MIPI camera and display, H.264 encoding and 400 MHz RISC-V: ESP32 goes big-screen
Most ESP32s are “Wi-Fi chips that also run your code.” The ESP32-P4 flips that around. It’s a high-performance application processor with no radio at all, built for cameras, displays and HMI panels.
Highlights
- Dual-core RISC-V up to 400 MHz, plus a low-power core for always-on tasks.
- MIPI-CSI camera input with an image signal processor (ISP).
- MIPI-DSI display output, so it can drive real smartphone-style panels.
- Hardware H.264 encoding, a JPEG codec and a 2D pixel-processing accelerator (PPA).
- High-speed USB 2.0 OTG and an Ethernet MAC.
“But it has no Wi-Fi?”
Correct, and that’s on purpose. Most P4 dev boards pair it with an ESP32-C6 (or C5) as a wireless co-processor running ESP-Hosted. That setup gives you Wi-Fi 6, BLE and Thread. The P4 does the heavy work while the small chip handles the radio.
What people are building
- Smart-home control panels with 7–10″ MIPI touchscreens running LVGL.
- Video doorbells that encode H.264 locally.
- Retro game emulators and handhelds, thanks to the fast CPU and display pipeline.
- USB devices: webcams, audio interfaces and fast data loggers.
- Industrial HMIs with an Ethernet uplink.
Tips before you buy
- Choose a dev kit with a screen. The MIPI-DSI connector is the P4’s best feature.
- Use ESP-IDF for the best camera/display/H.264 support. Arduino-ESP32 supports the P4, but advanced multimedia examples are IDF-first.
- Check the chip revision. Early silicon and newer revisions differ in maximum clock speed and some errata, so read the board’s documentation.
Where it fits
| Need | Chip |
|---|---|
| Simple Wi-Fi sensor | C3 / C6 / C61 |
| All-rounder with display | S3 / S31 |
| Camera + big touchscreen + video | P4 |
Bottom line: if your project has a screen bigger than your palm, look at the P4 first.
