ESP32S3 CAM LCD

by Generic

An ESP32-S3-based board featuring a 2MP camera and LCD display, ideal for image recognition and audio processing tasks.

USB-C Native USB

Buy on Amazon More sellers Pinout

ESP32-S3

MCU

240MHz

clock

16MB

flash

512KB

SRAM

34· Two 12-bit, 20 Channels ADC

GPIO

BLE 5.0+ WiFi

radio

Pinout

35 pins

View:

Pin	GPIO	Labels	Status	Capabilities
1	0	MIC_CLK	strapping	-
2	1	MIC_DATAPWM	safe	-
3	2	TFT_DCPWM	safe	-
4	3	Y5_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
5	4	TFT_WRPWM	safe	-
6	5	TFT_D7PWM	safe	-
7	6	TFT_D6PWM	safe	-
8	7	TFT_D5PWM	safe	-
9	8	TFT_BITSTFT_D4PWM	safe	-
10	9	SDMMC_CLKPWM	strapping	-
11	10	SSTFT_D3PWM	strapping	spi
12	11	MOSIPCLK_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	spi
13	12	SCKY6_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	spi
14	13	MISOY2_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	spi
15	14	Y4_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
16	15	TFT_D2PWM	safe	-
17	16	TFT_D1PWM	safe	-
18	17	SDAI2C_SDASIOD_GPIO_NUMPWM	safe	i2c
19	18	SCLI2C_SCLSIOC_GPIO_NUMPWM	safe	i2c
20	19	SDMMC_DATAPWM	uart	-
21	20	SDMMC_CMDPWM	uart	-
22	21	VSYNC_GPIO_NUMPWM	safe	-
23	38	HREF_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
24	39	Y9_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
25	40	XCLK_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
26	41	Y8_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
27	42	Y7_GPIO_NUMPWM	strapping	-
28	43	TXPWM	strapping	uart
29	44	RXPWM	strapping	uart
30	45	TFT_D0PWM	strapping	-
31	47	Y3_GPIO_NUM	strapping	-
32	320	TFT_HEIGHT	safe	-
33	480	TFT_WIDTH	safe	-
34	40000000	TFT_FREQ	safe	-
35	-	PWDN_GPIO_NUMRESET_GPIO_NUM	safe	-

Start with these

15 pins with no boot or system involvement

MIC_DATAPWMTFT_DCPWMTFT_WRPWMTFT_D7PWMTFT_D6PWMTFT_D5PWMTFT_BITSTFT_D4TFT_D2PWMTFT_D1PWMSDAI2C_SDASCLI2C_SCLVSYNC_GPIO_NUMPWMTFT_HEIGHTTFT_WIDTHTFT_FREQ

Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.

Fine - with a little care

sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial

Pin	Label	What to know	Role
MIC_CLK	GPIO0	Must be pulled high (default) or low (to enter UART download mode) at reset. Using it for other functions can interfere with boot mode configuration.	Strapping
Y5_GPIO_NUM	GPIO3	Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface.	Strapping
Y9_GPIO_NUM	MTCK (GPIO39)	Default JTAG debugging TCK pin. If JTAG is needed, this pin must be free; it may also be used internally for PSRAM chip select on certain modules, so avoid repurposing it.	Other
XCLK_GPIO_NUM	MTDO (GPIO40)	Default JTAG TDO output for debugging. Using it as GPIO will interfere with JTAG debugging functionality.	Other
Y8_GPIO_NUM	MTDI (GPIO41)	Default JTAG TDI input for debugging. Should be reserved for JTAG or left unused if JTAG is to remain available.	Other
Y7_GPIO_NUM	MTMS (GPIO42)	Default JTAG TMS signal for debugging. Using this pin for other purposes will disable the JTAG interface (unless JTAG is rerouted to USB).	Other
TX	U0TXD (GPIO43)	Used for bootloader output and UART console logs. If repurposed, you will lose the default serial output (and programming via UART0).	Other
RX	U0RXD (GPIO44)	Used for bootloader input (download mode via serial). If repurposed, you cannot use the default UART0 download mode for programming the chip.	Other
TFT_D0	GPIO45	Determines flash/PSRAM power voltage (3.3 V vs 1.8 V) at boot. Must match hardware configuration; using as GPIO can upset flash supply setting.	Strapping

