LCD Module Hardware
The pinout of the module is :
- Ground
- VCC (Usually +5V)
- Contrast adjustment (VO)
- Register Select (RS).
RS=0: Command, RS=1: Data - Read/Write (R/W).
R/W=0: Write, R/W=1: Read - Enable
- Bit 0 (Not required in 4-bit operation)
- Bit 1 (Not required in 4-bit operation)
- Bit 2 (Not required in 4-bit operation)
- Bit 3 (Not required in 4-bit operation)
- Bit 4
- Bit 5
- Bit 6
- Bit 7
- LED Backlight Anode (+)
- LED Backlight Cathode (-)
Usually the device requires 8 data lines to provide data to Bits 0-7. However the device can be set to a “4 bit” mode which allows you to send data in two chunks (or nibbles) of 4 bits. This is great as it reduces the number of GPIO connections you require when interfacing with your Pi.
Here is how I wired up my LCD :
| LCD Pin | Function | Pi Function | Pi Pin |
| 01 | GND | GND | P1-06 |
| 02 | +5V | +5V | P1-02 |
| 03 | Contrast | GND | P1-06 |
| 04 | RS | GPIO7 | P1-26 |
| 05 | RW | GND | P1-06 |
| 06 | E | GPIO8 | P1-24 |
| 07 | Data 0 | ||
| 08 | Data 1 | ||
| 09 | Data 2 | ||
| 10 | Data 3 | ||
| 11 | Data 4 | GPIO25 | P1-22 |
| 12 | Data 5 | GPIO24 | P1-18 |
| 13 | Data 6 | GPIO23 | P1-16 |
| 14 | Data 7 | GPIO18 | P1-12 |
| 15 | +5V via 560ohm | ||
| 16 | GND | P1-06 |
NOTE : The RW pin allows the device to be be put into read or write mode. I wanted to send data to the device but did not want it to send data to the Pi so I tied this pin to ground. The Pi can not tolerate 5V inputs on its GPIO header. Tying RW to ground makes sure the device does not attempt to pull the data lines to 5V which would damage the Pi.
In order to control the contrast you can adjust the voltage presented to Pin 3. This must be between 0 and 5V. I tied this pin to ground.
Pin 15 provides 5V to the backlight LED. It wasn’t clear on my device if this could be connected direct to 5V so I played safe and placed a 560ohm resistor in line with this pin.
Wiring Checks
Here are some sanity checks before you power up your circuit for the first time :
- Pin 1 (GND), 3 (Contrast), 5 (RW) and 16 (LED -) ( should be tied to ground.
- Pin 2 should be tied to 5V. Pin 15 should have a resistor inline to 5V to protect the backlight.
- Pin 7-10 are unconnected
- Pin 11-14 are connected to GPIO pins on the Pi
Python
You can control a HD44780 style display using any programming environment you like but my weapon of choice is Python. I use the RPi.GPIO library to provide access to the GPIO.
Here is my code :
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#!/usr/bin/python#--------------------------------------# ___ ___ _ ____# / _ \/ _ \(_) __/__ __ __# / , _/ ___/ /\ \/ _ \/ // /# /_/|_/_/ /_/___/ .__/\_, /# /_/ /___/## lcd_16x2.py# 16x2 LCD Test Script## Author : Matt Hawkins# Date : 06/04/2015## https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/##--------------------------------------# The wiring for the LCD is as follows:# 1 : GND# 2 : 5V# 3 : Contrast (0-5V)*# 4 : RS (Register Select)# 5 : R/W (Read Write) - GROUND THIS PIN# 6 : Enable or Strobe# 7 : Data Bit 0 - NOT USED# 8 : Data Bit 1 - NOT USED# 9 : Data Bit 2 - NOT USED# 10: Data Bit 3 - NOT USED# 11: Data Bit 4# 12: Data Bit 5# 13: Data Bit 6# 14: Data Bit 7# 15: LCD Backlight +5V**# 16: LCD Backlight GND#importimport RPi.GPIO as GPIOimport time# Define GPIO to LCD mappingLCD_RS = 7LCD_E = 8LCD_D4 = 25LCD_D5 = 24LCD_D6 = 23LCD_D7 = 18# Define some device constantsLCD_WIDTH = 16 # Maximum characters per lineLCD_CHR = TrueLCD_CMD = FalseLCD_LINE_1 = 0x80 # LCD RAM address for the 1st lineLCD_LINE_2 = 0xC0 # LCD RAM address for the 2nd line# Timing constantsE_PULSE = 0.0005E_DELAY = 0.0005def main(): # Main program block GPIO.setwarnings(False) GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM) # Use