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Beginning LCDs
by gimmelotsarobots on June 10, 2008

Table of Contents

intro: Beginning LCDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: How They Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Building a Test Rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 3: Wire the Jumpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 4: Add the Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 5: Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 6: Contrast and R/W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 7: Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

step 8: The Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

step 9: Finished Test Rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

step 10: Using the Test Rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
intro: Beginning LCDs
NOTE: I finally got my camera figured out so there should only be 1 or 2 blurry images. On with the Instructable!

LCDs are one of the coolest things to add to any project right now. You can use them to display things from the speed of your bike, to the amount of room being used up
on your RAM. This Instructable will give you a general description on how LCDs work, and how to get started using them. The information provided here will give you
enough information to even develop control circuits on any Microcontroller. LCDs are a lot simpler than you think!

step 1: How They Work

Most LCDs have a HD44780 LCD driver in them. The HD44780 is the most common LCD driver and is very easy to connect to. A LCD with this driver typically has 14 or
16 pin, with the first being ground and the second being 5V+. This is the only LCD type I will cover today being it is so common. Very common. LCDs of this type are
parallel devices. That means that 8 bits of data are sent side by side (or parallel to each other) instead of in line. This is also the way parallel printer ports work which is
why it such a popular decision to connect a LCD to a parallel port. Data is sent to LCD screens in a kind of 8-bit Binary ASCII code. For example: 01000001 translates to
a capital a. 01000001=A. There are special symbols too like: 11110100=the Pi sign. In the instance of HD44780 driven LCDs, the first bit of data is the 14th pin and the
last bit of data is the 7th pin. Unless you haven't figured it out already, this means that building a test rig, or interfacing to a microcontroller would be very simple.

Image Notes
1. Use this portion of the schematic to make a PC compatible LCD (covered later)
2. for contrast control
3. If your LCD has a backlight, this is for brightness.
4. LCDs generally have 14 pins
5. LCDs with no backlight don't have these pins.
6. Don't connect R/W to pin 14. Just connect it to ground

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
step 2: Building a Test Rig
Based on the previous information, I will show you how to make a very simple manual LCD test rig that allows you to enter text and symbols which in turn teaches you
exactly how they work. Below is the schematic. The jumpers (switches 1-8) have pull-up resistors so that a missing jumpers gives a logic 1 or high.

Parts:

printed circuit board with individual contacts

10 4.7k resistors
14 wire ribbon cable
any wire to use for wire jumpers
10k potentiometer
pushbutton momentary switch
2x8 jumper assembly (an eight switch DIP switch would be better. I recommend that actually)
8 jumpers
SPST switch
1 wire for power and 1 for ground to your LCD
LM7805 5v DC regulator (or other 5v regulator)
2 small alligator clips
9V battery clip
9V battery

Optional if you have an LCD wired to a male parallel port:

female parallel port

Tools:

Soldering iron
Solder
Electrical tape
Nippers
Wire strippers
Helping hand (optional but very useful)

Image Notes
1. schematic by Epe

Image Notes
1. Yay I fixed the image quality!
2. 4.7k resistors
3. momentary pushbutton switch
4. 10 k linear potentiometer (you can use any 10k potentiometer)
5. 2x8 jumper assembly and 8 jumpers
6. SPST switch
7. wire
8. ribbon cable
9. PCB with individual connections

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes
1. Alligator clips
2. 1 power and 1 ground wire
3. LM7805 5V DC regulator

step 3: Wire the Jumpers

Solder your jumper assembly to the board leaving a little bit of room for other components. Solder together the first line. This will be you ground line.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. These are the 1 and 2 bad pictures. 1. first line soldered together
2. 2x8 jumper assembly with 8 jumpers (the little square things)

step 4: Add the Switches

There are 2 switches in this testing circuit. The first is a SPST switch connected to the Register Select line of the LCD. This switch is used to tell the LCD whether you are
sending a command or a character signal. The second is a momentary switch connected to the Enable line. This switch is used tell the LCD to accept the command. Both
switches will have pull-up resistors.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Enable switch 1. the gap is because my momentary switch has an internal connection.
2. Register Select switch 2. jumpers
3. Jumpers 3. SPST switch
4. ground line 4. ground line

