lcd screen arduino tutorial supplier
The lcd.begin(16,2) command set up the LCD number of columns and rows. For example, if you have an LCD with 20 columns and 4 rows (20x4) you will have to change this to lcd.begin(20x4).
The lcd.print("--message--") command print a message to first column and row of lcd display. The "message" must have maximum length equal to lcd columns number. For example, for 16 columns display max length is equal with 16 and for 20 columns display max length is equal with 20.
Thelcd.setCursor(0,1) command will set cursor to first column of second row. If you have an LCD 20x4 and you want to print a message to column five and third row you have to use: lcd.setCursor(4,2).
Try downloading the codebender plugin and clicking on the Run on Arduino button to program your Arduino with this sketch. And that"s it, you"ve programmed your Arduino board!
If you’ve ever attempted to connect an LCD display to an Arduino, you’ve probably noticed that it uses a lot of Arduino pins. Even in 4-bit mode, the Arduino requires seven connections – half of the Arduino’s available digital I/O pins.
The solution is to use an I2C LCD display. It only uses two I/O pins that are not even part of the digital I/O pin set and can be shared with other I2C devices.
As the name suggests, these LCDs are ideal for displaying only characters. A 16×2 character LCD, for example, can display 32 ASCII characters across two rows.
If you look closely, you can see tiny rectangles for each character on the screen as well as the pixels that make up a character. Each of these rectangles is a grid of 5×8 pixels.
At the heart of the adapter is an 8-bit I/O expander chip – PCF8574. This chip converts the I2C data from an Arduino into the parallel data required for an LCD display.
If you have multiple devices on the same I2C bus, you may need to set a different I2C address for the LCD adapter to avoid conflicting with another I2C device.
An important point to note here is that several companies, including Texas Instruments and NXP Semiconductors, manufacture the same PCF8574 chip. And the I2C address of your LCD depends on the chip manufacturer.
So the I2C address of your LCD is most likely 0x27 or 0x3F. If you’re not sure what your LCD’s I2C address is, there’s an easy way to figure it out. You’ll learn about that later in this tutorial.
Now we are left with the pins that are used for I2C communication. Note that each Arduino board has different I2C pins that must be connected correctly. On Arduino boards with the R3 layout, the SDA (data line) and SCL (clock line) are on the pin headers close to the AREF pin. They are also referred to as A5 (SCL) and A4 (SDA).
After wiring the LCD, you will need to adjust the contrast of the LCD. On the I2C module, there is a potentiometer that can be rotated with a small screwdriver.
Now, turn on the Arduino. You will see the backlight light up. As you turn the potentiometer knob, the first row of rectangles will appear. If you have made it this far, Congratulations! Your LCD is functioning properly.
As previously stated, the I2C address of your LCD depends on the manufacturer. If your LCD has a PCF8574 chip from Texas Instruments, its I2C address is 0x27; if it has a PCF8574 chip from NXP Semiconductors, its I2C address is 0x3F.
If you’re not sure what your LCD’s I2C address is, you can run a simple I2C scanner sketch that scans your I2C bus and returns the address of each I2C device it finds.
However, before you upload the sketch, you must make a minor change to make it work for you. You must pass the I2C address of your LCD as well as the display dimensions to the LiquidCrystal_I2C constructor. If you’re using a 16×2 character LCD, pass 16 and 2; if you’re using a 20×4 character LCD, pass 20 and 4.
In the setup, three functions are called. The first function is init(). It initializes the interface to the LCD. The second function is clear(). This function clears the LCD screen and positions the cursor in the upper-left corner. The third function, backlight(), turns on the LCD backlight.
The function setCursor(2, 0) is then called to move the cursor to the third column of the first row. The cursor position specifies where you want the new text to appear on the LCD. It is assumed that the upper left corner is col=0 and row=0.
There are many useful functions you can use with LiquidCrystal_I2C Object. Some of them are listed below:lcd.home() function positions the cursor in the upper-left of the LCD without clearing the display.
lcd.scrollDisplayRight() function scrolls the contents of the display one space to the right. If you want the text to scroll continuously, you have to use this function inside a for loop.
lcd.scrollDisplayLeft() function scrolls the contents of the display one space to the left. Similar to the above function, use this inside a for loop for continuous scrolling.
lcd.display() function turns on the LCD display, after it’s been turned off with noDisplay(). This will restore the text (and cursor) that was on the display.
