LCD Technical FAQ

Contents:

shift register (74LS164) and an 8-bit D-flipflop (74LS244). MOSI and SCK are connected to the SR's data in and clock pins, /SS is connected to the clock of the FF. Outputs 7-4 are D7-D4, out 3 is Enable, out 2 is RS, R/W is tied to ground. Delays are based on an 8 MHz clock.

[MOT20x1.ASM] (link to file)

    4.3.2) Interfacing to the Microchip PIC microcontrollers

Sample program and schematics appear in the application note AN587 in the Microchip Embedded Control Handbook for 1994/95.

A program for driving an LCD with a PIC appears in the /pub/picsrc directory of the Parallax FTP site ftp://ftp.parallaxinc.com It is written for the Parallax 8051-lookalike assembler.

Sample program and a schematic appear in the "PIC16C84 sub-page" of Peer Ouwehand's "How to control HD44780-based Character-LCD" at http://www.iaehv.nl/users/pouweha/lcd.htm programmed in PIC assembly language.

  4.4) Serial Interface

A way to save even more I/O space is to use a serial interface, requiring just 3 digital output port pins. It uses a shift register with serial-in, parallel-out, and output latch. This setup allows the convenient coding of a parallel interface (just writing the data to the USART transmit buffer) and low pin count of a serial interface. 


               ________________         __________
_____         |  74LS595       |       |          |
     |        |              QA|-------|DB4       |
     |--------|>ser. clock   QB|-------|DB5       |
CPU  |        |              QC|-------|DB6       |
OUT  |--------|>latch        QD|-------|DB7       |
PORT |        |              QE|-------|RS        |
     |--------|serial data   QF|-------|E         |
_____|        |              QG|--nc   |          |
       10Kohm |              QH|--nc   |          |
       pullup |                |       |          |
   +5V--^^^---|\Reset          |   .---|R/W       |
        .-----|\OE             |   |   |__________|
        |     |________________|   |
        GND                        GND
</pre>

Note: 74LS595 can be substituted by 74LS164 + 74LS244.

The Amateur Robitics column in June '94 Nuts & Volts demonstrated how to use this technique with the 68hc11's SPI port, using MOSI, SCK, and /SS. This would be especially handy with a nonnetworked 68HC11-based Miniboard single-board computer, which has MOSI, MISO, SCK, and /SS conveniently routed to the top left corner where resistor pack 2 goes. The experimenter could put the contrast potentiometer and latch on a daughterboard mounted underneath the LCD module.

An alternative with a less expensive shift register has the low pincount advantage, but requires bit manipulation of port pins: 


-----+                                 +----------+
     |                                 |          |
     |---------------------------------|E         |
     |         ________________        |          |
     |        |  74LS164       |       |          |
     |        |              QA|-------|DB4       |
     |--------|>ser. clock   QB|-------|DB5       |
CPU  |        |              QC|-------|DB6       |
OUT  |        |              QD|-------|DB7       |
PORT |        |              QE|-------|RS        |
     |--------|serial data   QF|--nc   |          |
_____|        |              QG|--nc   |          |
       10Kohm |              QH|--nc   |          |
       pullup |                |       |          |
   +5V--^^^---|\Clear          |   .---|R/W       |
              |                |   |   +----------+
              |________________|   |
                                   GND

Save another I/O line with this idea from Robert Rolf:

"On your SPI example, you can free up the latch line by using the clock line with a diode, pullup, and capacitor. I use the SPI in normally high mode, rising clock for data bits. 10K pullup, 10nF to GND, and the clock through diode pulls it low. After all the bits are shifted in, the RC times-out, and clocks [latches] the '595."

  4.5) LCD Serial Backpack

The LCD Serial Backpack from Scott Edwards Electronics lets you communicate with a one- or two-line LCD over an asynchronous serial port at 2400 or 9600 bps. Both TTL and RS-232 voltage levels are supported. The Backpack is a tiny daughterboard with an onboard processor, fitting neatly behind any LCD module, having solder pads for both 2x7 and 1x14 hookups. Backpacks are sold alone or with a variety of LCDs. Call (520) 459-4802.

Chapter 5) LCD Controller chip pinout

NEC UPD44780 LCD Display Controller Pinouts: 


PIN DEFINITION
=== ==========
 1  SEG 22
 2  SEG 21
 3  SEG 20
 4  SEG 19            666665555555555444444444
 5  SEG 18            432109876543210987654321
 6  SEG 17          65                        40
 7  SEG 16          66                        39
 8  SEG 15          67                        38
 9  SEG 14          68                        37
10  SEG 13          69                        36
11  SEG 12          70                        35
12  SEG 11          71                        34
13  SEG 10          72                        33
14  SEG  9          73      UPD44780 TOP      32
15  SEG  8          74                        31
16  SEG  7          75                        30
17  SEG  6          76                        29
18  SEG  5          77                        28
19  SEG  4          78   NOTCHED CORNER       27
20  SEG  3          79  /AND POSSIBLE DOT     26
21  SEG  2          80 o                      25
22  SEG  1           \         111111111122222
23  GND               123456789012345678901234
24  OSC  1

25  OSC  2
26  V1
27  V2
28  V3
29  V4
30  V5
31  CL   1
32  CL   2
33  VCC
34  M         -
35  D         -
36  RS        - Reset, assert once
37  R/W*      - Hold low for write operation
38  E         - Clock low to latch data.
39  DB  0     - The data bus
40  DB  1     -

41  DB  2     -
42  DB  3     -
43  DB  4     -
44  DB  5     -
45  DB  6     -
46  DB  7     -
47  COM  1
48  COM  2
49  COM  3
50  COM  4
51  COM  5
52  COM  6
53  COM  7
54  COM  8
55  COM  9
56  COM 10
57  COM 11
58  COM 12
59  COM 13
60  COM 14
61  COM 15
62  COM 16
63  SEG 40
64  SEG 39

65  SEG 38
66  SEG 37
67  SEG 36
68  SEG 35
69  SEG 34
70  SEG 33
71  SEG 32
72  SEG 31
73  SEG 30
74  SEG 29
75  SEG 28
76  SEG 27
77  SEG 26
78  SEG 25
79  SEG 24
80  SEG 23
</pre>

(Section 6 by Frank Hausman)

Chapter 6) FTP and other sites

Please check attribution section for Author of this document! This article was written by filipg@repairfaq.org [mailto]. The most recent version is available on the WWW server http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/ [Copyright] [Disclaimer]