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serial lcd — Parallax Forums

serial lcd

guydbguydb Posts: 29
edited 2005-05-05 15:27 in General Discussion
I'm a new newbie when it comes to LCD displays and was wondering what the Parallax serial 2x16 LCD display has that my cheap 2x16 serial display hasn't? The Parallax one has only 5 connectors. How do they combine? How do they match the 16 pins of the LCD? Is there extra hardware on the Parallax LCD?
Sorry for these probably very stupid questions.
Guy

Comments

  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-05-03 14:34
    The Parallax serial LCD simplifies things quite a bit. It has three connections: Serial, +5v, Ground (there is a five pin connector that mirrors two of the pins).

    The LCD behaves like a terminal, that is, when it gets to the end of the first line the cursor automatically moves to the first character of the second line. When it gets to the end of the second line, the cursor automatically moves to the first character of the first line. It has a two-position switch on the back to set test mode, or the baud rate (2400, 9600, 19,200). It's actually quite easy to use -- that was the whole point of designing it as we did.

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
    Dallas, TX· USA
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2005-05-05 01:33
    I have not seen many serial LCD displays cheaper than the new one from Parallax.

    Most of the others on the market run 30 to 50% higher in cost.

    30 dollars is a great price for a true serial LCD, 5 dollars more for the backlit version is an even better deal.
  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-05-05 01:36
    And it works and you know where to get support for it ... that makes it a pretty good deal, I'd say (even if I do work for Parallax!).

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
    Dallas, TX· USA
  • guydbguydb Posts: 29
    edited 2005-05-05 07:06
    thank you for the information...I made up the proper answer to my own questions out of them: the parallax lcd is a 'true serial' lcd (i.e. it requires only 1 I/O from the stamp), which my cheap lcd isn't: it requires extra hardware and still then will take up 3 I/O. (but it was only about 10$).
  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-05-05 13:24
    You bought a fully assembled and tested serial LCD for $10? Wow ... somebody's using slave labor to build their products -- or running at a loss!· Did that cheap LCD come with demonstration code that you can be running out of the box within seconds?

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
    Dallas, TX· USA
  • guydbguydb Posts: 29
    edited 2005-05-05 13:51
    said I was a new newbie lcd wise...it was a rip off (at least what it was pretending to be was a lie, but, OK, it was cheap, most of the 10$ were shipping costs from Hong Kong), it was sold as a serial lcd on ebay (I trusted it because it even mentioned the baud rate), but according to my book it is a parallel display unless you hook up some interface. But I am a positive person...figuring the thing out taught me a lot about lcd displays and convinced me to buy the parallax one. this one will come in handy if I ever need a green flashlight (yes, it is backlit).
  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-05-05 13:58
    Sorry, I wasn't criticising ... I was trying to point out (the lesson you learned) to others: Buyer beware -- if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
    Dallas, TX· USA
  • Tom WalkerTom Walker Posts: 509
    edited 2005-05-05 15:27
    Jon,
    Of course it's slave labor. The 'bots assembling the LCDs don't have a choice! <g>

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    Truly Understand the Fundamentals and the Path will be so much easier...
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