positive lcd display in stock
This is a TN Positive transflective type 6 o"clock viewing angle Segment LCD with 4 digits and symbols such as alarm, battery and other symbols. Operating temperature is -40℃~80℃, so is suitable for outdoor applications.
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This is a fancy upgrade to standard 16x2 LCDs, instead of just having blue and white, or red and black, this LCD has black characters on a full color RGB-backlight background! That means you can change the background color to anything you want - red, green, blue, pink, white, purple yellow, teal, salmon, chartreuse, or just leave it off for a neutral background. This LCD is the most daylight readable character LCD we have and is very beautiful and easy to read no matter what color/brighness you have for the backlight.
We had these custom made to our specification so that you can use them in existing LCD projects and they"ll still work - just that only the red LED will be used. The extra two pins (17 and 18) are for the green and blue LEDs. The LCD has resistors on board already so that you can drive it with 5V logic and the current draw will be ~20mA per LED. There"s a single LED backlight for the entire display, the image above showing 3 colors at once is a composite!
Comes with a single 16x2 RGB backlight LCD, 10K necessary contrast potentiometer and strip of header. Our tutorials and diagrams will have you up and running in no time!
Royal Display can provide many accessories to go with your display. If you would like to source a connector, cable, test jig or other accessory preassembled to your LCD (or just included in the package), our team will make sure you get the items you need. Get in touch with a team member today to accessorize your display!
With per-pixel control available, almost any monochrome image can be drawn on the display. With the many possibilities this level of control offers, Graphic LCDs can be found in products ranging from handheld gaming devices to industrial consoles. Like character LCDs, graphic LCDs are available in TN, STN, and FSTN options with positive and negative images. The polarizers come in Reflective, Transmissive, and Transflective types and are available in a wide range of colors.
Parallel and Serial interface options make operation no more difficult than interfacing with an 8-bit microcontroller. These displays come with user controlled contrast meaning they can be used in a wide range of settings and the display can be adjusted to ensure optimal optical performance. Many displays also have temperature compensation circuitry to maintain contrast as the ambient temperature changes. All of this makes graphic LCDs a versatile and rugged means of adding graphics to a design.
With per-pixel control available, almost any monochrome image can be drawn on the display. With the many possibilities this level of control offers, Graphic LCDs can be found in products ranging from handheld gaming devices to industrial consoles. Like character LCDs, graphic LCDs are available in TN, STN, and FSTN options with positive and negative images. The polarizers come in Reflective, Transmissive, and Transflective types and are available in a wide range of colors.
Parallel and Serial interface options make operation no more difficult than interfacing with an 8-bit microcontroller. These displays come with user controlled contrast meaning they can be used in a wide range of settings and the display can be adjusted to ensure optimal optical performance. Many displays also have temperature compensation circuitry to maintain contrast as the ambient temperature changes. All of this makes graphic LCDs a versatile and rugged means of adding graphics to a design.
Character LCD Displays (aka Alphanumeric) are one of the most common display technologies available and for that reason we hold inventory for samples and prototypes in our Chandler, Arizona location.
These displays have been in use for many years, and in some ways the technology has become a commodity, but it is important to select the best options to fit your design. There are many details concerning this technology, including: fluid type, operating voltage, controller/drivers and other key details that can make your design excel or under-perform.
Our team of LCD specialists can assist you in selecting the best options so that your design is able to meet your needs and at a cost that is within your budget. Call today with any questions.
These displays are used in applications such as change machines, measurement devices, and data loggers. The module has the ability to display letters, numbers and punctuation marks.
One reason for the popularity of Character LCD displays is that they are equipped with a controller/driver chip containing a built in character (or font) table.
The table holds preloaded letters, numbers, and punctuation for each language. The font table allows the designer to request any character by addressing (selecting) the number of that character. In other words, the letter capital ‘T’ may be assigned the number 31 and the “&” symbol could be assigned number 141. This eliminates the work required to create each charter from scratch and reduces the amount of time necessary to program the LCD module.
The LCD you choose for your new design sets the perceived value of your product. Think about it: The first thing your customer looks at when they are deciding whether to purchase your product, is the LCD display. If it looks good, then your product looks good.
