Wiring a Parallel LCD

Ian

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Ice Hardware have a guide on wiring a Parallel LCD upto your PC, something for all you electronics buffs!

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"In this article I'll be looking at what is necessary to get a parallel LCD hooked up and how to actually go about connecting it. Most parallel displays are very similar using industry standard interface chips (HD44780 or HD44100) so the pin assignments are often identical."

Read the article here
 

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That was a well written article. I do a lot of stuff like that at work, having to make up D-Connector leads. I actually use a crimp tool and crimp the wires into pins which then click into place in the D-Connector shell. Much quicker, cleaner and easier.

Trouble is, the crimp tool costs about £85.00 so unless you're going to be doing a lot of work with it, best stick to solder. And talking of solder, you really do need quite a good quality iron with a fine tip to do that sort of work. And a soldering station with a wet sponge cleaning pad is recommended.

I didn't follow any links, but what would you use the LCD display for? I'm assuming you plug your D-Connector into a spare paralell port and it displays info from your computer. What software is required? Does the LCD display become integral to the computer (perhaps sitting in a 5.25" bay) or is it flown externally. What's the advantages?

Sorry 'bout all the questions, but I don't know much about them displays :confused: :)
 
You can use LCD's for sticking information like current CPU usage, free disk space, Quake 3 score, current MP3 etc... Some practical uses too ;)

Yep, you just plug it straight into a parallel port, and use some LCD software called LCD Center or similar.

You can mount it in a drive bay, and power it from a Molex connector, which is probably the most common, but external ones are seen too :) Bit-Tech often have good LCD articles, but the main advantage I guess, is aesthetics

Having said that, I'm going to stick an LCD in my PC soon (I am currently experimenting driving one from a 16F627 microchip) - I'll be sure to tell you when I finish the article
 
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