hooking it up

Derranged

New member
Hey,

I dont know a whole lot bout lcd screens, but i defenitly know it looks pretty **** cool.
Im working on a casemod and it would be kewl to add an lcd screen to it.
I basically want it to use the winamp plugin so it displays info bout the songs im listening too.
Here are some questions:

I been reading bout lcd's and everywhere i go there are these wiring shemes how to hook em up to your computer.
I dont know a whole lot bout electronics and wiring so thats a bit too difficult for me.
So now im browsing your site and see these intelligent serial lcd modules and i was wondering if you shipped them all wired up so that i just have to plug em in the port and they work? Or are these the same as everywhere else and you have to do the wiring yourself???

Oh yeah and on what controller do they run???
Coz most mp3 plugins are for a 44780 controller so i want to get one of those.

And whats the difference between a standard and a intelligent serial lcd's????

Sorry for all the questions some might sound stupid, dont flame me right away :)

Best wishes

Derranged
Looking for additional LCD resources? Check out our LCD blog for the latest developments in LCD technology.
 

CF Tech

Administrator
If you get one of our serial displays and the two cables, then all you have to do is plug it in.

There are some WinAmp plugins that will drive our serial displays, please look at our links page.

The intelligent serial dispalys run an HD44780 superset LCD controller, but you normally never have to worry about the LCD controller since all of its ugliness is hidden behind a small microcontroller that has a serial interface--you just use the serial command set--which is nicer by design anyway.

The intelligent serial displays have a high-level command set and connect directly to the serial port. The "standard" displays are just the bare LCD modules with the HD44780 controller. When someone says "HD44780 compatible" display, you can generally use one of our "standard" displays.

We are always happy to answer any questions.
 

Derranged

New member
Hey,

Thanks for answering my questions mate, it doesnt sound like a hassle to hook it up, and thats a good thing for me cause i have 2 left hands :p

I have 1 more question tho, do you also have a 4x20 intelligent serial display with red backlight.
I spraypainted my comp case with red and black so sum red backlighting would look better then the green light.


best wishes

derranged
 

CF Tech

Administrator
Sorry, but we do not have the serial 20x4 in red backlight, only in the 20x2 and only in the parallel model.
 

edd91

New member
Derranged, as CF pointed out its only in paraell form, the wiring is not *that* hard, and LCDriver 2.0 will support paraell LCD's, and they look hell cool, hehe


Eddie
 

CF Tech

Administrator
You can download the data sheet for the display from the product page. There is a thread here that gives a schematic. However, see the comment in this thread about backlights and potentiometers.

Here is a page about 44780 based LCD's in general.

I have a utility (lcdprint.exe) written by Mike Lynch that will send a text file to a display. That can be good for debugging your cable.

There is a pretty good tutorial on connecting a parallel LCD at http://mpford.dyndns.org. Then click on "LCD Display", and then " Step by Step how to build an LCD Display" (it is a framed site).

There is another nice article here that shows connection in a PC.
 

Ferrari355

New member
I guess i'm better off geting the Serial version? But the colors are cool on the other Lcd's but I looked at the sites you said that shows you how to wire it up and what not..... My question is you have to put a header on the back of the display? And hook it up to your computer printer port?
 

CF Tech

Administrator
What you get with a parallel is what you see in the pictures: a row of holes. You need to come up with your own cable. An old printer cable is usually not a bad place to start. Cut off the printer end, "ohm it out", then connect it to the LCD following the schematics.
 
Top