Lumex Graphic LCD Road Test

This is a review of the Lumex LCR-U12864GSF-WH which was recently sent to me by Newark as part of their Product Road Testing program.

The Lumex LCR-U12864GSF-WH is a graphic LCD display (pardon the redundancy) with white backlighting and screen measuring 128 pixels in width and 64 pixels in height. It uses the standard KS0108 chip by Samsung, and a well documented Arduino library is available for download.

The viewing area is 38.8mm x 70mm (1.5″ x 2.75″) and the entire display fits the palm of your hand.

Here’s the top view:

And here’s the bottom view:

To use it you have to solder headers to the LCD first; you can use single row breakaway female headers if you just intend to connect the jumper wires directly to it. You still will need a breadboard (easiest way) to keep your project organized — two power sources and a trimmer potentiometer (trimpot) — although the library documentation shows how you can make these connections using a small perfboard (recommended for permanent projects). I may use it this way in the future once I decide on a cool project to use it on.

The Lumex LCR-U12864GSF-WH is a very good choice for a beginner as it has a well documented library for the Arduino, and wiring of the unit is straightforward. You can use the information on the datasheet, but the library documentation offers an illustrated guide on how to wire the unit properly.

The logic can be powered by the Arduino board (5V), but the LED backlight and heater are powered by a benchtop power supply at 12V, with a current limiting resistor being used on the LED. Once you have a permanent setup you may use batteries to power your project.

Links:

• Newark.com electronic component distributor
• Lumex LCR-U12864GSF-WH page where you can purchase the display
• Graphic LCD displays page on Newark.com where you can see all graphic LCDs available for purchase

Here is the connection diagram made with Fritzing:

And a picture of the setup: