2026-09-29

Raspberry Pi has officially released the Smart Display Module — a $30 (roughly £24) purpose-built touchscreen board designed to pair with the Compute Module 5.

What it is

The Smart Display Module is a carrier board with an integrated capacitive touchscreen interface. It's designed to slot a CM5 onto the back and give you a compact, all-in-one touch panel. Think wall-mounted Home Assistant dashboards, 3D printer interfaces, or a rack-mounted status display without cobbling together separate screen and driver board combos.

At $30 for the module itself, it's genuinely affordable — though you'll still need a CM5 and a compatible display panel on top, so the total build cost climbs. Worth pricing the full stack before you commit.

Why homelabbers should care

If you've ever taped a spare tablet to your server rack running a Grafana dashboard, you know the pain. This is a cleaner, lower-power, more hackable solution. The CM5 underneath means you get a proper Linux environment, GPIO access, and enough grunt for lightweight containerised services alongside your dashboard UI.

It's also a solid option for kiosk-style builds — think a dedicated DNS stats screen, a doorbell/intercom panel, or a NAS status display.

Caveats

This is an embedded/OEM-style product. Don't expect a plug-and-play consumer experience. You'll need to source or 3D-print an enclosure, handle your own mounting, and do some software config. If you just want a quick dashboard, a secondhand tablet is still easier. This is for people who want full control.

Also note the $30 price is USD — UK availability and final GBP pricing may vary by reseller.

What to do

If you're already running a CM5, this is an easy add. If you're connecting it up headless first, an HDMI capture card is handy for initial setup, or grab our MS2131 HDMI Capture Card – 1080p Video & Audio for Headless Servers for that job. Keep an eye on The Pi Hut and Pimoroni for UK stock.