Everything you need to know to make this work:

Code:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);

void setup() {
  lcd.begin(16, 2);
  lcd.print("hello, world!");
}

void loop() {
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
  lcd.print(millis()/1000);
}

Wiring diagram:

• pin 1: ground
• pin 2: 5V
• pin 3: 3.3kΩ resistor (orange/orange/red) to ground
• pin 4: digital pin 12
• pin 5: ground
• pin 6: digital pin 11
• pin 7: nothing
• pin 8: nothing
• pin 9: nothing
• pin 10: nothing
• pin 11: digital pin 5
• pin 12: digital pin 4
• pin 13: digital pin 3
• pin 14: digital pin 2
• pin 15: 5V
• pin 16: 47Ω resistor (yellow/purple/black) to 47Ω resistor (yellow/purple/black) to ground

The 3.3kΩ resistor replaces the potentiometer (at least for me).

Example code

What are the solder jumpers J1-J6 on the back?

Does anyone know where I can find information on the empty surface mount pads on the back of this board? Seems like I should be able to save some wiring if I can use those.

For those having problems try this. With the pins at the top pin 1 is next to the edge. I'm using an Arduino ATMega 328 mini pro.
using the example Hello World arduino sketch.
PIN1 = tie to gnd
2 = tie to 5v
3 = resistor ~2-3K to gnd
4 = rs = tie to pin 12 on arduino
5 = r/w = tie to gnd
6 = enable = tie to pin 11 on arduino
7-10 = open (no connections)
11 = tie to pin 5 on arduino
12 = tie to pin 4 on arduino
13 = tie to pin 3 on arduino
14 = tie to pin 2 on arduino
15 = tie to 4.2 V (5V is working for me right now)
16 = tie to gnd
using this with an arduino will work

I made a tutorial (in portuguese) about how to use, create custom characters and design menus for the LCD display. Take a look: http://engenheirando.com/arduino/displaylcd/

I'm after a 20x4 version of this white on black display. Can't seem to find one anywhere. Does such a beast exist?

Working OK with Picaxe 20x2 but uses pins I would like to have free for i2c. So, I am getting bigger picaxe to go with it. Used 2 rectifier diodes in series for the voltage drop to 4.2v on the backlight and two 1k ohm resisters in series for the contrast. Looks good.

Thanks loophole! I got the display working fine using this link that link that was mentioned, http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/LiquidCrystal, but it was dim since the backlight was not working. After reading loophole's comment and looking at datafile I applied 4.2V pin 15 and grounded pin 16, and all was GREAT!
Note: To get around 4.2V I just ran it through two IN4004 diodes.

Works fine with Arduino and LiquidCristal library.
Needs a lcd.clear() in void setup()
And don't just ground the contrast (V0), use a pot or you won't be able to read anything.

How bright is this? I would like to leave it on in the dark but not have it too bright such that it looks like a light source. I'm considering getting this vs. the standard black on green since it looks nicer but hoping its not too bright in the night.

I already fried one while soldering on the headers, now I think I ruined a second one. I have it wired up the way KHartley describes, but I only get backlight, no text, even when simply uploading the Hello World example sketch. Assuming I didn't destroy it, does anyone know why this might be?

Could some one please tell me how to turn on the lcd backlight? Thanks to anyone for any suggestions

This display looks sooooo much nicer than the standard blue/white or green/black combo. It's well worth the extra few bucks.

LCD works for 2 minutes and then the screen dims…… wired as instructed in the SIK guide. Any ideas?

The post that KHartley posted with regards to all the pin connections and using an Aduino mini pro, who then also got a reply from member 468163, that the code and everything worked.

I am using the exact components and have followed the exact pin configurations for the past 2 weeks, connecting then reconnecting, I have also tried different FTDI cables for uploading onto the Arduino pro mini. BUT have had no success, PLEASE help me as it is a basic issue I am sure but cannot find the solution, My 16*2 LCD lights up and also when I upload a program the arduino page reads that it has successfully uploaded (Done Uploading).

I have seen that the other alternative or different way of setting up the circuit is by using a resistor instead of the 10K potentiometer that I am using.

