ESP32-S3 OLED Display with Arduino IDE

Introduction

The OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display module is an efficient and vibrant screen choice for ESP32-S3 projects.
It offers superior contrast, wide viewing angles, and fast response times compared to traditional displays.
This tutorial will guide you through connecting the OLED display to an ESP32-S3 and writing code to display text and graphics.
Get ready to enhance your projects with this powerful visual output tool!

Required Components

• ESP32-S3 Board
• OLED Display
• Jumper Wires
• Breadboard (optional)

Pinout

• OLED Display
  • GND: Ground pin
  • VCC: Power supply pin (3.3V to 5V)
  • SCL: Serial Clock pin for I2C communication
  • SDA: Serial Data pin for I2C communication

Circuit Diagram / Wiring

• OLED VCC → 3.3V, 5V (ESP32-S3)
• OLED GND → GND (ESP32-S3)
• OLED SDA → Pin 21 (ESP32-S3)
• OLED SCK → Pin 22 (ESP32-S3)

Code / Programming

• Install Required Libraries (via Arduino Library Manager).
• Go to the “Libraries” tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
• Click on the “Library Manager” button (book icon) at the top of the Libraries tab.
• In the Library Manager window, type “Adafruit GFX” in the search bar, locate the library, and click on the “Install” button next to it.

• Repeat the process for “Adafruit SSD1306” to install the SSD1306 library.

The Wire library is included by default, so no installation is needed.

• Copy the provided code into your Arduino IDE.

/*
  Filename: ESP32-S3_oled_typewriter.ino
  Description: Displays "OceanLabz" on OLED with typewriter animation using ESP32-S3
  Author: www.oceanlabz.in
  Modification: 1/4/2025
*/
 
 
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
 
// Define screen dimensions
#define SCREEN_WIDTH 128
#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 64
 
// Define I2C pins for ESP32-S3(modify if needed)
#define OLED_SDA 21
#define OLED_SCL 22
 
// Create display object with custom I2C
Adafruit_SSD1306 display(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, &Wire, -1);
 
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
 
  // Start I2C on custom pins (for ESP32-S3)
  Wire.begin(OLED_SDA, OLED_SCL);
 
  // Initialize the OLED display
  if (!display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C)) {
    Serial.println(F("SSD1306 initialization failed"));
    while (true);  // Stop execution if display fails to initialize
  }
 
  display.clearDisplay();
  display.display();
 
  display.setTextSize(2);
  display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);
}
 
void loop() {
  display.clearDisplay();
  display.setCursor(0, 20);
 
  const char* text = "OceanLabz";
 
  // Typewriter animation
  for (int i = 0; i < strlen(text); i++) {
    display.print(text[i]);
    display.display();
    delay(200);
  }
 
  delay(2000);
 
  display.clearDisplay();
  display.display();
  delay(500);
}

Explanation

• The OLED display uses the I2C protocol and connects to the ESP32-S3 via SDA (GPIO21) and SCL (GPIO22).
• The Adafruit_SSD1306 and Adafruit_GFX libraries allow you to easily display text, graphics, and animations.
• This project shows a typewriter-style animation to print text character by character on the OLED screen.

Troubleshooting

• If the screen stays blank, check if the I2C address is 0x3C, and confirm wiring to SDA/SCL pins.
• Make sure you install both libraries: Adafruit SSD1306 and Adafruit GFX from Library Manager.
• Use a logic level-compatible OLED (3.3V or 5V), and verify I2C is working by scanning with an I2C scanner sketch.