graphics dots lcd module free sample

2023-01-03 12:32:11

In this project, I will show you how to interface a 128X64 Graphical LCD with Arduino UNO. This particular LCD Module is based ST7920 LCD Controller. So, we will first see a little bit about the Graphical LCD Module and its LCD Controller ST7920.

In the previous Arduino project, I have interfaced a Nokia 5110 LCD Module with Arduino. It is also a graphical LCD which can display some basic bitmap images and graphics. But the issue with Nokia 5110 LCD Module is its resolution.

At 84 x 48 pixels, the Nokia 5110 LCD can be used for implementing a menu-based user interface. Due to its small size, the resulting menu will be limited to 3 or 4 items per page.

If we want a bigger display with more real estate to work with, then the obvious choice is to go for the bigger and better 128×64 Graphical LCD Module.

As a demonstration, after making all the hardware connections, I will display a bitmap image on the Graphical LCD Module. If you are interested in implementing a simple 16×2 Alpha-Numeric LCD with Arduino, then check out this tutorial.

At first glance, the 128×64 Graphical LCD Module seems like a bigger brother to the famous 16×2 LCD or 20×4 LCD Modules, with their similar construction and almost similar pin layout.

But there is a significant difference between those two. 16×2 or 20×4 LCDs are essentially character displays. They can only display alpha-numeric characters and some simple custom characters that are confined to a 5×8 matrix.

By using different combinations of pixels, we can basically display characters of various sizes. But the magic doesn’t end there. You can display images and graphics (small animations) as well. In a 128×64 LCD Module, there are 64 rows and 128 columns.

There are several versions of the Graphical LCD in the market. Even though the usage, application and implementations are almost identical, the main difference lies in the internal LCD Controller used to drive the dot matrix display.

Some of the commonly used LCD Controllers are KS0108, SSD1306, ST7920, SH1106, SSD1322, etc. The pin out of the final LCD Module might vary depending on the LCD Controller used. So, please verify the LCD Controller as well as the pin out before making a purchase.

The Graphical LCD Module I purchased consists of ST7920 Controller. It is manufactured by Sitronix and supports three types of bus interfaces i.e., 8-bit mode, 4-bit mode and Serial interface.

If you have used 16×2 LCD Display earlier, then you might be familiar with both 4-bit as well as 8-bit parallel interfaces. The serial interface is something new and we will explore this option in this project.

As I already mentioned, double-check with the manufacturer about the pinout of the Graphical LCD Module. The following table describes the pinout of the 128×64 LCD Module that I have.

Now that we have seen a little bit about the Graphical LCD and its controller ST7920, let us now proceed with interfacing the 128×64 Graphical LCD with Arduino. I will implement a simple circuit to demonstrate how easy it is to interface the LCD and Arduino using very few external components.

So, connect the RS, RW and E of the LCD to Digital IO pins 10, 11 and 13 of Arduino UNO. Also, in order to select the Serial Interface Mode, the PCB pin must be connected to GND.

The remaining connections are similar to a traditional 16×2 LCD. VCC and GND are connected to 5V and ground of the power supply. VO is connected to the wiper of a 10KΩ POT while the other two terminals of the POT are connected to 5V and GND respectively.

I have used the above “The Office” logo. Remember that the resolution of the 128×64 LCD is, well 128×64 pixels. So, the maximum image size should be 128×64. So, using Microsoft Paint, I have brought down the resolution of the above image to 128×64 pixels and also saved it as Monochrome Bitmap Image.

A simple project for interfacing the 128×64 Graphical LCD with Arduino is implemented here. Instead of displaying plain characters, I have displayed a bitmap image on the LCD to show its capability.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

A graphic LCD is typically required when the display of more than just text is required. Many of the LCD controllers on our graphic LCD displays also include a CGROM (character generator ROM) to be able to easily use characters as well as graphics. Some of our graphic LCD displays have the ability to render graphics in grayscale, enabling you to show images and elements of your UI (user interface) with more depth and definition.

