Using an I²C adapter to reduce the Arduino pins needed to drive an LCD.
LCDs based on the Hitachi HD44780 or a compatible chipset are a popular display option for Arduino project. Common form factors are 1602 (16 column, 2 row) and 2004 (20 column, 4 row).
The basic LCDs require at least 6 Arduino pins to drive, and the standard LiquidCrystal library is available for this.
To save pins and simplify wiring, there are I²C adapters available - either separately or packaged with an LCD. These board basically use some form of Remote 8-Bit I/O Expander chip, such as the TI PCF8574.
Another product that is very common on aliexpress and eBay users a part apparently from Philips, but I haven't found d datasheet for it yet.
The default address for my module turns out to be 0x3F (other common default addresses appear to include 0x27), although I had to scan the address space to discover this!
There are 3 unsoldered address pads on the module which I presume will allow adjusting the unit address.
I²C is not supported by the standard LiquidCrystal library. When I searched for I²C LCD libraries:
- it seems there is no clear leader
- there are many independent forks of common source code
- it's a bit of a mess!
Never-the-less, I picked a reletively recent one: LiquidCrystal_I2C and it is working just fine.
The I2CAdapter.ino sketch is a simple test of the library.
- 5pcs 1602 2004 LCD Adapter Plate IIC I2C / Interface lcd1602 I2C LCD Adapter for new - aliexpress
- 1pcs LCD1602 LCD monitor 1602 5V blue screen - aliexpress
- LiquidCrystal_I2C - library I am using
- Standard LiquidCrystal library
- TI PCF8574