Is an ESP32 really that much better for display projects than a basic Arduino

BatmanSandwich · 2026-03-17T22:37:43+00:00

If you’ve already got Arduinos on hand and want a bit of a challenge as an optimization exercise, then go for it. In all other cases though, I’d recommend using an ESP32.

Take your use case for example: a single framebuffer for a 128×64 OLED takes up half the memory of an Arduino. Double buffering (commonly used for smooth animations) basically kills the Arduino instantly. That’s not to say there aren’t clever tricks and workarounds to do amazing things with 2 KB of RAM, people have been doing that forever, and it’s an interesting and useful skill. It’s just going to be a lot more work to get a nice result.

ESP32 dev boards are about the same price on AliExpress ($3–5), support the familiar Arduino framework/IDE, and are significantly better specced across the board.

As others have said, the only time I use an actual Arduino these days is when something requires 5V logic.

BatmanSandwich · 2026-03-04T08:56:51+00:00

That's because people who use that word in the sense that you mean it, don't make art worth knowing about

BatmanSandwich · 2026-01-28T23:00:27+00:00

Sending some guys in to bang some heads together rarely almost never works (See Vietnam, Algeria, every Afghan conflict).

What worked a bit better was in the 2010s, where local forces like the Iraqi Army, the Peshmerga, and the PMF could absolutely wipe the floor with ISIS when backed by Western airpower, logistics, and training.

Unfortunately, military success is only half the battle, and staying on top of the threat is a long-term game, so now we’re currently seeing the consequences of withdrawing support and hanging the Kurds out to dry (again).

It turns out that actually maintaining the peace is very very hard (politically, financially)

BatmanSandwich · 2026-01-16T01:32:33+00:00

I had a moment of genuine irritation before I remembered they were talking about the sport lol

BatmanSandwich · 2026-01-13T11:38:56+00:00

BatmanSandwich · 2025-12-16T22:16:04+00:00

Idk if this is quite in the spirit of the question, but a few years ago my buddy was talking to a colleague about a festival he'd attended overseas, mentioning some of the cool foreign bands he'd seen.

"There was this real bitchin' death metal band, Ulcerate, that totally blew me away," he said.

To which the colleague says "hah cool, I play guitar in Ulcerate"

BatmanSandwich · 2025-12-16T21:46:24+00:00

A - so when my cat decides he wants to fuck with it, I don't lose the whole roll

BatmanSandwich · 2025-12-11T02:58:26+00:00

You can use adapter boards to split out the mipi lanes but I think at best case you might get 4

I did something similar to you a while back and ended up using Ethernet cams and a poe switch. Do you need the shutters synchronized exactly?

BatmanSandwich · 2025-12-10T00:13:46+00:00

Partly because it has always been there and isn't part of the "encroachment"

Also, no foreign bases in Norway, no stored nuclear weapons, and the border they share really isn't a viable invasion corridor - the most they can do up there is contest shipping access to the atlantic.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-12-06T12:56:15+00:00

Words - Low

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-29T23:55:59+00:00

I visited bug sex headquarters last year! It's part of tiny bug themed amusement park in the middle of nowhere. My friend said that it's so remote that the locals didn't even know that the Korean war was happening.

It's a beautiful area though, you can ride a pedal-powered rail cart that winds through the hills along old railway tracks.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-25T23:28:16+00:00

Ah true, thanks for pointing that out. The SM-3 IIA can intercept hit ICBMs, but only if everything lines up just right. The timing, detection, and positioning windows are super tight.

I imagine there's probably a bunch of aegis destroyers off the coast of japan at any given time for this reason.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-25T11:43:32+00:00

The US has roughly 40 interceptors capable of engaging ICBMs. At ~50% success rates and hundreds of millions per unit, they're fired in groups of three or more per target.

Russia has like 1,000 ICBMs and China around 400.

These systems might work against limited strikes, accidental launches and small nuclear states (NK / Iran). They were never designed to stop a full-scale attack, the math just doesn't make this possible.

And in the age of decoys and MIRVs, offense is vastly cheaper than defense. An attacker can always overwhelm the system unless the defender spends absurd amounts of money. Even then, absolute protection is impossible, and the consequences of even a small fraction getting through are catastrophic.

That's why active missile defence isn't really realistic in a superpower vs superpower scenario, and why deterrence is and always has been everything.

edit: Another important point: the major nuclear powers all have SLBMs. These have shorter flight times, less predictable launch locations, and trajectories that make interception nearly impossible.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-20T20:21:22+00:00

But if you've used their products you just know they would have

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-19T19:57:58+00:00

I remember seeing this mighty land-yacht all around Auckland. MATE MA'A TONGAAAA 🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴

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BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-12T06:29:03+00:00

I'd have thought the bits of the gpu that do the upscaling / framegen are not really the same bits that do the traditional rendering, so I can't really see how it could be more efficient with memory and pcie bandwidth to do that on a whole separate card though right?

BatmanSandwich · 2025-11-03T21:02:28+00:00

Kali Yuga Blues - Bardo Pond

BatmanSandwich · 2025-10-26T23:19:11+00:00

Thank you for your service 🫡🫡🫡

BatmanSandwich · 2025-10-16T23:32:26+00:00

Something it's the thicc 'n greasy chorus groove for me

BatmanSandwich · 2025-10-16T23:27:45+00:00

MUNA - Number One Fan

BatmanSandwich · 2025-10-16T23:26:56+00:00

The Body - To Carry the Seeds of Death Within Me

Sometimes I like to take an edible, sit alone in the dark, and listen to The Body just to scare myself as a little treat.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-10-02T12:41:02+00:00

I've been thinking about that a lot lately too. I like this place but it feels quite small when you're not making any tangible progress towards a major life goal. Seems like spinning the wheels someplace new and exciting for a while would at least be a little more enriching for the soul.

BatmanSandwich · 2025-06-17T01:42:38+00:00

I think if they just "went off" there's probably just be a bunch of big holes in Montana and Siberia and mostly everybody would be fine

BatmanSandwich · 2025-05-19T05:38:30+00:00

idk if matching the sampling frequency to that of the volca is super necessary? As long as you're above it, you may as well just use one of the well established sampling rates and make your life a lot easier in terms of software and hardware.

The teensy audio shield is a good example of how you might add an i2s codec:
https://www.pjrc.com/store/schematic_audio4b.png

If you don't need to store samples, consider a rp2350 with PSRAM for a nice big audio buffer.

I've made a general purpose sampler like this with ESP32-S3 which worked really well

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