20x4 Serial LCD Module

20x4 serial LCD module supporting RS232, TTL and I2C data

The display includes an LED backlight with variable brightness. The serial LCD board is also available separately for use with other displays that utilize a Hitachi HD44780 or equivalent controller IC.

• Software-controlled, variable backlight (Off to Full Brightness in 256 steps).
• Asynchronous serial supported at baud rates of 2400, 9600, 19200, and a blistering 57600. (jumper selectable)
• Jumper-selectable input inversion for use with either True Mode or Inverted Mode Serial. Connect directly to a PC serial port or to an output pin on a microcontroller.
• Compatible with both RS-232 (+/- 12V) and TTL (0-5V) levels.
• Synchronous serial I2C input up to 400K bps.
• Change I2C slave address via jumpers or with a software command.
• 80-character buffered communication.
• User-programmable boot screen memory allows a custom message to be displayed on power up.
• Use standard commands compatible with Hitachi HD44780 or our easy-to-understand special protocol to control the display
• Built-in special functions include scroll up, scroll down, set backlight, select line, display bargraph, cursor appearance, change I2C address, save/recall strings.
• Onboard non-volatile memory allows you to save custom messages and then recall/display them with a short command.
• Fast bargraph displays (up to the full width of the display) can be anchored on the left side or right side. Fast enough to display stereo audio levels!
• 5-volt operation with less than 5mA current consumption (backlight off)
• 4-line display PCB (outside edge) measures 98mm wide and 60mm high

An I2C interface is available on many popular microcontrollers such as the BASIC Stamp BS2P and may be easily implemented on most PIC microcontrollers using either the PicBasic or PicBasic Pro compiler.