Adafruit carries many character LCD display varieties with multiple sizes and backlight colors.

The Adafruit I2C / SPI character LCD backpack allows you to control these displays by sending data over the two wire I2C interface. Standard LCDs require a large number of digital pins, straining the capability of even an Arduino Uno. Use of the I2C backpack reduces the pins needed considerably.

This project features a 16x2 display, displaying distance without using a great deal of memory (important on a small microcontroller like Trinket).

The I2C backpack may be assembled and placed on the back of the display. See the guide to backpack assembly to prepare your display and the backpack.

The color displays have a couple of extra connectors - pins 16, 17, and 18 control the three color backlights. If you connect pin 16 to GND, the I2C will control the red light. You can choose to put a jumper from one of the backlight pins to backpack pin 16 to choose a different color or connect the pins high to keep them on all the time. Making the pin choice before soldering on the backpack allows you the most flexibility in choosing your backlight color.
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Or you can just go with a 'classic' blue & white 16x2 LCD

This guide was first published on Oct 01, 2013. It was last updated on Mar 28, 2024.

This page (The LCD Display) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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