LCD Module:
What is LCD ?
► LCD Stands for Liquid Crystal Display.
► An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is an electronic
device used to display information such as text,
numbers, symbols, or images on a screen.
► LCD is a Flat panel Display technology, that is used in
various electronic devices like Televisions , Computer
Monitors, Smartphones and Calculators.
Why are LCDs popular?
► LCD’s’ are popular because they offers several
advantages , like thin layer, lightweight, consume less
power compared to older display technologies , can
produce sharp and vibrant images.
Types of LCD’s
There are 3 types of lcd.
1.Alphanumeric LCD
2.Graphical LCD
3.OLED
Alphanumeric LCD:
► Alphanumeric lcd is a type of lcd, which is used to
print or display ASCII Characters (A-Z or a-z), digits(0-9)
and Special characters ( #,$,@ &).
► Alphanumeric lcd pixels are in not in contiguous
memory location
► Alphanumeric lcd is also called as Characters lcd.
Graphical LCD & OLED
► Graphical lcd and OLED is a type of LCD, which is
used to print or display ASCII Characters (A-Z or a-z),
digits(0-9), Special characters ( #,$,@ &) , images
and Graphs.
► Graphical lcd and OLED pixels are in contiguous
memory location
Features of LCD
► HD44780 is a controller IC (Integrated Circuit) used
in most character LCDs like 16x2 and 20x4. It acts as the
"brain" of the LCD module, handling communication
between the microcontroller and the LCD screen.
► The HD44780 is a dot-matrix LCD controller
introduced by Hitachi.
► LCD Module has internal Memory
1. DDRAM :
2.CGRAM
3.CGROM
DDRAM:
1. Display Data Random Access Memory
2.Starting address of DDRAM is 0x80.
CGRAM:
1.Character Generator random Access Memory
2.Starting address of CGRAM is 0x40
CGROM:
1.Character Generator Read only Memory
2.Starting address of CGRAM is undefined
► LCD Module has different type of lcd dimensions , like
16x2 , 16x4 , 20x2 and 20x4 lcd .
3.LCD Module has Internal Registers
1. Data Register
2. Command Register
40Pixels
16x2 lcd:
1. 16x2 lcd means , it has 2 Rows and 16 Columns
2. 1 column is a collection of 40 pixels
3. 1 column is used to print 1 character at a time , in
16x2 lcd we can print 32 characters at a time
4. Pixels are used to print information on lcd screen
5. lcd pixels are designed according to the 5 x 8 dot
matrix
6. lcd pixels are not in contiguous locations, so we can’t
print images and graphs on lcd
5 x 8 dot Matrix:
Finding out the character values
Pin Description lcd :
Data Pins LED+
Adjust the Control LED-
Brightness Pins
of lcd
1. first 2 pins LED+, LED- and last 3 pins VCC,VEE and
VSS are non programmable pins.
2. D0 – D7 pins are are data pins.
3. Data pins are used to write data or command on Data
line are data pins.
4. RS , RW and EN pins are Control pins
Command Register: Command Register is used to give
instruction to the lcd
it is used for :
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
1.clear the screen (0X01)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1- 0x01
command – 0x01
0000 0001
2.set cursor position
3.Enable lcd 4bit and 8bit mode
Data Register: Data Register is used to print or display
data on lcd
Example: Data -> (ASCII characters A to Z)
it is used for :
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
A-> 65 -> 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1- ‘A’
MSB
0100 0001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1- 0x01
LSB
At a time we have to write one character.
Ex: for Hello -> we have to write 5 times
Control pins in lcd :
1. RS – Register Select
2. RW – read / write
3. EN – Enable
RS – Register Select:
Through RS pin we are informing to the lcd that we are
writing data or command.
0 – Select Command Register
RS
1 – Select Data Register
RW- Read / Write :
Through RW pin we are informing to the LCD, that we
want to write / read operation on lcd
0 – Write Operation on LCD
RW
1 – Read Operation on LCD
EN – Enable:
As soon as EN=1 , Starts LCD operations, for every
operation we have clear enable pin and set enable pin .
As soon as Enable pin is 0 lcd will not process the data
0 – For Next Operation
EN
1 – Start LCD Operation
LCD Operating Modes:
1. LCD 8bit Mode
2. LCD 4bit Mode
Sl.No Lcd 8bit mode Lcd 4bit mode
1 It has 8 data pins , It has 4 Data pins , D4 to D7
D0- D7 pins
2. It is a faster It is a slower
3. We can write data in one stroke We can write data in 2 time on 4 bit
mode
4. Disadvantages of 8bit mode is Advantages of 4 bit mode is less no
more no of GPIO pins, i.e 8 of GPIO pins D4-D7 and 3 control
data pins (D0 – D7) and 3 pins
control pins
Alpha LCD (HD44780) Commands
Commands Description
0x01 Clear Screen & set the cursor to Home Position
0x02 4bit mode Enable
0x0E Enable Cursor
0x0C Disable Cursor
0x0F Blink Cursor
0x28 Double line enable in 4bit mode of LCD
0x38 Double line enable in 8bit mode of LCD
0x80 Don’t Clear Screen & set the cursor on first row & first
column
0xC0 Don’t Clear Screen & set the cursor on Second row &
first column