Negative mode displays are popular for new designs since they stand out. Negative mode means the background is a darker color, like black or blue and the characters/icons/segments are a lighter color such as: White, Red or Green.
The opposite of a negative mode is positive mode where the background is a lighter color such as yellow/green or grey and the characters/icons/segments are a darker color like black or dark blue.
Negative mode displays must have a backlight on all the time to be readable. The challenge is that the LED backlight will draw/drain 10 times more power than the LCD without a backlight. So, if this is a battery application, it is best to stick with a positive mode.
Positive mode displays are readable without a backlight if there is enough ambient light. The LCD without a backlight will draw around 1uA. LED backlights can draw as little as 15mA up to 75mA or more depending on the number and brightness of the LEDs.
The first question to answer is ‘what size of LCD?’ The larger the display the more information that can be displayed and the larger the characters can be. We recommend you choose one of the standard sizes on this page to reduce cost and lead time. Focus Display Solutions (aka FocusLCDs) carries many of the industry standard sizes in inventory and may be able to ship the same day.
Character LCD Displays are built in standard configurations such as 8×1, 20×2 and 40×4. The two numbers identify the number of characters in each row and then the number of rows. An example of this is a 20×2 which means there are 20 characters in each row and there are two rows. This will provide you a total of 40 characters. The more characters there are on the display, the more drivers are required to drive the LCD. The controller and drivers are included with the LCD.
Note: It is possible to program the software to scroll your letters and numbers across the screen, allowing you to choose a smaller sized LCD and still display all your information.
The cost of character displays is driven more by the size of the glass, then by the number of characters. A larger 8×1 can be more expensive than a small 16×2.
It is possible to custom build a unique combination such as a 12×2 or a 16×8. This would be considered a custom LCD and would require a one-time tooling cost and possibly a higher MOQ. Go to our
Character LCD modules are available in two temperature ranges, Normal (for indoor use) and Extended (for outdoor use). The outdoor version will continue to operate down to -30C. The cost difference between normal and wide (extended) temperature range is 5% to 7% higher for the extended versions. In most cases, if cost is not critical, we recommend that you incorporate the wider temperature version.
There are three types of backlights available for a character LCD module: No backlight; LED; or EL backlight. Before introducing the various backlight options, it is helpful to cover two terms that are common for backlights: NITs and half-life.
Engineers designing a battery powered product may request a character module with no backlight since the backlight draws more than ten times (10x) the power required for the LCD alone. The goal with a battery powered product is to conserve power and extend the life-time of the battery.
If the product needs to be readable in the dark or low light conditions, then it will be necessary to attach a backlight of one type or another. The best way to conserve power is to keep the amount of time the backlight is on to a minimum. Turn off the backlight as soon as the user no longer needs it. This is a common practice in cell phones. The backlight turns off a few seconds after the number is dialed or the phone is answered. The person using the phone will continue to talk, but the display will be dark.
DC Current – LEDs are driven by DC (Direct Current), which is the same type of power required for the character LCD logic voltage. Also, batteries supply DC which makes it easy to integrate the LED backlight with a battery. EL backlights require an AC (Alternating Current) to operate. The AC signal needs to be generated by an inverter. The added inverter increases the cost of the display and produces electrical noise that can interfere with neighboring circuits.
Character LCDs that include an EL (ElectroLuminescent) backlight are not as common and their popularity is decreasing. EL backlights are AC driven which requires an inverter to be supplied by the customer or attached to the LCD. Their half-life is rated at 3K hours which makes this a poor choice for products where the backlight will be on all the time. Their MOQ (Minimum Order Quantities) have increased in the last few years. At this time there is a 500 piece MOQ.
There are some key advantages to EL backlights. They are very thin, around one to two millimeters in thickness. And they provide a very even flow of light. We carry inventory on a few EL character displays, but the majority of the character displays we sell are LED.
A character LCD is constructed by placing the nematic fluid between two layers of ITO (Indium tin oxide) glass. The function of the fluid is to either block or allow light to pass through.