step 5: Resistors
Each jumper and each switch has a 4.7k pull-up resistor. This is so that any closed circuit through a jumper or switch generates a logic 0 (or low). leave a space between
each switch/jumper and its resistor. This space is where you will put your ribbon cable connecting the LCD. One side of the line of resistors should be connected together.
This will be the positive rail.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. 4.7k resistors 1. 4.7k resistors
2. gap for ribbon cable 2. positive rail
3. that shouldn't be there unless you plan on frying your LCD. 3. other end of resistors for switches moved closer
4. ground from 9v battery clip 4. ground wire
5. labels to show the character and command positions

step 6: Contrast and R/W

On my LCD I have already wired it up for parallel connection, so the contrast adjustment is on the screen. If your LCD is not hooked up to anything, this potentiometer is
here to adjust the contrast. I have no completely wired it as I have no use for it as of yet, but here is how it goes together. The slider pin should be connected to the wire
that will go to pin 3 of the LCD. The other two ends should be connected to 5V+ and Ground. OH yeah, the potentiometer is 10k. The only reason I used a slide
potentiometer is because I liked it. You can use a rotational one. Lastly, the R/W connection will be connected to ground, so ad a jumper wire from the ground rail for the
pin 5 R/W line on the LCD.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. ground wire 1. ground wire
2. 10k potentiometer 2. this goes to pin 3 of the LCD
3. This should go to 5V+
4. ground rail
5. resistor line

Image Notes
1. ground jumper wire
2. jumper wire to move the pin 3 connection closer to the other wires
3. R/W ground connection
4. pin 5 will connect here

step 7: Power
Now for the power. LCDs of almost every kind run off five volts DC. for convenience, we will use a 9 volt battery. Solder the ground wire of the 9V battery clip to the
ground rail by the jumpers, solder the positive wire a little distance away. Solder the left pin of the 5V regulator (input pin) to the positive wire from the battery clip. This
should be the only connection to the positive battery clip wire. Solder a jumper wire from the middle pin of the regulator (ground) to the ground rail. Next solder a jumper
wire from the right pin of the regulator (output) to the positive rail. Now it is time to build the alligator clips. solder one clip to the wire for positive and the other to the wire
for ground. I mentioned these wires in the parts list. They have nothing to do with the battery clip. solder the positive wire to the positive rail and the ground wire to the
ground rail. You will use these alligator clips to power the LCD screen. If you like you could send the power over the ribbon cable to the LCD. Pin 1 on the LCD is ground
and pin 2 is Positive. Some LCDs have a 2x7 or 2x8 connection (depending on whether you have a 14 or 16 pin model). You can identify pin one simply since it its
ground. It will generally have a thicker PCB trace and connect to the metalwork at some point.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. ground clip 1. this is where the positive wire should be
2. 5V+ clip
3. 9V battery clip
4. power wires
5. LM7805 5V regulator

step 8: The Connector

Since my LCD is wired to a male parallel port connector, I had to connect my ribbon cable to a female parallel port connector. If you are wiring directly to the LCD, pin 14
will be connected to the first jumper and pin 3 to the contrast. Pin 1&2 will be connected to power. look at the schematic for details. The reason we made the whole thing
backwards (if you look at the location of pin on on you LCD which is generally the left pin) was so that when we send signals, we are making them the right way around.
Pin 7-14 on the LCD are actually what is backwards. If you want to connect your LCD to a parallel port, you will have to follow the below schematic for this. The schematic
is a back view of a male parallel port connector. The connections from the tester to the female parallel port is a mirror image. Either way you connect your LCD, this part
is necessary. That space between the resistors and the jumpers/switches is where you will connect the ribbon cable. Pin 14-7 connects to the jumper spaces, Pin 6 to the
momentary switch space, and pin 4 to the SPST switch space. Pin 5 is connected to ground, and pin 3 is connected to the slider pin of the potentiometer. IMPORTANT:
Those space must be filled in! the jumpers/switches and according ribbon cable wires and resistors should all be connected as one.

Image Notes
1. ground rail
2. jumpers
3. ribbon cable
4. resistors
5. connect as one
6. power stuff
7. positive rail
8. momentary switch
9. SPST switch
10. contrast potentiometer

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes
1. schematic by Epe

Image Notes
1. below is a back-side view of a male parallel port connector

step 9: Finished Test Rig

That's it! You got it built. Go on to the next step to learn how to use it.

Update 06/13/2008: I added some pictures of a miniature LCD tester that fits in an Altoids tin. This tester has no contrast control. I will simply solder contrast to ground
during tests.

