Adding a LCD to any project immediately kicks it up a notch. This tutorial explains how to connect an inexpensive HDD44780 compatible LCD to the Raspberry Pi using 6 GPIO pins. While there are other ways to connect using I2C or the UART, this is the most direct method that gets right down to the bare metal.

This technique:

  • allows for inexpensive LCDs to be used
  • does not require any i2c drivers
  • won't steal the only serial port on the Pi.

The example Python code sends date, time, and the Pi's IP address to the display. If you are running a Pi in headless mode, being able to determine the IP address at a glance is really handy.

To Follow This Tutorial You Will Need

You can use nearly any character LCD with this tutorial - it will work with 16x1, 16x2, 20x2, 20x4 LCDs. It will not work with 40x4 LCDs

This guide was first published on Aug 17, 2012. It was last updated on Mar 17, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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