Thanks to the introduction of LCD displays into printers, toys, high-tech mobile devices, etc., from a while we’re able to use the same technology in our DIY projects.
Arduino is a great prototyping platform featured to interface sensors, actuators, LCD modules, etc.
Depending on your needs and expectations, you have at least three different LCD display types that you can use right now with Arduino: 16 x 2-characters, 20 x 4-characters, 1.77-inch TFT LCD display.
You can choose the LCD module depending on the color of the text and the background. There are many different colors used to display text and a variety of colors for backlight.
Any of these little screens feature enough characters to display the temperature recorded by your sensor or the latitude, longitude and the number of satellites detected with a GPS module.
This is probably the cheapest LCD display compatible with Arduino boards. It has a price of $6.99 and works connected directly to the development board.
Depending on your preferences in colors, this cheap display has white backlight and uses blue to display text.
Compatible with the HD44780 standard, the LCD display works with the Arduino code provided in the large library with codes.
Like any other 16 x 2-characters displays, to adjust the contrast you need to add a potentiometer.
This is another standard 16 x 2-characters LCD display designed with white text on a blue background. It has a price of $9.95 and build with the HD44780 LCDs standard.
This LCD display is a little bit different than others, different in a good way. Designed around the HD44780 standard, the display support English and Japanese text, and as an extra feature, it can display up to 8 custom characters.
Engineered with a potentiometer, you can adjust the luminance or color according with your preferences.
This is another standard 16 x 2-characters LCD screen and comes with black text on a green background.
It has a price of $13.95 and uses the common HD44780 parallel interface chipset to display information.
Compatible with all Arduino microcontrollers, all you need for this little screen are 11 general I/O pins to interface and display up to 32 characters.
4. LCD display for Arduino UNO R3 and Arduino Mega 2560
At a price of $9.99, this 16 x 2-characters LCD display features a nice brightness on its blue backlight. The easiest way to adjust the contrast is to attach a potentiometer to the pin 3.
Typical for almost all Arduino LCD screens, this one operates with 5V DC and doesn’t come with a pre-soldered header pins.
The display works great with Arduino UNO R3 and Arduino Mega 2560, and uses the default LCD library.
5. LCD shield module display V3 for Arduino UNO R3, Mega 2560, Nano and DUE
At a price of $14.18, you can display information on a 16 x 2-characters display attached to a shield. Using a shield is probably the easiest way to interface a display.
Based on the HD44780 standard and with white text on blue background, this shield is designed with 5 push buttons to access the menu and the programming interface.
The LCD shield is compatible only with Arduino UNO, Diecimila Duemilanove, MEGA1280, and MEGA2560 boards.
When you work with this shield, you need to use the SainSmart or LiquidCrystal library.
6. 20 X 4 LCD module for Arduino
This 20 x 4 LCD module has a price of $14.14 and is designed to work with Arduino microcontrollers.
The LCD module uses the popular HD44780 controller and displays white words on a blue backlight. Like many other displays, this one allows you to adjust the contrast.
To interface the module, you need to use the I2C module of the display.
7. 20X4 characters LCD display
This LCD display is a special one that can be interfaced easily over a single-wire serial interface. It has a price of $13 and displays up to 80 characters on the yellow or green background.
Using the STN technology (super-twisted nematic display) to display characters provides a great contrast with a wide viewing angle.
The controller is SPLC780D which uses a parallel interface chipset that can be easily attached to the Arduino.
8. 20 x 4 LCD module for Arduino
Without an I2C interface, this LCD module is based on the same popular HD44780 controller and is easy to interface the module with your Arduino board. It has a price of $10.99 and works with any Arduino microcontroller.
Once plugged into a breadboard and connected to an Arduino microcontroller, you can display text in minutes using the standard LCD library.
9. Arduino TFT LCD Screen SD Card Reader
The TFT LCD module is a special piece able to display information provided by your Arduino. With a cost of $26.95, this LCD module features a 1.77-inch TFT LCD screen able to provide a resolution of 160×128 pixels.
This is not a simple screen that can display characters. It can do much more than that. The 1.77-inch screen can display images, shapes, or draw text.
An interesting feature is the onboard micro-SD card slot that allows you to store bitmap images to display these on the screen.
Even the screen’s headers are engineered to fit on the Arduino Esplora headers, the LCD module is compatible with any Arduino microcontroller.
Before displaying any image or text, you need to interface the LCD module with your Arduino. Even if it seems complicated, the module is controlled via the SPI interface and uses the standard Arduino library.