Image Notes
1. There it is after trimming off excess PCB

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. I found a DIP switch 1. pushing the enable button
2. that potentiometer is for the adjustable voltage regulator.

Image Notes
1. The 8 bit controls
2. The register select switch.

step 10: Using the Test Rig

As I mentioned in step one, LCDs use a 8-bit ASCII code. To use this tester, first connect the LCD and then the power. Oh no it's broken! There's a bunch of black
squares! Don't panic. Those square are supposed to be there, that means it's on. Those squares (technically rectangles but oh well) mean the LCD is on but not yet
activated. To activate it we must send a signal that tells the LCD to turn on, give a cursor, and blink for good measure. How do we do that? Easy. First set the Register
Select switch to Command mode (the switch is on/logic 1). This is so the LCD knows we are sending a command and not a letter(character mode). Now on the line of
jumpers, any removed jumper represents a 1, and any connected jumper represents a 0. The code for what I described earlier is 00001111 (A full list of commands is
below). So the first 4 jumpers should be connected. and the last 4 removed. Nothing happened. Nothing should have happened. You should still have black squares. Now
you have to tell the LCD to accept the command. Sooo.... HIT THE BIG RED BUTTON!!! Okay, not really, but you can imagine. push the momentary switch. Hey, there's
a cursor, now I want some letters. Alright, that's easy. switch the Register Select switch to character mode (the switch is off). Now will send the letter A in capital. The
code for capital a (A) is 01000001. Move the jumpers accordingly and hit the button. Hey, Now there's a letter a. A full chart of letters and symbols is below. Play around a
bit. The Upper bits are the left 4 jumpers and the lower bits are the right 4. When you fill up you screen, you will need to clear it. To do this, switch the tester to command
mode and enter 00000001. This is the clear command. don't forget to hit the button! So now you have a simple controller for LCDs and abroader knowledge of LCDs. In
the future, I may ad an update on making custom characters, but that's all for now. Hope this helped!
Attached are some videos of initializing, entering text, and clearing.

UPDATE 06/15/2008:
You might notice that several characters will pop up instead of one when the switch is pressed, to fix this, you need a Debounce circuit. This prevents this from happening
by use of 2 NAND gates in a 74LS00 quad NAND gate and a SPDT switch. Below is the schematic.

As for the parallel port, try LCD Smartie. It is a great open source program with a lot of support and great forums. There is an attached video of me using it. The video
opens with windows media player.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Video

Video

Image Notes
1. by Epe

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 Image Notes
1. by Epe

Image Notes
1. Two NAND gate and a SPDT switch create a debounce circuit.

File Downloads

lcdsmartie.asf (16 MB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'lcdsmartie.asf']

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
Comments
48 comments Add Comment

median says: Oct 1, 2008. 8:34 AM REPLY

can someone please tell me where to buy a LCD screen? one that is used in this project

gimmelotsarobots says: Oct 1, 2008. 6:34 PM REPLY

Any LCD with a HD44780 drive will work. Try HERE. That's where I go for cheap, high quantity surplus. They're my favorite supplier.

ilias says: Sep 9, 2008. 1:50 PM REPLY

R U using a 4 pin momentary button? And something off topic... can someone explain me how can i use a photocell in a 9v circuit? please help.

gimmelotsarobots says: Sep 9, 2008. 5:14 PM REPLY

What are you doing with a photocell?

ilias says: Sep 13, 2008. 10:26 AM REPLY

I want to make a light that opens at night.

mackjr says: Sep 10, 2008. 6:22 PM REPLY

Genius

mackjr says: Jul 9, 2008. 7:10 PM REPLY

kool great instructable

hornbadoing says: Aug 26, 2008. 4:48 PM REPLY

i almost baught a dipswitch once

puffyfluff says: Jul 17, 2008. 6:24 PM REPLY

If I had this Instructable a year ago, my electronics life would be much farther than it is. Great info. Love it!

mackjr says: Jul 9, 2008. 9:58 AM REPLY

you know in stead of switching those little black things you could use a dip switch from radio shack

gimmelotsarobots says: Jul 9, 2008. 4:41 PM REPLY

Did you see the mini I posted on step nine? It uses DIP switches. I just didn't have any on hand when I built the first one.

collard41 says: Jun 25, 2008. 1:03 PM REPLY

does anyone know what the command is to go onto the next line, i am using a HD44780 display to do an electronic cricket game and i dont know the
instruction to go onto the next line.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 RetroPlayer says: Jul 8, 2008. 8:36 AM REPLY
Read my comments below, they will answer your question. Get the datasheet for the HD44780. You are really only interested in the commands and
maybe the character table. There is also CGRAM, which lets you create some custom characters (16, I think.)

