# Sparkfun OLED 1.3in on Raspberry Pi, very dim

**URL:** <https://community.sparkfun.com/t/sparkfun-oled-1-3in-on-raspberry-pi-very-dim/66485>\
**Category:** Qwiic System\
**Tags:** qwiic\
**Created:** [August 11, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/sparkfun-oled-1-3in-on-raspberry-pi-very-dim/66485 "2025-08-11T18:36:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zrobot34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3be4f8/32.png) [@zrobot34](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/zrobot34)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/sparkfun-oled-1-3in-on-raspberry-pi-very-dim/66485/1 "2025-08-11T18:36:02Z")

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After some struggle I am able to display text with Raspberry Pi 5 and [Arduino Example - SparkFun Qwiic OLED 1.3in (128 x 64 white pixels)](https://docs.sparkfun.com/SparkFun_Qwiic_OLED_1.3in/examples/)

I used the example 02 hello world on github. However, the text is very very dim. Meanwhile if I plug in a qwiic conncetor from an Adafruit qtpy samd21 and run the Sparkfun OLED Arduino library, the text is very bright. Is this is a code problem or a power problem or something else? thanks. Both are connected to 3.3v, gnd, SCL, and SDA. Thanks

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**Author:** ![PaulZC](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/paulzc/32/67_2.png) [@PaulZC](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/PaulZC)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 7:07am UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/sparkfun-oled-1-3in-on-raspberry-pi-very-dim/66485/2 "2025-08-12T07:07:52Z")

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Hi @zrobot34 ,

May I ask, how did you get the Arduino example to work on Raspberry Pi 5? Did you rewrite the library to use the Raspberry Pi I2C interface instead of the Arduino version?

I can think of two possible explanations:

- A voltage issue
- The OLED (SSD1306) `PreCharge`, `VCOM` or `Contrast` settings are not correct

Please check you are using the correct Raspberry Pi pin for 3.3V.

If you have modified the library, please check you are setting:

- Contrast (Command 0x81) - set to 0xCF
- Pre-charge (Command 0xD9) - set to 0xF1
- VCOMH (Command 0xDB) - set to 0x40

I hope this helps,  
Paul