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight

Pin	Label	What to know	Role
SDMMC_CLK	FSPIHD	Connected to external flash (data/hold signal) on most modules. Not recommended for use as GPIO, since it must remain dedicated to flash communication.	Flash
SS	FSPICS0	Used to select the external flash chip. It is required for flash access and cannot be repurposed without losing flash connectivity	Flash
MOSI	FSPID	Used as a data line for flash (and in-package PSRAM). It should not be used as GPIO when the flash/PSRAM is in use.	Flash
SCK	FSPICLK	Drives the flash (and PSRAM) clock. This critical signal must be reserved for memory and not used as general GPIO.	Flash
MISO	FSPIQ	Used as a data line for flash/PSRAM transfers. Not available for other uses when flash/PSRAM is connected.	Flash
Y4_GPIO_NUM	FSPIWP	Connected to external flash (data/write-protect signal). Not recommended as GPIO because it’s reserved for flash operations.	Flash
SDMMC_DATA	USB_D-	By default connected to the on-chip USB Serial/JTAG controller. Using it as general GPIO without reconfiguring IO MUX will interfere with USB functionality.	USB
SDMMC_CMD	USB_D+	By default connected to the on-chip USB Serial/JTAG controller. Using it as general GPIO without reconfiguring IO MUX will interfere with USB functionality.	USB
HREF_GPIO_NUM	FSPIWP	On flash-equipped chips, this pin is tied to the flash’s WP# (or D3) line. It should be avoided for other use, as it’s needed for flash operations.	Flash
Y3_GPIO_NUM	SPICLK_P	Used only on variants with Octal SPI interface (e.g. ESP32-S3R16V) as part of the differential clock pair. On such chips it operates at 1.8 V and is reserved for the high-speed octal SPI clock, not for general GPIO use.	Flash

These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.

Pinout notes The ESP32S3 CAM LCD breaks out 35 pins in total: 34 GPIO for your project. Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO17 and SCL on…

The ESP32S3 CAM LCD breaks out 35 pins in total: 34 GPIO for your project.

Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO17 and SCL on GPIO18; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO43 and GPIO44 cover serial logging and flashing.

9 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (MIC_CLK, Y5_GPIO_NUM, Y9_GPIO_NUM and 6 more) - check the guidance above before wiring anything to them. MIC_DATA, TFT_DC, TFT_WR, TFT_D7 and 11 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks.

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes

Tool:

Connect over USB

Native USB - shows up as a port right away, no driver needed. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.

Match & flash

Set the Tools options shown, then click Upload.

Verify it runs

The onboard LED on GPIO1 blinks - swap the pin if your board's LED differs.

Set these in Tools · leave everything else at default

Arduino IDE 2.x — Tools Copy

Board: "ESP32S3 Dev Module"▸

USB CDC On Boot: "Enabled"▸

Flash Size: "16MB (128Mb)"▸

Flash Mode: "DOUT"▸

PSRAM: "OPI PSRAM"▸

Partition Scheme: "16M Flash (3MB APP / 9.9MB FATFS)" (default)▸

Upload Speed: "921600"▸

▸ every other Tools option — leave at default

Board: ESP32S3 Dev Module
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 16MB (128Mb)
Flash Mode: DOUT
PSRAM: OPI PSRAM
Partition Scheme: 16M Flash (3MB APP / 9.9MB FATFS)
Upload Speed: 921600

Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32S3 Dev Module

blink.ino Copy

// blink the onboard LED
void setup() {
  pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(1, HIGH); delay(500);
  digitalWrite(1, LOW);  delay(500);
}

board to selectesp32-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy

platformio.ini Copy

[env:esp32s3camlcd]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_opi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAM

Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32-s3-devkitc-1 — or type it after board =.

board to selectesp32-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy

device.yaml Copy

esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3camlcd
  framework:
    type: esp-idf
psram:
  mode: octal
  speed: 80MHz

# blink - GPIO1
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 1
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out

Find it: search ESPHome's board list for esp32-s3-devkitc-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).

esptool doesn't pick board settings — a prebuilt .bin already has them baked in. This is just the raw flash command.

terminal Copy

esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  --baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin

--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).

Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DOUT

Specifications

ESP32-S3

Compute

MCU

ESP32-S3

Clock

240 MHz

SRAM · Flash

512 KB · 16MB · 8MB (OPI) PSRAM

Radio

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth

5.0 LE

Antenna

PCB

I/O

GPIO · ADC

34 · Two 12-bit, 20 Channels

UART · I²C · SPI

3 · 2 · 4

PWM

8 channels

Power

USB

USB-C

Serial

Boot address

0x0

Display

Screen

LCD

Driver

Touch

Flashing

Upload · OTA

esptool_py · esp_ota

Flash · Boot mode

DOUT · OPI

Sketch · Data

1.25 MB · 320 KB

The ESP32S3 CAM LCD uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DOUT with OPI boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.25 MB with 320 KB available for data.

About this board

Inside sits the ESP32-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.

With 34 GPIO broken out, you get more pins to play with than most ESP32-S3 boards offer.

Around the module: 8MB (OPI) PSRAM, an LCD display, an OV2640 camera (1600x1200), a microSD slot and a microphone.

ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 N16R8 (16MB flash + 8MB octal PSRAM)
18-pin SPI/QSPI screen interface (LCD connector); some units ship with dual USB-C ports

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices

ESP32S3 CAM LCD

AMZAmazon.com↗ DEAmazon.de↗

As an Amazon Associate, ESPboards earns from qualifying purchases.

Resources

ESP32-S3 datasheet espressif.com↗ ESP32-S3-CAM development board (Edgehax) edgehax.com↗Prusa ESP32-S3-CAM hardware notes (GitHub) github.com↗

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