LCD options

[MRE]

What are some of the options for LCDs.

To be more specific: I have 20X2 displays laying all over the place. I know the best setup is with 2 x 40x2 LCDs.. so.. can two 20x2 displays be chained together to work like a 40x2, and thus use FOUR 20x2 displays?

Or is the hardware limitation TWO displays, regardless of their configuration?

The data lines on the displays can all be daisy chained, so the only real limitation here is that 4 pins need to be used from the core to handle the enable for each display. Is this a supportable feature or would I have to write some crazy MIOS code to make it work?

I might consider a seperate pic 16F84 or some such to 'fool' the core into thinking its connected to two 40x2s, and stream out data to 4 displays as an easier option.

How does the Core handle lcd messaging. Awareness is set as a user panel option or is it set when you compile?

[TK.]

LCDs cannot be cascaded, the data and control lines have to be connected in parallel, and the enable lines have to be controlled seperately. By using the MIOS_LCD_Init function with different parameters for IO pin assignment of the enable line, you can select as much LCDs as IO pins are free. Anyhow, you will need to adapt the software... if you build up an application from scratch, this will be easy. If you are trying to consider LCD switching in an existing application, it will be a lot of effort

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[TK.]

P.S.: if compatibility does matter, you could write a custom LCD driver instead of switching between the displays via MIOS_LCD_Init

A CLCD custom driver is already available, you only need to redirect the enable lines depending on the cursor position

Best Regards, Thorsten.