This LCD 16x2 White on Blue Display, or HD44780, is a small screen capable of displaying up to 16 characters and 2 lines in alphanumerical or Japanese Kana characters natively – with space for up to 8 extra characters or symbols or “Foreign characters” of your choice as well. It can be controlled via 6 digital or analog inputs, and can be operated from either a 4-bit or an 8-bit microprocessor, making it ideal for small projects which require their own Independent Visual Interfaces.

One of the unique benefits of this LCD is that it utilizes a single LED backlight that can be dimmed with a resistor or PWM, making it far more energy-efficient than EL or electroluminescent backlights. This, in addition to the very simple and easy-to-understand circuitry, makes it a valuable addition to both beginners’ and veterans’ projects – since it offers exceptional functionality without being overly complicated, energy-hungry, or hard to integrate into a project.

Another unique feature of the HD44780 LCD is that it can also display either a 208 character 5x8 matrix or a 32 character 5x10 matrix as well, and rather than having characters on the screen you can display graphics like a battery-indicator, arrows or any other imagery that you want to manually design. This, in addition to the 9,920-bit character generator ROM and 240 character fonts, make this LCD surprisingly versatile in its display functionality.

And finally, just to add the sweet little cherry on top, this LCD display can also be used in conjunction with the IIC/I2C Serial Interface Adapter Module, which is capable of taking serial input and translating it into parallel input, utilising dramatically fewer pins to achieve the same or possibly even more efficient results.