Advice needed on LCD

crazyG · Post by **crazyG** » July 13th, 2006, 2:31 am

hi, i recently juz bought a 16x2 character LCD module. im totally new to this, so can i get some advice on it? can it be serial interface connected us RS232? heard that a driver is needed for it, but no idea wad is a driver...

Thanks!

_X7JAY7X_ · Post by **_X7JAY7X_** » July 13th, 2006, 3:25 am

You will need some sort of backpack if you want the LCD to be serial. There is some plans on here or you can buy them commercially. Most people hook them up to a parallel port (if you have one). There are schematics on here for that as well.

J

kronchev · Post by **kronchev** » July 14th, 2006, 6:22 pm

Here is my brutal opinion: since you did no research as to what to do, I'm not so sure you should be trying to hook up an LCD. That is my honest opinion. An LCD not only involves at least some technical knowledge and ability, but since you're dealing with mostly making your own cables and hooking them inside your computer, there is high possiblity for error (for instance grabbing a +12v line instead of a +5v).

Now beyond that, we cannot help you if you do not provide at least some info. There is no "2x16" that everyone will know, we need a LOT more info. Where you got it and its part number would be extremly helpful first off. Then I and others will gladly do what we can to help you.

_X7JAY7X_ · Post by **_X7JAY7X_** » July 14th, 2006, 8:36 pm

Kronchev in my brutal opinion you shouldn't be "helping" people if your going to have an attitude like that. Now we are all here to help each other out and he is doing research by asking questions. Your not going to learn unless you ask. Yes there are many (probably thousands) of LCD controller chips. There are only a few that will work for our application without major work.

To answer the original question better, there is a few ways to connect an LCD to a computer. The most common and easiest through the parallel port. You may need to install port95 driver for this. This allows smartie to "talk" to the parallel port to control the LCD. Have you soldered or worked with electronics before?

J