We offer the largest selection and lowest prices for graphic STN/FSTN LCD displays in the United States. Whether you need one or one-thousand, Crystalfontz America has the graphic LCD for your product.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

This graphic LCD module acts as a shield for Arduino Uno-style microcontrollers. The pins on the carrier board match up to the Arduino Uno"s ports, so the module simply presses on and is fully and correctly connected. Plus, this carrier board is able to be connected to either a 3.3v logic level or a 5v logic level device. (Read our blog post if you have questions about logic level.)

This module is also available with a white-on-blue graphic display, or as a fully built kit with an included Seeeduino (Arduino Uno clone) loaded with code to demonstrate the graphic display.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

Newhaven 128x64 graphic Liquid Crystal Display module shows dark pixels on a bright yellow/green background. This transflective LCD Display is visible with ambient light or a backlight while offering a wide operating temperature range from -20 to 70 degrees Celsius. This NHD-12864AZ-FL-YBW display has an optimal view of 6:00, operates at 5V supply voltage and is RoHS compliant.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

Newhaven 122x32 graphic Liquid Crystal Display module shows white pixels on a blue background. This transmissive LCD Display requires a backlight for visibility and offers a wide operating temperature range from -20 to 70 degrees Celsius. This NHD-12232KZ-NSW-BBW-P display has a 2x10 pin header soldered. It has an optimal view of 6:00, operates at 5V supply voltage and is RoHS compliant.

128x32 Dot Matrix COG, FSTN, Gray background, Blue Edge lit, bottom (or 6:00) viewing angle, Transflective (positive), 3.0V LCD, 3.0V LED, RoHS Compliant. This display has a wide temperature range: -20° Celcius to +70° Celcius which equates to (-4° Fahrenheit to +158° Fahrenheit).

FSTN (Film-compensated Super-twisted Nematic) provides a sharper contrast than STN by adding a film. The cost is approximately 5% higher than STN. FSTN works great for indoor and outdoor applications and is mainly used in graphic displays and higher end products. The Transflective polarizer is a mixture of Reflective and Transmissive. It provides the ability to read the LCD with or without the backlight on. It will work for all lighting conditions from dark with backlight to direct sunlight which makes it the most common choice. There is no cost difference between Transflective, Transmissive and Reflective.

Focus LCDs 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!

Focus Display Solutions (aka: Focus LCDs) offers the original purchaser who has purchased a product from the FocusLCDs.com a limited warranty that the product (including accessories in the product"s package) will be free from defects in material or workmanship.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

Pixel, also called Picture Element, A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image or graphic that can be displayed and represented on a digital display device. A pixel is the basic logical unit in digital graphics. Pixels are combined to form a complete image, video, text, or any visible thing on a computer display

LCD display doesn’t operate the same way as CRT displays , which fires electrons at a glass screen, a LCD display has individual pixels arranged in a rectangular grid. Each pixel has RGB(Red, Green, Blue) sub-pixel that can be turned on or off. When all of a pixel’s sub-pixels are turned off, it appears black. When all the sub-pixels are turned on 100%, it appears white. By adjusting the individual levels of red, green, and blue light, millions of color combinations are possible

The pixels of the LCD screen were made by circuitry and electrodes of the backplane. Each sub-pixel contains a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) element. These structures are formed by depositing various materials (metals and silicon) on to the glass substrate that will become one part of the complete display “stack,” and then making them through photolithography. For more information about TFT LCDs, please refer to “

The etched pixels by photolith process are the Native Resolution. Actually, all the flat panel displays, LCD, OLED, Plasma etc.) have native resolution which are different from CRT monitors

Although we can define a LCD display with resolution, a Full HD resolution on screen size of a 15” monitor or a 27” monitor will show different. The screen “fineness” is very important for some application, like medical, or even our cell phone. If the display “fineness” is not enough, the display will look “pixelized” which is unable to show details.

DPI stands for dots per inch and refers to the resolution of a printer. It describes the density of ink dots placed on a sheet of paper (or another photographic medium) by a printer to create a physical print.

