16*2 LCD pins

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
4,763
If your datasheet mentions A & K, those are the terminals of the LED in charge of backlighting.

Just to be sure: take one datasheet from a LCD with and another without backlight. Compare them.

In several displays you will find the last two numbers NOT in physical sequence with the rest. Maybe added later to an existing design?
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
Your google hit matches the LCD's I have on hand. Those follow that common pattern.

I would guess 16 pins mean you have a backlight. You should be able to see it, there's a LED or two on one end.
 

Thread Starter

Dritech

Joined Sep 21, 2011
901
Hi,
Thanks for the replies. The second link was the correct one, with the first 2 pins being the supply pins. But I have another problem. The characters are not showing on the 2nd line. When I set the potentiometer to full contrast, the squares does not show on the second line either.
What can cause this problem please? is the LCD damaged?
 

hexreader

Joined Apr 16, 2011
581
The characters are not showing on the 2nd line. When I set the potentiometer to full contrast, the squares does not show on the second line either.
What can cause this problem please? is the LCD damaged?
This is normal for an LCD display that has not been initialised. There is nothing wrong with your LCD.
 

Thread Starter

Dritech

Joined Sep 21, 2011
901
I am writing 0X80 for the first line and 0XC0 for the second line. This worked perfectly on a simulator.

Send at least 80 characters to the LCD and see what happens.
I tried that and only the first row is showing.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,618
Forget the simulator. The real world is your testing ground.

Sending 0x80 and 0xC0 to the instruction register is the correct method for direct character positioning.

Try sending a continuous stream of characters at a slow rate (2 chars per second) and see what happens. Characters should wrap around after 80 characters.
 
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