BTW, if you have something on your screen that is going to be static (like Score:) and something that changes after it, you just have to move your
address to the characters that you will change. This is done by selecting the registers and ANDing $80 to your address. So $80 is actually your top left-
most character. $C0 is the beginning of your second line.

robohero says: Jun 23, 2008. 9:28 PM REPLY

Hey, it's your brother. Let me know if you find aything on forming ceramics. I found something on making "plastic" with milk and vinegar but it doesn't sound
right.

daywalker42 says: Jun 12, 2008. 9:08 PM REPLY

I know this is SUPER off-topic but......since I figured a large number of people reading this type of instructable would be MUCH more technologically inclined
than myself, I would ask this question for all I have an hp ipaq rx 1950 series pocket pc...(a few years old but hey I got it for a great deal when it was new and
haven't needed a replacement until now...) the screen cracked on it and is apparrently impossible to find.....is this now the world's most overteched and
oversized sd card reader or is it still of use to me as a nerd?

RetroPlayer says: Jun 17, 2008. 8:12 AM REPLY

Check eBay for TD035STED5. They are not cheap, but they are there.

Wear gloves while replacing the screen. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

daywalker42 says: Jun 19, 2008. 9:17 AM REPLY

yeah, I felt REALLY stupid for not checking ebay until after I wrote that.....I forgot that if it exists it is on eaby...thanks alot for the suggestion man I just
need now to find a torque head screwdriver to pull the thing apart before I buy one so I know if I need the screen and touch pad or just the screen,
and thanks for the glove thing I would not have thought to do that until I was approximately 13.86 seconds too late

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 14, 2008. 10:17 AM REPLY

Uuuuuhh..... I don't know. depending on how the screen hooks up you may find a similar one.

Orchestrapit says: Jun 14, 2008. 11:38 PM REPLY

hey, really well done instructable. i followed instructions buy for some reason my display (1 x 16) will only display 8 characters, and on top of that when i
push "the button" to input a character, it will make several instead of just 1 appear on the screen.

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 15, 2008. 3:34 PM REPLY

MY 1x16 does that too. It only displays 8 characters, but for what reason I don't know, It even does it under computer and microcontroller 4 pin control.
As for the multiple letters you have 2 options: Hit the button really fast or make a debounce circuit. Here is a schematic. It uses 2 NAND gates of a
74LS00 and a SPDT switch.

RetroPlayer says: Jun 17, 2008. 8:08 AM REPLY

gimme,

Did you try setting the function register to 2 line mode? If you do, try setting the position to address 40h for the second set of 8 characters. Most
displays initialize for a single line, but you could try setting it to single line just in case.

I've never run across an LCD that did this, but it could be the way your LCD is wired up.

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 17, 2008. 10:50 AM REPLY

Like I said, It does it under computer and microcontroller control.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 RetroPlayer says: Jun 17, 2008. 11:40 PM REPLY
"Note that the 16 x 1 display is actually an 8 x 2 internally which is re-arranged to give the correct display. After writing the 7th (should say
8th) character, the character address has to be changed to the start of Line 2 to write the 8th (9th)character."

http://www.hippy.freeserve.co.uk/picaxelc.htm#LCD_Initialisation

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 18, 2008. 11:18 AM REPLY

That helps. I'll try it.

RetroPlayer says: Jun 17, 2008. 10:35 PM REPLY

Page 1 of HD44780U datasheet:

"A single HD44780U can display up to one 8-character line or two 8-character lines."

From Page 11 of the datasheet:

"Note that the first line end address and the second line start address are not
consecutive. For example, when just the HD44780 is used, 8 characters x 2 lines are displayed. See Figure 5."

In other words, unless an "extension driver" is present on your LCD controller (which is not present on cheaper LCDs), the 1x16 display you
have is actually arranged as 8 characters by 2 lines with the 'second line' being the last 8 characters. The second set of 8 characters are
addressed as the second line which starts at DDRAM position 40h. Since the second line wouldn't show up until you entered enough
characters to move the address to 40h (64 characters) by normal incrementing, you will see nothing for 56 characters between your 8th
character and your 9th.

