Unlike the LCD Button shield this display is not designed to stack on top of the Arduino. As such if you need to add other components, such as a temperature sensor, then this display can be easier to use.
In addition to the display and Arduino a potentiometer is needed to adjust the contrast so that the display is visible. Connect the display as shown, the potentiometer’s value is 4k7 ohms and this simple sketch shows how the display can be used. In the line LCD.setCursor(n,m) n is the digit number from 0 to 15 and m is the line number from 0 to 1.
/*
1602a LiquidCrystal Library
Demonstrates the use a 16x2 LCD display. The LiquidCrystal library works with all LCD displays that are compatible with the Hitachi HD44780 driver. There are many of them out there, and you can usually tell them by the 16-pin interface. This sketch prints "Hello World!" to the LCD and shows the time since the sketch started, in seconds.
The circuit:
* LCD RS pin to digital pin 12
* LCD Enable pin to digital pin 11
* LCD D4 pin to digital pin 5
* LCD D5 pin to digital pin 4
* LCD D6 pin to digital pin 3
* LCD D7 pin to digital pin 2
* LCD R/W pin to ground
* 10K variable resistor:
* ends to +5V and ground
* wiper to LCD VO pin (pin 3)
*/
// include the library code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
// Initialize the library with the interface pins
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
void setup() {
// set up the LCD's number of columns and rows
lcd.begin(16, 2);
// Print a message to the LCD
lcd.print("hello world!");
}
void loop() {
// set the cursor to column 0, line 1
// (line 1 is the second row, since counting begins with 0)
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
// print the number of seconds since reset:
lcd.print(millis()/1000);
}
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