with Pi 5/CM4/CM3+/CM3 via a 22-pin DSI1 cable; older models (Pi 4B/3B+/3A+/3B/2B/B+/A+) use the 15-pin DSI interface with an FFC cable.
Pinout: DSI data pairs DSI1_DP0/DN0 and DSI1_DP1/DN1, clock DSI1_CP/CN, I²C0 (SCL0/SDA0), 3V3 supply and GND.
Software setup via config.txt: add dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d and either dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch (DSI1) or dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,dsi0 (Pi5/CM4 only).
Backlight brightness adjustable from the terminal via /sys/class/backlight/*/brightness (value 0–255).
Display rotation via GUI (Trixie/Bookworm) or cmdline.txt: video=DSI-1:800x480M@60,rotate=90/180/270.

Commands and examples – verify before use:

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,dsi0
echo X | sudo tee /sys/class/backlight/*/brightness
video=DSI-1:800x480M@60,rotate=90
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

Notes and version constraints

Exact compatibility depends on the Raspberry Pi model; for Pi5/CM4 you must choose between DSI0 and DSI1.
Individual steps are version-sensitive (Trixie vs. Bookworm vs. Bullseye/Buster); verify the current OS version before applying.
Terminal-based brightness control requires write access to /sys/class/backlight.
Knock-off products may cause functional issues; use the genuine product with part number WSAL18396.
For older systems (Stretch/Jessie) a different rotation method applies; not all listed commands are universally valid.

Source and revision record

5inch DSI LCD - Waveshare Wiki
Source revision: 104317
Captured: 2026-09-01T03:22:56+00:00
SHA-256: 358b8e43d664eec4f56b0106454d11b7072f857320289ed97a99635950d57fd9