A TN (Twisted Nematic) monochrome LCDs is the lowest cost option. TN does not provide a very sharp contrast and has a smaller viewing angle then STN or FSTN. A smaller viewing angle means the display is readable if you look directly at it, but if you rotate it more than 40 degrees in either direction, the characters will be difficult to read.
STN (Super Twisted Nematic) fluid is the most popular option. It provides a sharper contrast and a wider viewing angle than TN. Below is a photo of a STN 16 x2 character display.
FSTN monochrome character LCD displays are assembled by taking the STN fluid and adding a film or retardation coating to the glass. This produces a sharper contrast than STN. FSTN is more popular on higher end products such as medical applications. Below is a photo of a FSTN 16×2 monochrome LCD
There are three types of polarizers: Reflective; Transflective; and Transmissive. The correct polarizer is determined by the various lighting conditions your character LCD display will operate in.
The job of the polarizer is to allow some light to pass through and some of the light to be reflected. Depending on where your display will be operating, will decide which polarizer to choose. There is no cost difference between the three polarizers. Below is a quick summary:
The reflective polarizer is basically a mirror. It will reflect 100% of the ambient light and is ideal for displays operating in direct sunlight or in situations with very bright indoor lights.
A reflective polarizer cannot be used with a LED backlight or EL backlight since it will not allow any of the light to pass through, but it is possible to use with a LED edge-lit or side-lit display. An advantage of an edge-lit display is that it is thinner than a LED backlight, but not as thin as a display equipped with an EL backlight.
A Transflective polarizer is the most popular of the three options and works best with a display that requires the backlight to be on some of the time and off some of the time. It does not perform as well in direct sunlight as a reflective polarizer, but is sufficient in most cases.
The Transmissive polarizer is used when the backlight is on all the time. This is not the best option for battery powered products, but provides a brighter backlight. This polarizer must be used for displays that run in negative mode. Negative mode is when the characters are light colored and the background is a dark.
V Logic is the voltage used to drive an LCD and draws very little current, somewhere around 1mA or less. Character displays can be driven with a VL at 3.3V or 5V.
V LED is the voltage used to drive the LED backlight only. This can be 3.3V or 5V. LED backlights can draw up to ten times (10X) the amount of current of just the LCD alone (VLCD). If your product is a battery application, the backlight should be turned off when not in use. Or build in a sensor that only turns it on in the dark.
Is it possible to drive the LCD and the LED backlight from the same connection, but not recommended since interference from the LED backlight could affect the performance of the LCD.
A key advantage of character LCDs over multicolor technology such as TFT (Thin Film Transistor) and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) it their low thirst for current.
TFTS and OLEDs require power to generate light to be readable. In many cases, their backlight needs to be even brighter in direct sunlight. This could draw 50mA or more depending on the size and brightness of the display.
When the ambient temperature of the display drops too low, the display’s performance suffers. The colder the fluid in the display, the slower the response. At some point, the display freezes up and the characters no longer change.
As long as the temperature doesn’t drop too low, there will be no damage to the display, and it will return to normal operation when the temperature rises.
This is a much more affordable solution. A small PCB (Printed Circuit Board) is attached to the back of the LCD. The board is populated with several quarter watt resistors in series that generate heat. This option draws a great deal of power. In fact, it draws more than most LED backlights.
Believe it or not, LEDs do generate heat, but nothing close to resistors or heater film. In some cases, it is enough to give the display a little extra warmth to keep it operating when the temperature drops below its threshold.
Nothing saves heat and power like insulation. Putting your LCD into something that breaks the wind and holds in the heat, will save your batteries. Many times, a protected display will continue to operate even when the temperature drops far below the threshold. This should always be the first step taken when worrying about display functionality at low temperatures. Once your product is insulated, the heat producing options noted above can be implemented.
There are three fluid types used in character LCDs: TN, STN and FSTN. TN operates the best at colder temperatures and offers a faster response time. TN does not provide the wide viewing range found in STN and FSTN, but is sufficient for most industrial uses.
The five most common types of LCD technology are: Segment, Character, Graphic, TFT and OLED. Character and Segment are the least likely options to be discontinued. They have been around for many years and are still very popular.
