Hello, I am new here and hoping I am doing this right. I am fairly new at this electronics game. I am trying to build a MP3 amplifier with a am-fm stereo with a tuner lcd display. I found some used lcd dot matrix screens from a ADT focus keypad. I cannot find any info on the lcd screens, What are they, can I remove them from existing board? Lets start there. Help!!

 

Well my first hint from experience is not to reuse parts I can't identify.

You can try posting a few pictures of your display but there is little chance you'll get that to work. You can probably find similar yet new and documented displays from several sources for not much money.

 

Thats what I thought. Any way The LCD seems to be a 16x4 LCD dot matrix, still not sure about manufacturer. With the research I have found there seems to be a good chance I might be able to use them. What have I got to loose. I am currently cutting them from their original pc boards. In doing that it seems the only thing that is going to be affected is the 4 leads that go to the main ic chip. Cross your fingers and will keep you updated.

 

Ahhh, do you meaqn 16x4 characters? That has a better chance of working, I could point you to instructions for those 'cept they use MORE then 4 lines (more like 14). 4 lines could be just power, ground, data, and a clock, but that is a guess.