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LCD Displays

Versatile Graphic & Character LCD Displays Built for Clear, Consistent Communication Across Any Application

Get dependable performance and excellent readability with our character and graphic LCD displays. These energy-efficient panels combine proven technology with modern design versatility, available in multiple sizes, colors, and interface options to fit a wide range of applications.

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How to Choose a Character LCD

Here are six decisions to help narrow our wide selection of displays to the character LCD that's right for your product: size and character format, backlight, interface, construction, display mode, and viewing angle. Work through them in order, and you'll land on a short list of in-stock modules ready to incorporate into your design.

01 · DISPLAY SIZE

Size and Character Format

How much does your interface need to say?

Character LCDs are sized by rows and columns, not diagonal inches: a 16×2 module shows two lines of 16 characters, a 20×4 shows four lines of 20. Start with the longest message your firmware needs to display, then check the outline dimensions against your enclosure. Compact formats like 8×1 and 16×1 suit simple status readouts while 20×4 and larger fit multi-line menus.

Character LCD size diagram showing rows and columns, with a close-up example of individual character dimensions

02 · BACKLIGHTS

LED Backlights and Colors

Does your product need a backlight and, if so, which one?

Start there. No backlight keeps cost lowest and stays perfectly readable in bright, direct lighting conditions. If your product will be used in rooms where light is lower or at night, add a backlight and choose a color that fits your brand, including yellow-green, white, blue, or red. If you need the flexibility to change that color, then pick an RGB display.

Backlight Outdoor/Sunlight Darkness/Low Light Visual Character Best Viewing Environment
No Backlight Excellent * Poor Simple, Low Power Outdoor or High Ambient Light
Yellow-Green Good - Excellent * Very Good Classic Indoor, Industrial Equipment
White Good * Excellent Neutral, Versatile Indoor, General-Purpose
Blue Fair - Good * Excellent Modern, Cool Indoor, Low-Moderate Light
Red Fair Excellent Warning / Alert Low-Light, Nighttime Equipment
RGB Good - Excellent * Excellent Flexible, Color-Coded Anywhere Depending on Color
Outdoor / Sunlight Excellent *
Darkness / Low Light Poor
Visual Character Simple, Low Power
Best Viewing Environment Outdoor or High Ambient Light
Outdoor / Sunlight Good - Excellent *
Darkness / Low Light Very Good
Visual Character Classic
Best Viewing Environment Indoor, Industrial Equipment
Outdoor / Sunlight Good *
Darkness / Low Light Excellent
Visual Character Neutral, Versatile
Best Viewing Environment Indoor, General-Purpose
Outdoor / Sunlight Fair - Good *
Darkness / Low Light Excellent
Visual Character Modern, Cool
Best Viewing Environment Indoor, Low-Moderate Light
Outdoor / Sunlight Fair
Darkness / Low Light Excellent
Visual Character Warning / Alert
Best Viewing Environment Low-Light, Nighttime Equipment
Outdoor / Sunlight Good - Excellent *
Darkness / Low Light Excellent
Visual Character Flexible, Color-Coded
Best Viewing Environment Anywhere Depending on Color

* Outdoor performance depends strongly on brightness, polarizer, contrast and LCD mode; if LCD is transflective or reflective.

03 · INTERFACE

Built-in Interface

How will the display talk to your microcontroller?

With a controller already on board each LCD, the real decision is which connection fits your host. Choose parallel if you're building from reference code or an existing library since it's the most widely supported option. Go with I2C or SPI when board space is tight or you're already sharing a bus with other components. Pick RS-232(TTL) if your host only has a UART to spare and you'd rather send serial commands than manage a parallel bus.

Parallel

6800/8080-style
4 or 8-bit

Best For

MCUs with I/O pins to spare; fastest, simplest firmware

Main Consideration

Uses 6-10+ pins, check pin budget before committing

I²C

2-Wire
Addressable

Best For

Pin-constrained designs, or driving multiple displays in 1 bus

Main Consideration

Slower clock and needs pull-up resistors on SDA/SCL

SPI

3/4-Wire
Synchronous

Best For

Pin-constrained designs, that still need faster refresh than I²C

Main Consideration

No built-in addressing, ea. display needs its own slave-select line

RS-232(TTL)

1-Wire UART
ASCII Command Set

Best For

Simple text output from any UART, no display driver library needed

Main Consideration

Lowest throughput; fine for status text, not fast-updating data

04 · MODULE TYPE

COB vs. COG

Do you need a ready-to-wire module, or the thinnest possible display?

COB (Chip on Board) modules mount the driver IC on a small PCB, giving you a complete module with a pin header, ready to wire on the bench. COG (Chip on Glass) modules skip the PCB, bonding the driver directly to the glass for a thinner display that connects by flex cable. Prototyping fast? Start with COB. Tight on depth? Go COG.

Diagram comparing COB (Chip on Board) and COG (Chip on Glass) construction

05 · LCD MODES

Positive vs. Negative Display

Dark text on a light screen, or light text on a dark screen?

Positive mode shows dark characters on a light background and is the most common choice and an easy read in most lighting. Negative mode reverses it for a higher-contrast look in low-light settings. Display mode is independent of backlight color, so both modes pair with various colors.

Positive display mode: dark characters on a light background Negative display mode: light characters on a dark background

06 · VIEWING ANGLE

6:00 vs. 12:00

Where will your user's eyes be relative to the screen?

Every character LCD is optimized for peak contrast from one direction which is designated by clock position. A 12:00 view looks best when the viewer is above the display looking down. A 6:00 view looks best when the viewer is below looking up.

Diagram comparing 6:00 and 12:00 viewing angle orientations
12:00 viewing angle diagram 6:00 viewing angle diagram

Frequently Asked Questions

Most character LCDs run on 5V logic, with 3.3V versions available for battery-powered or low-voltage designs. Check the supply voltage on the product page before you finalize your power budget. It's listed alongside current draw for both the logic and the backlight.

Standard character LCDs are rated for -20°C to 70°C, which covers most indoor and light industrial environments. If your product runs in a low temperature outdoor environment or in a vehicle, ask about wide-temperature options or a built-in heater before you commit to a specific part number.

Yes, most character LCDs ship with widely supported driver libraries, including ready-to-use Arduino examples. Our Support Center has example code and datasheets for every interface we offer, so you can get a display running on the bench before you write any application code.

Standard modules cover most projects, but connectors, cover lens, backlight color, and even custom character sets can be modified at moderate minimum order quantities. Start from the closest standard part and tell us what needs to change and we'll create samples for what your design requires.

Order 1-2 pieces of any standard part directly from the product page, most ship the same day. Once you've validated it on the bench, the same part number scales into volume pricing when you're ready for production.

Yes, our engineers can cross-reference a competitor's part number or a legacy display to a compatible or drop-in replacement. Send us the display you're replacing, and we'll help you match the character format, interface, and mounting before you redesign anything.

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