As previously discussed in this tutorial, a character is made up of a 5×8 pixel matrix; therefore, you must define your custom character within this matrix. You can define a character by using the createChar() function.
The CGROM stores the font that appears on a character LCD. When you instruct a character LCD to display the letter ‘A’, it needs to know which pixels to turn on so that we see an ‘A’. This data is stored in the CGROM.
CGRAM is an additional memory for storing user-defined characters. This RAM is limited to 64 bytes. Therefore, for a 5×8 pixel LCD, only 8 user-defined characters can be stored in CGRAM, whereas for a 5×10 pixel LCD, only 4 can be stored.
Creating custom characters has never been easier! We’ve developed a small application called Custom Character Generator. Can you see the blue grid below? You can click on any pixel to set or clear that pixel. And as you click, the code for the character is generated next to the grid. This code can be used directly in your Arduino sketch.
After including the library and creating the LCD object, custom character arrays are defined. The array consists of 8 bytes, with each byte representing a row in a 5×8 matrix.
In electronics world today, Arduino is an open-source hardware and software company, project and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Arduino board designs use a variety of microprocessors and controllers. The boards are equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be interfaced to various expansion boards (‘shields’) or breadboards (for prototyping) and other circuits.
The boards feature serial communications interfaces, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) on some models, which are also used for loading programs. The microcontrollers can be programmed using the C and C++ programming languages, using a standard API which is also known as the “Arduino language”. In addition to using traditional compiler toolchains, the Arduino project provides an integrated development environment (IDE) and a command line tool developed in Go. It aims to provide a low-cost and easy way for hobbyist and professionals to create devices that interact with their environment using sensors and actuators. Common examples of such devices intended for beginner hobbyists include simple robots, thermostats and motion detectors.
In order to follow the market tread, Orient Display engineers have developed several Arduino TFT LCD displays and Arduino OLED displays which are favored by hobbyists and professionals.
Although Orient Display provides many standard small size OLED, TN and IPS Arduino TFT displays, custom made solutions are provided with larger size displays or even with capacitive touch panel.
Previous examples connect the white LED backlight to power. The following example is specifically for those using an LCD with a RGB LED backlight. The only difference between the connection is the LED"s backlight on pins 15-18.
Copy and paste the code below. Just make sure to select the correct board (in this case the Arduino/ Genuino Uno) and the COM port that the Arduino enumerated on. Then upload the code to your Arduino.
After uploading, you will notice the same "Hello, world!" and time since the Arduino was last reset in the first example. The only difference is that the current color of the backlight will be printed as it cycles through each of the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. You should see something similar to the image below.
The Arduino family of devices is features rich and offers many capabilities. The ability to interface to external devices readily is very enticing, although the Arduino has a limited number of input/output options. Adding an external display would typically require several of the limited I/O pins. Using an I2C interface, only two connections for an LCD character display are possible with stunning professional results. We offer both a 4 x 20 LCD.
The character LCD is ideal for displaying text and numbers and special characters. LCDs incorporate a small add-on circuit (backpack) mounted on the back of the LCD module. The module features a controller chip handling I2C communications and an adjustable potentiometer for changing the intensity of the LED backlight. An I2C LCD advantage is that wiring is straightforward, requiring only two data pins to control the LCD.
A standard LCD requires over ten connections, which can be a problem if your Arduino does not have many GPIO pins available. If you happen to have an LCD without an I2C interface incorporated into the design, these can be easily
The LCD displays each character through a matrix grid of 5×8 pixels. These pixels can display standard text, numbers, or special characters and can also be programmed to display custom characters easily.
Connecting the Arduino UNO to the I2C interface of the LCD requires only four connections. The connections include two for power and two for data. The chart below shows the connections needed.
The I2C LCD interface is compatible across much of the Arduino family. The pin functions remain the same, but the labeling of those pins might be different.
Located on the back of the LCD screen is the I2C interface board, and on the interface is an adjustable potentiometer. This adjustment is made with a small screwdriver. You will adjust the potentiometer until a series of rectangles appear – this will allow you to see your programming results.
The Arduino module and editor do not know how to communicate with the I2C interface on the LCD. The parameter to enable the Arduino to send commands to the LCD are in separately downloaded LiquidCrystal_I2C library.
