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Controlling a Seven-Segment Display Using Arduino Part 1

* This is a multi-part post. Here are links to all parts:

Part 1: Overview; this post
Part 2: Bill of Materials and sketch #1
Part 3: Sketch #2, using a pushbutton
Part 4: Sketch #3, bit manipulation

A seven segment display is composed of seven elements that individually on or off can be combined to produce simplified representations of the numbers 0-9.

There are two types of 7-segment displays:7-segment display with labels

  • Common Anode with all the LED anodes connected together. These need a display driver with outputs which become low to light each segment. The common anode is connected to +Vs.
  • Common Cathode with all the LED cathodes connected together. These need a display driver with outputs which become high to light each segment. The common cathode is connected to 0V.

The segments in a 7-segment display are referred to by the letters A-G, as shown in the picture. Some displays have a dot to allow for the representation of a decimal point.

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