BCM GPIO numbers GPIO.setup(LCD_E, GPIO.OUT) # E GPIO.setup(LCD_RS, GPIO.OUT) # RS GPIO.setup(LCD_D4, GPIO.OUT) # DB4 GPIO.setup(LCD_D5, GPIO.OUT) # DB5 GPIO.setup(LCD_D6, GPIO.OUT) # DB6 GPIO.setup(LCD_D7, GPIO.OUT) # DB7 # Initialise display lcd_init() while True: # Send some test lcd_string("Rasbperry Pi",LCD_LINE_1) lcd_string("16x2 LCD Test",LCD_LINE_2) time.sleep(3) # 3 second delay # Send some text lcd_string("1234567890123456",LCD_LINE_1) lcd_string("abcdefghijklmnop",LCD_LINE_2) time.sleep(3) # 3 second delay # Send some text lcd_string("RaspberryPi-spy",LCD_LINE_1) lcd_string(".co.uk",LCD_LINE_2) time.sleep(3) # Send some text lcd_string("Follow me on",LCD_LINE_1) lcd_string("Twitter @RPiSpy",LCD_LINE_2) time.sleep(3)def lcd_init(): # Initialise display lcd_byte(0x33,LCD_CMD) # 110011 Initialise lcd_byte(0x32,LCD_CMD) # 110010 Initialise lcd_byte(0x06,LCD_CMD) # 000110 Cursor move direction lcd_byte(0x0C,LCD_CMD) # 001100 Display On,Cursor Off, Blink Off lcd_byte(0x28,LCD_CMD) # 101000 Data length, number of lines, font size lcd_byte(0x01,LCD_CMD) # 000001 Clear display time.sleep(E_DELAY)def lcd_byte(bits, mode): # Send byte to data pins # bits = data # mode = True for character # False for command GPIO.output(LCD_RS, mode) # RS # High bits GPIO.output(LCD_D4, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D5, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D6, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D7, False) if bits&0x10==0x10: GPIO.output(LCD_D4, True) if bits&0x20==0x20: GPIO.output(LCD_D5, True) if bits&0x40==0x40: GPIO.output(LCD_D6, True) if bits&0x80==0x80: GPIO.output(LCD_D7, True) # Toggle 'Enable' pin lcd_toggle_enable() # Low bits GPIO.output(LCD_D4, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D5, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D6, False) GPIO.output(LCD_D7, False) if bits&0x01==0x01: GPIO.output(LCD_D4, True) if bits&0x02==0x02: GPIO.output(LCD_D5, True) if bits&0x04==0x04: GPIO.output(LCD_D6, True) if bits&0x08==0x08: GPIO.output(LCD_D7, True) # Toggle 'Enable' pin lcd_toggle_enable()def lcd_toggle_enable(): # Toggle enable time.sleep(E_DELAY) GPIO.output(LCD_E, True) time.sleep(E_PULSE) GPIO.output(LCD_E, False) time.sleep(E_DELAY)def lcd_string(message,line): # Send string to display message = message.ljust(LCD_WIDTH," ") lcd_byte(line, LCD_CMD) for i in range(LCD_WIDTH): lcd_byte(ord(message[i]),LCD_CHR)if __name__ == '__main__': try: main() except KeyboardInterrupt: pass finally: lcd_byte(0x01, LCD_CMD) lcd_string("Goodbye!",LCD_LINE_1) GPIO.cleanup() |
This script can be downloaded using this link or directly to your Pi using the following command :
wget https://bitbucket.org/MattHawkinsUK/rpispy-misc/raw/master/python/lcd_16x2.py
It can then be run using :
sudo lcd_16x2.py
Additional Notes : RS is low when sending a command to the LCD and high when sending a character. RW is always low to ensure we only ever input data into the module. 8 bit bytes are sent 4 bits at a time. Top 4 bits first and the last 4 bits second. Delays are added between certain steps to ensure the module can react to the signal before it changes.
The code above was inspired by code submitted by ‘texy’ on the RaspberryPi.org forum. I changed the way the bytes are broken down to bits as this significantly increased the response time of the display.
Troubleshooting
If you are having issues then try :
- Double check the wiring.
- Try adjusting the voltage on the contrast pin between 0V and 3.3V.
- Change the E_PULSE and E_DELAY parameters from 0.0005 to 0.001. Some screens are sensitive to these times and won’t initialise if they are too small.
- Use Python 2. I haven’t tested with Python 3 yet.