Before installing LiquidCrystal_I2C, remove any other libraries that may reside in the Arduino IDE with the same LiquidCrystal_I2C name. Doing this will ensure that only the known good library is in use. LiquidCrystal_I2C works in combination with the preinstalled Wire.h library in the Arduino editor.
To install the LiquidCrystal_I2C library, use the SketchSketch > Include Library > Add .ZIP Library…from the Arduino IDE (see example). Point to the LiquidCrystal_I2C-master.zip which you previously downloaded and the Library will be installed and set up for use.
Several examples and code are included in the Library installation, which can provide some reference and programming examples. You can use these example sketches as a basis for developing your own code for the LCD display module.
There may be situations where you should uninstall the Arduino IDE. The reason for this could be due to Library conflicts or other configuration issues. There are a few simple steps to uninstalling the IDE.
The I2c address can be changed by shorting the address solder pads on the I2C module. You will need to know the actual address of the LCD before you can start using it.
Once you have the LCD connected and have determined the I2C address, you can proceed to write code to display on the screen. The code segment below is a complete sketch ready for downloading to your Arduino.
The code assumes the I2C address of the LCD screen is at 0x27 and can be adjusted on the LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd = LiquidCrystal_I2C(0x27,16,2); as required.
This function turns off any characters displayed to the LCD. The text will not be cleared from the LCD memory; rather, it is turned off. The LCD will show the screen again when display() is executed.
Scrolling text if you want to print more than 16 or 20 characters in one line then the scrolling text function is convenient. First, the substring with the maximum of characters per line is printed, moving the start column from right to left on the LCD screen. Then the first character is dropped, and the next character is displayed to the substring. This process repeats until the full string has been displayed on the screen.
The LCD driver backpack has an exciting additional feature allowing you to create custom characters (glyph) for use on the screen. Your custom characters work with both the 16×2 and 20×4 LCD units.
To aid in creating your custom characters, there are a number of useful tools available on Internet. Here is a LCD Custom Character Generator which we have used.
In this Arduino tutorial we will learn how to connect and use an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)with Arduino. LCD displays like these are very popular and broadly used in many electronics projects because they are great for displaying simple information, like sensors data, while being very affordable.
You can watch the following video or read the written tutorial below. It includes everything you need to know about using an LCD character display with Arduino, such as, LCD pinout, wiring diagram and several example codes.
An LCD character display is a unique type of display that can only output individual ASCII characters with fixed size. Using these individual characters then we can form a text.
The number of the rectangular areas define the size of the LCD. The most popular LCD is the 16×2 LCD, which has two rows with 16 rectangular areas or characters. Of course, there are other sizes like 16×1, 16×4, 20×4 and so on, but they all work on the same principle. Also, these LCDs can have different background and text color.
It has 16 pins and the first one from left to right is the Groundpin. The second pin is the VCCwhich we connect the 5 volts pin on the Arduino Board. Next is the Vo pin on which we can attach a potentiometer for controlling the contrast of the display.
Next, The RSpin or register select pin is used for selecting whether we will send commands or data to the LCD. For example if the RS pin is set on low state or zero volts, then we are sending commands to the LCD like: set the cursor to a specific location, clear the display, turn off the display and so on. And when RS pin is set on High state or 5 volts we are sending data or characters to the LCD.
Next comes the R/W pin which selects the mode whether we will read or write to the LCD. Here the write mode is obvious and it is used for writing or sending commands and data to the LCD. The read mode is used by the LCD itself when executing the program which we don’t have a need to discuss about it in this tutorial.
After all we don’t have to worry much about how the LCD works, as the Liquid Crystal Library takes care for almost everything. From the Arduino’s official website you can find and see the functions of the library which enable easy use of the LCD. We can use the Library in 4 or 8 bit mode. In this tutorial we will use it in 4 bit mode, or we will just use 4 of the 8 data pins.
We will use just 6 digital input pins from the Arduino Board. The LCD’s registers from D4 to D7 will be connected to Arduino’s digital pins from 4 to 7. The Enable pin will be connected to pin number 2 and the RS pin will be connected to pin number 1. The R/W pin will be connected to Ground and theVo pin will be connected to the potentiometer middle pin.
We can adjust the contrast of the LCD by adjusting the voltage input at the Vo pin. We are using a potentiometer because in that way we can easily fine tune the contrast, by adjusting input voltage from 0 to 5V.
