P A G E 25
C O N N E C T I V I T Y
Character-based Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
(1)
is a cheap and popular way of
representing application results, short messages, or some other type of information
to users. The EasyPIC v8 for PIC24/dsPIC33 development board natively supports
2x16 character LCD module, connected in 4-bit mode. It offers a dedicated 1x16
pin header
(2)
that can host a compatible LCD module. Each pin of the connector is
labeled on the development board and should be connected to the respective pin of
the LCD module.
There are four plastic spacers
(3)
used to provide physical support for both types of
connected displays (LCD and GLCD), ensuring a reliable connection and preventing
bending of their pins.
The LCD and GLCD use the same pins, thus are unable to operate if simultaneously
plugged in.
Two poles of the SW6 DIP switch
(4)
, grouped under the LCD label, are used to control
the backlight options of the LCD:
SW6.3:
ON (up):
LCD backlight is ON
OFF (down):
LCD backlight is OFF
SW6.4:
ON (up):
PWM signal at the RA4 pin controls the LCD backlight brightness
OFF (down):
Backlight brightness amount is fixed and can't be controlled by the MCU
1x16 character display connector
In order to use backlight PWM dimming, both SW6.3 and SW6.4 switches must
be enabled at the same time.
N O T E
Make sure to turn off the power supply before placing either of the display
modules on the board. Otherwise, the display module or the development board
can be permanently damaged.
Figure 11: EasyTFT board, 1x16 LCD and
Graphic LCD 128x64 with TouchPanel