But you see other lower resolution available, that is because video cards are doing the trick. A video card can display a lower LCD screen resolution than the LCD’s built-in native resolution. The video cards can combine the pixels and turn a higher resolution into lower resolution, or just use part of the full screen. But video cards can’t do the magic to exceed the native resolution.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

Graphic LCD Displays normally refer to monochrome graphics LCD displays or dot matrix LCD displays. Although color TFT (Thin Film Transistor) and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) displays to meet all the definitions of graphic LCD displays and can also be categorized as graphic LCD displays, monochrome graphics LCD displays have been in the market much earlier than color TFT displays and they become the legacy type of display. That is the reason that Graphic LCD displays only refer to monochrome, not the full color.

Compared with Character LCD Displays which can only display digits or alphanumeric, graphic LCD displays can display digits, alphanumeric, and graphics. They played very important roles in the early stages of LCD display history.

Graphic LCD displays are identified by the number of pixels in vertical and horizontal directions. For example, 128 x 64 dot matrix graphic display has 128 dots/pixels along the X axis, or horizontal, and 64 dots/pixels along the Y-axis or Vertical. Each of these dots sometimes referred to as a pixel, can be turned ON and OFF independently of each other. The customer makes use of software to tell each dot when to turn ON and OFF. The early engineering work has to light/map pixel by pixel, which is very tedious work. Thanks to the LCD controller advancement, Some Orient Display graphic LCD products have many images in the memory already which greatly helps engineers to reduce the workload and make the products much faster to the market. Please check with our engineers for details.

There are many options for graphic LCD displays, all of them derived from STN (Super-Twisted Nematic Display). TN (Twisted Nematic Display) or HTN (High-performance TN) displays are rarely used in graphic LCD displays because of their poor contrast and narrow viewing angles.

LCD itself can’t emit light. In order to be observed under the dim light, the backlight has to be used. Back to 10 years ago, Backlight can be LED (Light Emitting Diode), CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) or EL (Electroluminescent) backlight. Thanks to the development of LED technology, especially the breakthrough of the blue and white LED technologies, LED backlight dominates the market. LED backlight can be made either bottom lit and side lit with various colors For more information, please refer to Orient DisplayJazz Graphic LCD Display and Backlights.

The LCD controller is a small microprocessor that converts the customer’s software code (aka firmware) to information that the LCD can understand. LCD Drivers control the complex AC voltage requirements for the LCDs and they need a LCD controller to keep refreshing the individual pixel information to their drive circuitry. These ICs will typically be integrated into the LCD Modules either by COG (Chip on Glass) or COB (Chip on Board) technologies.

Sitronix is the world’s biggest graphic LCD controller manufacturers. The headache for most engineers is that LCD controllers can EOL (End of Life) a lot. Please make sure to discuss with Orient Display engineers for the most updated information to keep 5-10 years supply life.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

This is a new Pi Pico display from Waveshare with many more pixels. It is a 2inch LCD display module, designed for Raspberry Pi Pico, with an embedded ST7789VW driver, 65K RGB colours, 320x240 pixels and an SPI interface. A Pi Pico can be plugged into the rear of the screen for very easy connection without any soldering. It sports 4 simple button switches for user input. It is bright, colourful and easy to program. The makers supply an example program (see below), which includes the display driver, making it very easy to get started. The manufacturer"s wiki can be found at:

Dr Pan: Hello, Greg. Dot matrix LCD screen consists of many arrays of dots. Take 128 * 64 dot matrix LCD for example, there are 128 points horizontally and 64 points vertically. And 8192 points in total. Dot-matrix LCD usually resorts to COG technology to realize it, especially when the dot size is small. Each dot is independently controlled and it can display complex variable character or pattern. On some level, it is an advanced version of segment LCD. Each dot is a segment. Number “8” is composed of only 7 segments for segment LCD and it is composed of many segments for dot matrix LCD. If we compare it with segment LCD, the display content is complex and variable, but much more expensive. TFT LCD and OLED are both dot matrix, more stylish and high class, perfect choice for high end devices. Under normal conditions, people still want monochrome dot matrix LCD screen because the size can be customized and the price is much cheaper.

graphics dots lcd module free sample

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