Yes, in case we don’t have a potentiometer, we can still adjust the LCD contrast by using a voltage divider made out of two resistors. Using the voltage divider we need to set the voltage value between 0 and 5V in order to get a good contrast on the display. I found that voltage of around 1V worked worked great for my LCD. I used 1K and 220 ohm resistor to get a good contrast.
There’s also another way of adjusting the LCD contrast, and that’s by supplying a PWM signal from the Arduino to the Vo pin of the LCD. We can connect the Vo pin to any Arduino PWM capable pin, and in the setup section, we can use the following line of code:
It will generate PWM signal at pin D11, with value of 100 out of 255, which translated into voltage from 0 to 5V, it will be around 2V input at the Vo LCD pin.
First thing we need to do is it insert the Liquid Crystal Library. We can do that like this: Sketch > Include Library > Liquid Crystal. Then we have to create an LC object. The parameters of this object should be the numbers of the Digital Input pins of the Arduino Board respectively to the LCD’s pins as follow: (RS, Enable, D4, D5, D6, D7). In the setup we have to initialize the interface to the LCD and specify the dimensions of the display using the begin()function.
The cursor() function is used for displaying underscore cursor and the noCursor() function for turning off. Using the clear() function we can clear the LCD screen.
So, we have covered pretty much everything we need to know about using an LCD with Arduino. These LCD Character displays are really handy for displaying information for many electronics project. In the examples above I used 16×2 LCD, but the same working principle applies for any other size of these character displays.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned something new. Feel free to ask any question in the comments section below and don’t forget to check out my full collection of 30+ Arduino Projects.
The purpose of this guide is to get your 0.96″ color LCD display successfully operating with your Arduino, so you can move forward and experiment and explore further types of operation with the display. This includes installing the Arduino library, making a succesful board connection and running a demonstration sketch.
Although you can use the display with an Arduino Uno or other boad with an ATmega328-series microcontroller – this isn’t recommended for especially large projects. The library eats up a fair amount of flash memory – around 60% in most cases.
So if you’re running larger projects we recommend using an Arduino Mega or Due-compatible board due to the increased amount of flash memory in their host microcontrollers.
(As the display uses the ST7735S controller IC, you may be tempted to use the default TFT library included with the Arduino IDE – however it isn’t that reliable. Instead, please follow the instructions below).
The display uses the SPI data bus for communication, and is a 3.3V board. You can use it with an Arduino or other 5V board as the logic is tolerant of higher voltages.
As we all know, though LCD and some other displays greatly enrich the man-machine interaction, they share a common weakness. When they are connected to a controller, multiple IOs will be occupied of the controller which has no so many outer ports. Also it restricts other functions of the controller. Therefore, LCD1602 with an I2C bus is developed to solve the problem.
I2C bus is a type of serial bus invented by PHLIPS. It is a high performance serial bus which has bus ruling and high or low speed device synchronization function required by multiple-host system. The blue potentiometer on the I2C LCD1602 (see the figure below) is used to adjust the backlight for better display. I²C uses only two bidirectional open-drain lines, Serial Data Line (SDA) and Serial Clock Line (SCL), pulled up with resistors. Typical voltages used are +5 V or +3.3 V although systems with other voltages are permitted.
Step 3:Since in some code, the libraries needed are not included in Arduino, so you need to add them before compiling. Unzip the downloaded file. Copy the folders under the Library folder to the libraries folder in Arduino (if you cannot find the path in Arduino, open Arduino IDE, click File ->Preferences, and you can see the path in the Browse box, as shown in the following diagram). Compile the program.
In this Arduino LCD I2C tutorial, we will learn how to connect an LCD I2C (Liquid Crystal Display) to the Arduino board. LCDs are very popular and widely used in electronics projects for displaying information. There are many types of LCD. This tutorial takes LCD 16x2 (16 columns and 2 rows) as an example. The other LCDs are similar.
In the previous tutorial, we had learned how to use the normal LCD. However, wiring between Arduino and the normal LCD is complicated. Therefore, LCD I2C has been created to simplify the wiring. Actually, LCD I2C is composed of a normal LCD, an I2C module and a potentiometer.
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lcd.print() function supports only ASCII characters. If you want to display a special character or symbol (e.g. heart, angry bird), you need to use the below character generator.
Depending on manufacturers, the I2C address of LCD may be different. Usually, the default I2C address of LCD is 0x27 or 0x3F. Try these values one by one. If you still failed, run the below code to find the I2C address.
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