This OLED uses the SSD1331 driver chip, which manages the display. You can talk to the driver chip using either 3 or 4-wire write-only SPI (clock, data, chip select, data/command and an optional reset pin) or standard 8-bit parallel 8080/6800 which also permits reading pixel data from the display. Our example code shows how to use SPI since for such a display, its plenty fast. Inlcuded on the fully assembled breakout is the OLED display and a small boost converter (required for providing 12V to the OLED) and a microSD card holder. Our example code shows how to read a bitmap from the uSD card and display it all via SPI.

The logic levels for the microSD ard and OLED are 3.3V max. In order to make this breakout usable for bidirectional 8-bit and SPI interfaces, we left out an on-board level shifter. However, we include a DIP chip 75LVC245 8-bit level converter chip and our tutorial shows how to wire it to an Arduino so that you can use the breakout with 5V logic such as that of an Arduino. If you have a 3.3V logic level microcontroller system, you can skip the level shifter.

Of course, we wouldn't just leave you with a datasheet and a "good luck!" - we've written a full open source graphics library that can draw pixels, lines, rectangles, circles, text and bitmaps as well as example code and a wiring tutorial. The code is written for Arduino but can be easily ported to your favorite microcontroller!

Pick one up today from the adafruit shop!

Please note: all OLEDs have a “half life” — their brightness naturally diminishes over time, albeit over many thousands of hours. This makes them a poor choice for always-on 24/7/365 use. Best to turn off the display when inactive, or consider using a color LCD for continuously running projects.