Connecting an LCD to the Arduino

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Connecting an LCD to the Arduino by josestude josestude on  on March 8, 2010

Table of Contents Connecting an LCD to the Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Intro: Connecting an LCD to the Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Step 1: 1: Connecting the Jumper Jumper Wires Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Step 2: Opening the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Step 3: Mission Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Connecting-an-LCD-to-the-Arduino/ 

Intro: Connecting an LCD to the Arduino In this instructable we’ll be looking at how to connect a parallel LCD to an Arduino. The LCD that I am using uses the common HD44780 interface. Many LCDs have this, you can usually tell by the 16-pin interface. You only need to solder 10 of the 16 wires to use the LCD, but this will only enable you to use the 4-bit interface. Materials: Arduino (with USB cable) HD44780-compatible LCD screen 10 Jumper wires 1 10k Potentiometer Tools: Soldering Iron Helping Hands (optional) Let’s get started!

Step 1: Connecting the Jumper Wires The first step we need to do is connect the pins to the LCD. For those interested, you can find the datasheet here. I got my LCD from sparkfun, and you can buy one here. As I mentioned before, you only need to connect 10 pins. Solder jumpers to these wires: Pin 1 - Ground Pin 2 - +5V Pin 3 - Contrast Adjustment Pin 4 - H/L Register Select Pin 5 - H/L Read/Write Pin 6 - H/L Enable Pin 11 - DB4 Pin 12 - DB5 Pin 13 - DB6 Pin 14 - DB7 As shown in the picture below: Pin 1 to GND Pin 2 to 5V Pin 3 to wiper Pin 4 to Arduino pin 12 Pin 5 to GND Pin 6 to Arduino pin 11 Pin 11 to Arduino pin 5 Pin 12 to pin 4 Pin 13 to pin 3 Pin 14 to pin 2 Because we will only be writing, pin 5 will be dropped to ground to show that there will be no reading. For those who wish to use the backlight, connect LCD pin 16 to GND and LCD pin 15 to +4.2V. Connect one side of the pot to GND, the opposite to %v, and the center to LCD pin 3. Now you're in business.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Connecting-an-LCD-to-the-Arduino/ 

Step 2: Opening the IDE Now, you need to open up the Arduino IDE. (For those who are lost click on the icon!) Then click File -> Examples -> LiquidCrystal -> HelloWorld. Open the sketch and dowload it to the Arduino board. You can change the text if you want.

Step 3: Mission Complete Your done! You can substitute text for variables, or even analogRead(). In this way you can read in sensor values and such. Thanks for reading my instructable! Please Comment and Rate.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Connecting-an-LCD-to-the-Arduino/ 

Related Instructables

HD44780 LCD to I2C adapter board for the Bus Pirate by ian

Truck Lane - a 16x2 LCD Arduino game (video) by thedod

Arduino with 4x20 LCD and LCD Smartie over USB (video) by FrancisShanahan

Display lcd chip hd44780 for pc modding by monex89

Controlling a character LCD with an Arduino by baharini

Assembling the LCD117 Kit by youevolve

Comments 7 comments

Add Comment

Robot Lover says:

 Sep 27, 2010. 4:47 PM REPLY

I set it up right but all i get are boxes. What should i do?

josestude says:

 Nov 19, 2010. 6:56 PM REPLY

For the people getting black boxes, you may want to try adjusting the contrast potentiometer.

anselmi says:

 Oct 7, 2010. 7:17 PM REPLY

i wired mine just like this and the lcd wont light up or show any thing if any one could help me i would really appreciate it

andy70707 says:

 Oct 7, 2010. 8:02 AM REPLY

Thanks, great instructable, I just got my arduino today and this was my first project!

Derin says:

 May 15, 2010. 4:27 AM REPLY

Help! I did all you said but I only get black boxes on the LCD. What should I do?

frollard says:

 Mar 9, 2010. 4:41 AM REPLY May I recommend hooking the backlight led to a pwm pin via a resistor, or with a protection resistor via a transistor (if the backlight pulls too much current for the atmega pin to handle). Variable brightness ftw! Good writeup!

josestude says: Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try that out.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Connecting-an-LCD-to-the-Arduino/ 

 Mar 9, 2010. 5:39 AM REPLY