Displaying text on an HD44780 16x2 LCD display
The HD44780 16x2 LCD is cheap and easy to use. If we only want to display text, this type of display can do just that and is the device of choice. It has 16 pins, which is too many, if we want to combine it with more devices in a project. That is why it is a pretty common practice to use an I2C display driver to control the display. This is a concept similar to using a MAX7219 to drive a 7-segment display, as we did in the previous chapter.
The HD44780 16x2 display can be obtained in a bundle with an I2C driver soldered to it, or it can come without an I2C driver. The display can come in different color configurations, pertaining to background and text color. They typically look similar to the one shown in the following image:
Figure 6.3 – HD44780 front
When the display comes with an I2C driver, it is usually an LCM1602 IIC, which provides four ports:
- GND
- VCC
- SDA
- SCL
So...