The displays are made up of small squares that contain a 5x8, 7x10 or 16x16 dot matrix configurations. That means there are 5 dots across and 8 dots up for a total of 40 dots. Each dot is individuality addressed on or off to produce any letter or number.
Used to read or write the data being transferred between the LCD and the microprocessor. Tie this to ground if you only plan to write data for one-way communications.
DB 0. Most character LCDs have eight (8) data bits for faster transfer. But can operate on just four (4) data bits if you are running low on I/O (In/Outs) pins.
Positive connection of the LED backlight or side lit. The voltage could range from 5V or 3.3V. Not all character LCDs contain a LED backlight. In this case, the two pins are no connect.
Polarity is an issue with LED backlights, since they are DC (Direct Current). That means positive must connect to positive. Half of the character LCDs have pin 15 as positive and 16 as ground. The other half are reversed. If you need the polarity reversed, there is a jumper on the back of the PCB to switch polarity.
This page contains a partial list of our standard displays. Simply choose the number of characters, the size of the display and the color combination that will meet your needs. If you need a size not listed on this page, please call us. We can still supply it to you.
Our lead time on standard Character LCD displays – that are not in stock – range from five to seven weeks. This rapid lead time is due to the fact that we do not ship LCD’s via boat, but FedEx Air. By shipping via FedEx Air, we receive the LCD glass within four to five days after it is completed, compared to shipping by boat which can add several additional weeks to your lead time.
Don’t see the exact display you want on this page? Focus Display Solutions can supply you a display to match the exact configuration you want, even if it is not in our current inventory.
The cost to design and tool up a custom replacement LCD is much less than the cost associated with retooling a case or having to redesign the customer’s PCB to accept a different LCD. The customer may also need the exact display to repair units that are in the field.
This custom character design allows the customer to avoid any redesign cost or delays in the manufacturing of their product and to offer replacement displays for products that had been in the field for over ten years.
Character LCD displays are built in standard sizes and configurations. This makes the process of locating an equivalent LCD a simple process, but it is critical to make sure that the replacement display is a drop -in equivalent to your current display. It may not be possible to build a 100% equivalent product without some modifications.
We are able to match and replace these discontinued Liquid Crystal Displays. There may be a one-time NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering) fee required to modify the ITO glass, PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and bezel to match the dimensions and characteristics necessary for your production.
If your current LCD supplier has discontinued your display, Focus Display Solutions (aka Focus LCDs) has the ability to cross it over to an equivalent display and in many cases Fed Ex/UPS a sample to you the same day.
Note: when you begin ordering LCD displays from Focus, we will supply you with the data sheet. If you purchase the display, you should own the data sheet.
Providing us the full part number of the LCD allows us to determine not only the size of the display, but also the type of construction such as COB (Chip on Board) or COG (Chip on Glass), number of characters, backlight option, operating temperature range, background and backlight colors, viewing angle, backlight and LCD logic voltage, and in most cases the controller driver used.
With the part number, we will attempt to locate a full data sheet with enough details allowing us to quote a replacement for your discontinued display. If we cannot locate a data sheet, we will ask if your previous supplier had provided one to you.
If we are unable to locate the data sheet of your current LCD, we will request a data sheet. If possible, please forward over the data sheet or a link to the data sheet. If your LCD supplier is no longer in business or they will not provide you the data sheet, the next option is a photo of the display.
If you decided to move forward with us and order samples of your replacement display based on the estimated cost, we will require two of your discontinued samples. They do not need to be working displays, but need to be in good condition. Please note: We will not be able to return the two displays.
Note: when you begin ordering LCD displays from Focus, we will supply you with the data sheet. If you purchase the display, you should own the data sheet.
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly, instead using a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome. LCDs are available to display arbitrary images (as in a general-purpose computer display) or fixed images with low information content, which can be displayed or hidden, such as preset words, digits, and seven-segment displays, as in a digital clock. They use the same basic technology, except that arbitrary images are made up of a large number of small pixels, while other displays have larger elements. LCDs can either be normally on (positive) or off (negative), depending on the polarizer arrangement. For example, a character positive LCD with a backlight will have black lettering on a background that is the color of the backlight, and a character negative LCD will have a black background with the letters being of the same color as the backlight. Optical filters are added to white on blue LCDs to give them their characteristic appearance.