That is how the HD44780 is designed. And that is how your LCD is wired up. It's right there in the datasheet.

http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/LCD/HD44780.pdf

Put your display in 2 line mode (it will initialize as 1 line unless you change it) and address the second set of 8 characters by changing the
cursor position to the second line at 40h, which is done by pulling R/S low and writing C0h or 11000000b. If you also have 'increment' (05h)
set, you will only need to do this once for the remaining 8 characters. When you need to start over, you can either write 80h or 10000000b to
the register to set the address at zero again or you can just send the CLEAR (01h) and HOME (02h)commands.

Hope this is helpful to your visitors.

Orchestrapit says: Jul 17, 2008. 5:14 PM REPLY

thanks a bunch, i will try that now.

RetroPlayer says: Jun 17, 2008. 9:12 PM REPLY

No idea how that answers the question, but ok...

Have fun.

nafango22 says: Jun 13, 2008. 10:16 AM REPLY

awesome, i totally didnt understand this before.
now i got it.

but could you do an instructable on 4 pin data interfacing?

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 13, 2008. 5:08 PM REPLY

Later yes.

mrmath says: Jun 12, 2008. 5:21 AM REPLY

You make it look so simple. One question. Why not use a set of 8 switches instead of the jumpers. Looks like it would be much easier to set.

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 12, 2008. 11:22 AM REPLY

I would have used a 8 switch DIP switch, but I didn't have one.

mrmath says: Jun 12, 2008. 11:37 AM REPLY

I was thinking of that, too, but thought it would have been too small, and more of a pain than the jumpers. Whatever works for whoever made it, I
guess.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 13, 2008. 5:08 PM REPLY
I found some DIP switches, check out my mini tester on step 9.

joejoerowley says: Jun 13, 2008. 11:45 AM REPLY

Cool! Great Instructable!
Thanks
Joe

shop dweller says: Jun 13, 2008. 5:16 AM REPLY

awesome! thank you.

gmoon says: Jun 12, 2008. 6:09 AM REPLY

I like the project. This is a decent introduction to LCD drivers.

You probably should have mentioned that the HD44780 drivers have a 4-bit interface mode, as well as the 8-bit. Most microcontroller projects use the 4-bit
mode to save pins...

maybe add some more reference links, too...

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 12, 2008. 11:21 AM REPLY

I would like to comment that this is titled "Beginning LCDs". I will probably make a sequal later.

inventorjack says: Jun 12, 2008. 10:44 PM REPLY

If you get to the sequel, any info on beginning with graphic LCDs would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks a ton for this article!

Kyri says: Jun 12, 2008. 6:47 PM REPLY

YAY! Someone made a "beginning LCD" instructable! I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Thank you so much!

awdark says: Jun 12, 2008. 1:46 PM REPLY

Would this display anything if you just applied +5v to pin2 and GND to pin1?
(no data just power)
I am trying to figure out if my HD4478 LCD is damaged because I have tried wiring it all up before and only got garbled stuff if I was lucky.

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 12, 2008. 5:51 PM REPLY

When you apply power you should get blacked out spaces. You need to have pin three connected to a potentiometer between power and ground for
contrast.

awdark says: Jun 12, 2008. 6:24 PM REPLY

Thank you for replying.. I have a feeling I burnt out the circuits but this guide inspires me to want to dig it up and try again. :)

Gjdj3 says: Jun 12, 2008. 9:15 AM REPLY

This is really cool. I'm not too great with electronics (I'm really just getting started) but I was looking to upgrade a lot of my projects. This seems like a perfect
way too.

5 stars!

gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 12, 2008. 5:52 PM REPLY

Thank you very much!

Xellers says: Jun 12, 2008. 2:42 PM REPLY

In my opinion, this is the most helpful instructable that I have ever, but can you please post some schematics because it would make it much easier to follow.
At least a pencil drawing please. Thank you SOOOOO much!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/
 gimmelotsarobots says: Jun 12, 2008. 5:49 PM REPLY
There are schematics. There's one on page two.

CowGuy says: Jun 12, 2008. 10:30 AM REPLY

Sweet! I am going to order some parts now to do this.

emmjul says: Jun 12, 2008. 8:35 AM REPLY

Very nice!
Just what I need.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Beginning-LCDs/