Working with character LCDs

[Tony]

I've recently finished an introductory course in practical electronics, (completed the entire Hayes/Horowitz AoE student manual) and am itching to do some further work.

In particular, I want to get a character LCD (was thinking of ordering something from here: http://character-lcd-lcds.shopeio.com/inventory/catalog.asp?ACTION=2&cat=Lcds&sub=Character Lcd ) to work with a 8051 based circuit I have set up. I've done a little bit of programming with the 8051 already, so my question is primarily on how to work with an LCD screen.

Does anyone have suggestions for some resources and how to get started?

Thanks in advance.

 

[berkeman]

Great stuff Tony, keep it up. The LCDs will either have the driver IC embedded in them, or they will call out which driver IC to use with them. Get the User Manual for the driver portion, and read about the physical and logical methods to drive them. For example, the physical interface will either be serial (SPI or I2C usually) or parallel (byte-wide with some control signals). You will chose whichever interfaces is most easily supported by your 8051 platform. Then read about the commands that you send the LCD module to make it display characters, etc., and code those up in your 8051. For example, you will often send out a header byte with a command (like clear screen, or write character, etc.), with optional data after that first command byte. It all depends on the driver IC for the LCD.

Hope that helps. Download some User Manuals / datasheets for some of those displays, and look for programming application notes for them as well.

 

[ravenprp]

Congratulations on completing an introductory course in practical electronics! Working with character LCDs is a great next step in your journey.

To get started, I would recommend checking out some online tutorials or resources that specifically focus on interfacing LCDs with the 8051 microcontroller. There are plenty of websites and forums that offer step-by-step guides and code examples to help you get started.

You can also refer to the datasheet of the specific LCD you plan on using to understand its pinout and communication protocol. This will help you in properly connecting and programming the LCD with your 8051 circuit.

Additionally, I would suggest experimenting with smaller projects first, such as displaying a simple message or counting numbers on the LCD. This will give you a better understanding of how to control and manipulate the display.

Finally, don't hesitate to reach out to online communities or forums for any specific questions or troubleshooting help. Good luck with your project!