Can Anyone Help Me With Trying To Find Out How To Connect A LCD To The Basic st

Jimmio

I found a LCD in a little handheld game and was wondering, is it possible to hook it up to a BASIC Stamp? Thx In Advance, Jimmio

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PJAllen

That depends, Jimmio.· You need to inspect the LCD.· What's required is its having the "HD44780".· So, look for a big IC marked with that.· It's possible that it may have been connected by cable to another board with that IC on it.

Chris Savage

Jimmio,

·· You are going to start having to look up the specifications for parts you are taking out of things before asking if they will work with the BASIC Stamp.· If you don't even know what you have, how would we be able to determine if you can connect it to the BASIC Stamp?

·· I am not trying to be mean here but recently it seems you have taken apart some electronic devices and are asking how to use these parts with and without the BASIC Stamp, yet you are unable to identify many of the parts.· I would suggest reading up on some basic electronics, specifically about the basic electronics components, such as resistors, capacitors, transistors, diodes, etc.· As well as how they work.· I believe in another thread you were referred to a great source of this information.

·· This will help you learn more about electronics and what the parts do that you're taking from other devices, and it will help us tell you if they will work without having to first ask for a lot of information and do research to determine that.· · Google!

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com

Clock Loop

First off you need to determine if the lcd has the controller integrated into the LCD. You can usually determine this by actually serching the net for peoples webpages that are trying to do similar things with the exact or similar device. just do a search with the keywords LCD (and the name of your hand held gaming device)

If you find nothing, take it apart, and see if the LCD has a model number, or part number. Also look at some of the chips close by it, if you go to www.datasheetarchive.com you can look up the chip numbers. If you find that one of your chips is something called a LCD controller, you probably can't use your lcd. Most useable LCD's have the controller attached to the LCD by its self, or built into the lcd its self.

Its near impossible to operate a LCD without its specific controller (thats why old laptop LCD screens are pretty much junk.)

In the best scenario, you would find that your lcd has the controller built in, and is a serially accessed device. And then comes the hard part, finding the PINOUTs of your lcd. Even if you can see that it might be useable, if you can't find the DATASHEET for your lcd, it becomes useless again.

I actually have a LCD screen from my old cell phone. Its controller is built into the lcd, its a serially accessed device, and I have the datasheet for it.

However, I am still not out of the woods. check out my post http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=5&m=93247
I am still having an impossible time getting it to work, and it seems that no one here is willing to help me come up with a program to possibly get the lcd to start working. Or no one knows more about serially accessed lcd's than I have come up with.. which I doubt.

Its prolly nothing more than a matter of some techie coming along, and taking the time to look over the proper methods of sending serial data to the lcd, and then coming up with some kinda BS2 code I can use. I tried to do it, and nothing happened to my lcd at all. I do know the wiring is correct, and the supply voltages are correct, all the mechanics are fully operational. I just don't understand this level of serial communication yet. I understand basic serial coms, i.e. the 595.

Post Edited (BPM) : 10/27/2005 4:23:24 AM GMT

Vladimir

if you wount be able to find any datasheet, try playing with connections. Worked for me...

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Vladimir

Clock Loop

If your not afraid of frying it, then try it out. But keep in mind the voltages of your hand held device. if your hand held device runs off of 2 AA's then chances are all chips in your device, including the lcd, will NOT require more than 3 volts to work.

If your LCD is a dot matrix lcd, you would be better off purchasing one WITH a datasheet. Trying to figure out the method of communication to the lcd is like trying to fly to the moon, with your bare arms.

Look at this 48x84 dot matrix lcd controllers data sheet.

http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat_download/datasheets/PCD8544_1.pdf

It requires some SERIOUS serial data to just get it in the right MODE. This wont even put anything on the screen, it will just set it up.

Without knowing the inner working of your lcd, your most likely going to fry it before it works.

Unless its a simple LCD that pretty much dosen't require a controller, (like alpha numerical lcds, on basic calculators)

Good luck!

Tom Walker

BPM,
I think it is a little harsh to imply that "no one is willing to help me come up with a program to possibly get the lcd to start working" when you have, indeed, been given references to achieve your goal. The fact that you (and, apparently, ONLY you) have a "non-standard" part that you would like to interface, should be enough of a prompt that you are breaking new ground. I don't think complaining would help if no one could tell me how to get my B7-zeta snargle to finwiddle in reverse...after all, everyone knows how to put a CAR in reverse...

<OK, Tom....drop the caffeine source and back away....>

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

Clock Loop

I am not going to h-jak this thread..

go here for a reply.

http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=5&m=93247