SLCD-3-KIT Serial LCD Driver
User Manual
Gravitech
2007 Copyright©
All Rights Reserved
Support:
support@gravitech.us
V1.0
January 24, 2009
Table of Contents
Copyrights and Disclaimer……….....………...………... 3
Introduction……………………………………………… 4
Connections………………………………………………. 6
Connector Pinout…………………………..………….
6
Power Connections…………………………..………..
7
Serial UART TTL Connections………………...………
8
USB Communication……………………………...……
8
General Purpose Outputs…………………………...…..
9
Beepers………………………………………………….
9
I/O LCD Connections………………………………..…
10
Contrast Adjustment………………………………….....
10
USB Communication Status LED……..………………..
10
Displaying Text………………………………………….…. 11
General…………………………………………………..
11
Built-In Character Font………………………………….
11
Writing Text to the Display………………….……………
12
Configure for LCD geometry ……………….……………
13
Power up selftest and Special Characters……..…………. 14
Power Up Selftest……………………………………….
14
Special Characters……………………………………....
14
Big Number Mode………………………………………… 16
Custom Text Screen………………………………………. 18
Boot Screen Selection…………………………………….. 18
Miscellaneous Commands……………………..…………. 19
Appendix A: Command Summary……………..……….. 20
Appendix B: Optional Parts…………………………….. 22
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Copyrights
This documentation is copyright 2009 by Gravitech. By downloading or
obtaining a printed copy of this documentation you agree that it is to be used
exclusively with Gravitech products. Any other uses are not permitted and
may represent a violation of Gravitech copyrights, legally punishable
according to Federal copyright or intellectual property laws. Any duplication
of this documentation for commercial uses is expressly prohibited by
Gravitech.
Disclaimer
Gravitech is not responsible for special, incidental, or consequential
damages under any legal theory, including lost profits, downtime, goodwill,
damage to or replacement of equipment or property. Gravitech is also not
responsible for any personal damage, including that to life and health,
resulting from use of this product. The user takes full responsibility for each
SLCD-3 application, no matter how life-threatening it may be.
Warranty
Gravitech warrants this product against defects in materials and
workmanship for a period of 15 days. If you discover a defect, we will, at
our option, repair, replace, or refund the purchase price. Return the product
with a description of the problem. We will return your product or its
replacement via standard shipping. Expedited shipping is available at the
customer’s expense. Please contact us at
support@gravitech.us
for a RMA#
prior to send the return unit back.
• Note: Abusing the module, or attempting to repair or modify it, voids this
warranty.
Trademarks
PIC
®
is a registered trademark of Microchip Technology Incorporated;
BASIC Stamp
®
is a registered trademark of Parallax Inc. All trademarked
names referenced herein are the property of their respective holders.
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What’s new!
New features of SLCD-3 including:
•
Big Number Mode
•
Custom Text Screen
•
Boot Screen Selection
1. Introduction
Your SLCD-3 has the following features:
•
Low cost
•
Compatible with any industrial standard HD44780 Character LCD
with single row connection.
•
Configurable for many LCD geometry included: 2x16, 2x20,
2x24, 2x40, 4x16 and 4x20.
•
Built-in font with provision for up to 8 user-defined characters
•
Fixed baud rate at 9600
•
Communicate over serial UART TTL (+5V and 0V) or USB
interface
•
On USB version, a feature of communicates over the USB with
miniB USB connector is added. The unit can be powered directly
from the USB port (no external power needed). Drivers are
available for Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, Server 2003, XP,
Vista, XP Embedded and CE.NET 4.2 & 5.0. Mac OS8/9, OS-X
and Linux 2.4 and greater are supported.
•
Fully buffered up to 64 character so that no delays in transmission
should be necessary
•
Hardware controlled contrast
•
Software controlled backlight intensity
•
Master reset pin
•
4 general purpose outputs for a variety of applications
•
Programmable tab size and cursor style
•
On-board speaker (beeper)
•
Big Number Mode
•
Custom Text Screen
4
The SLCD-3 is designed as the display unit for an associated controller. The
controller may be anything from a single board, special purpose
microcontroller to a PC, depending on the application. This controller is
responsible for what you see on the LCD screen.
The SLCD-3 provides a simple command structure to allow text to be
displayed on the screen. Text fonts are built in, and use standard ASCII
mapping. Provision is made for up to 8 user-defined characters.
On a non-USB version, the serial UART interface is TTL. That is, the idle
state is a TTL logic one, or near +5VDC. This is often termed non-inverting
or true. This provides direct compatibility with the UART associated with a
PIC
®
, 8051, 68HCxx, Z80, SerOut on a Basic Stamp
®
, and Com3 on a
BX24. The board rate is fixed at 9600. Virtually any application can support
9600 baud.
For a USB version, the feature of USB to serial UART is added. By
connecting the unit with the computer via USB A to miniB cable, a virtual
COM port on the computer is created. User may use any favorite terminal
programs (i.e. Hyperterminal, Putty, TeraTerm or etc.) to communicate
directly to SLCD-3 unit. A custom program can be written to communicate
the SLCD-3 via a virtual COM port. Essentially this is a direct way to
interface with a computer. The unit can also be powered with the USB port
from the computer (hardware jumper).
The SLCD-3 is compatible with any industrial standard HD44780 Character
LCD with single row connection. The software configuration supported
many LCD geometry included: 2x16, 2x20, 2x24, 2x40, 4x16 and 4x20.
The SLCD-3 provides for variable backlight intensity. The backlight current
is controlled by a MOSFET. The maximum backlight intensity is controlled
with a series limiting resistor. Also, the contrast can be adjust through a
potentiometer.
The SLCD-3 provides a 64 character buffer. However, to avoid framing
errors, it is suggested the user initially provide a one millisecond delay
between each character.
The SLCD-3 provides an on-board buzzer for 50 ms beeping.
A source of +5 VDC with a minimum current of 20 mA is required for this
unit.
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