LCDs are used in a wide range of applications, including LCD televisions, computer monitors, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, and indoor and outdoor signage. Small LCD screens are common in portable consumer devices such as digital cameras, watches, calculators, and mobile telephones, including smartphones. LCD screens are also used on consumer electronics products such as DVD players, video game devices and clocks. LCD screens have replaced heavy, bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in nearly all applications. LCD screens are available in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT and plasma displays, with LCD screens available in sizes ranging from tiny digital watches to very large television receivers. LCDs are slowly being replaced by OLEDs, which can be easily made into different shapes, and have a lower response time, wider color gamut, virtually infinite color contrast and viewing angles, lower weight for a given display size and a slimmer profile (because OLEDs use a single glass or plastic panel whereas LCDs use two glass panels; the thickness of the panels increases with size but the increase is more noticeable on LCDs) and potentially lower power consumption (as the display is only "on" where needed and there is no backlight). OLEDs, however, are more expensive for a given display size due to the very expensive electroluminescent materials or phosphors that they use. Also due to the use of phosphors, OLEDs suffer from screen burn-in and there is currently no way to recycle OLED displays, whereas LCD panels can be recycled, although the technology required to recycle LCDs is not yet widespread. Attempts to increase the lifespan of LCDs are quantum dot displays, which offer similar performance as an OLED display, but the Quantum dot sheet that gives these displays their characteristics can not yet be recycled.
Since LCD screens do not use phosphors, they rarely suffer image burn-in when a static image is displayed on a screen for a long time, e.g., the table frame for an airline flight schedule on an indoor sign. LCDs are, however, susceptible to image persistence. The LCD screen is more energy-efficient and can be disposed of more safely than a CRT can. Its low electrical power consumption enables it to be used in battery-powered electronic equipment more efficiently than CRTs can be. By 2008, annual sales of televisions with LCD screens exceeded sales of CRT units worldwide, and the CRT became obsolete for most purposes.
LCD displays. Of course, there is only one color for the backlight and one color for the characters, but as you can see here on the picture above, there could be many colors of backlights. We can have a white backlight, orange, green, blue or any backlight color.
It does not fit every display technology, positive and negative, but as you can see on the picture above, there is a vast number of combinations of different technologies, positive, negative, STN, FSTN or VA technology (Vertical Alignment), a little bit different technology, allowing us to have wide viewing angles, and different backlight colors. So, we can have a lot of different variations that can be used to build every application.
The last part of this article covers graphic displays and character displays, the difference between them and how it influences the cost of an LCD display. The most basic LCD displays are the segmented monochrome LCD displays or icon displays. In this kind of LCD displays we have only some icons and characters, but they are defined when the display is being produced. What we see on the display is defined and we cannot have anything else, the other area is completely off. You can only switch on and off the display segments. This is the cheapest technology to produce, and it is made by mask during the production, so it is usually reserved for high volume applications, that are very well defined during the production phase. For example, this can a be kind of watch, or calculator, or temperature controller. The advantage is the cost, but the disadvantage is that later we cannot change anything, we cannot change the software and add another icon.
Another type of a display is a graphic display. So, we have character displays and a fully graphic display. The character display is also a very popular technology, and it is a combination between a segment display and the graphic display because we have the fields, that are defined, and they can show only the characters, letters, numbers, symbols and some added characters defined by the controller of a display. On this kind of screen, we cannot put the full graphic, because every character is physically separated from the other.
Next, we have the fully graphic display. In this kind of LCD display we have a matrix of pixels. It could be 64 by 256, or 64 by 128 pixels, so on this kind of screen we can show almost every image, because we can switch every pixel on and off. We can show letters, characters, images, small, big, anything we want. The disadvantage is the vast number of pixels that we need to connect. The controller and the glass are complicated, because we need to route the wires from every pixel out from the glass and connect it to the controller. So, in the monochrome LCD display family, this kind of display is the most expensive. Other kinds of displays are cheaper, not only because the glass is simple, but because the controllers are simple too.