Gravitech Serial Character LCD Driver Board Kit (Non-USB)

The SLCD-3 is designed to be based on a popular serial LCD driver IC, created by Maryland EE professor Peter Anderson. It is the display unit for an associated controller. The controller may be anything from a single board to a 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.

The SLCD-3 is compatible with any industrial standard HD44780 Character LCD with a single row connection. The software configuration includes support for many LCD geometries: 2x16, 2x20, 2x24, 2x40, 4x16 and 4x20.

The SLCD-3 is capable of 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 adjusted 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.

Note: This kit is the non-USB version, and will require a processor to communicate with the board.

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
• 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
• Small size 2.4"x1.3"


The kit comes all of the parts and easy to assembled. Please check Parts List document for more detail. There is a beginning experience with soldering iron required. Please see Assembly Instruction for more detail.


Documents:

• Schematic
• Parts List
• Assembly Instruction
• User Manual
• Parallax LCD Character Creator (LCDCC) LCDCC software is credited to Parallax Inc. and intended to be used for educational purposes only.
• LCD Custom Character for Windows
• LCD Custom Character for MAC