Any suggestions?

Here's a tutorial on creating custom characters with Arduino on instructables => http://www.instructables.com/id/Controlling-a-character-LCD-with-an-Arduino/?ALLSTEPS.

Hey. looking to find a good mounting solution for this onto a project box. Any suggested DIY projects or prefab bezel solutions for a professional look?

can this run in 8bit mode? I'm trying so hard to just wire up the 8 data lines and manually send the bits required for certain symbols. But it's either stuck in 4bit mode, or I'm completely lost. My program is simple and I KNOW that it is sending the 1's and 0's down the appropriate lines but I can't get a response at all. And I can succesfully apply the example code for liquid crystal. In class we just banged some bits into those old lcd's and got the expected response... Is this one more advanced or something? Thanks, I really appreciate any help.

No matter what line I set the cursor at using lcd.setCursor(0,0), or lcd.setCursor(0,1), it will print everything on line 0. I've used the same LCD, different size before and never had this issue.

Any Ideas?

Could the library be changed to display the Japanese characters as seen in the extended datasheet?

I'm trying to find a 16-pin ribbon connector for this display. Do you guys know of where I can find one?

FYI, currently, you can get this plus header pins and a potentiometer at the link below, for the same price.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10054

This is A good tutorial in Arabic language how connect it wth arduino How connect arduino with lcd

You should make the LCD's connection pins on the bottom, like on the RGB backlit LCD's (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10862). I like standing them straight up and down on breadboards. If I tried that with this one, it would be upside down.

Can someone help with the backlight spec? The wrong datasheet is posted (assumes multi-LED backlight 4.2V@160mA)

My LCD is marked "ADM1602K-NSW-FBS/Z". It's a single white LED w/on-board 130R series resistor- measures 16mA at 5V across Pin15-16

Does anyone know where I could buy the 16x4 or 20x4 version of this LCD? I'd like one with the same white on black style.

Just in case there are any n00b, like me, out there struggling with this thing. The LED is 3.3V but everything else is 5V.

I've worked with these for a little bit now and it is a very nice looking display, and works well with arduino.

has anyone measured the amperage on the backlight?
my lcd is working fine.
and the backlight only needs 15mA @ 5V without any resistor involved...
can anyone verify this?

Which part in eagle should I use for this?
I can't find a 16 pin header for this lcd in the Sparkfun library.

I'm having a problem with this lcd, I can'd print custom caracters, I tried the code that this site http://icontexto.com/charactercreator/ gives you when you create a custom char, tried some other examples, but nothing, I always get just two vertical bars on the second and fourth columns.
Is it a compatibility issue with this controller (it's a SPLC780D, not a HD44780 as said in the description).
BTW, it can display normal characters just fine.

I love this little LCD! It works great. However, I'm having a wicked hard time finding hardware (i.e. self-clinching PEM stud) that I can use to mount this. The 2.5mm mounting holes are pretty small. I'm trying hard not to use glues.
Any suggestions, anyone?
Thanks in advance. :)

I'm having problems with my contrast - it's always either too high (washed out characters) or too low (can't see the character) on separate spaces at the same time. No matter how I adjust it, each character seems to require a different contrast level. Help, please?

An RGB backlit version would be AMAZING!
They look relatively inexpensive too:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Newhaven-Display/NHD-0216K1Z-NSRGB-FBW-REV1/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMt7dcPGmvnkBh7HNOkOcI5QdW24NKaHSg4%3d

I'm also having trouble with LCD. I hooked up at 10kOhm pot, but when I upload the code it just gives me random pixels and characters. Is my Atmega on my Arduino Uno shot?

out of stock...anyone know where else to get these? I tried google and can't find any other suppliers.

for PIC directly, but you can implement driver for any microcontroller easily using mine as a base...
its just digital output high/lows so lol
http://joekwuen.blogspot.com/2011/02/project-hd44780-textual-lcd-driver-for.html

Like others have said, works well with liquidcrystal library and I also like to pwm the backlight with a fet on the low side. Looks really cool to have it fade out to 1 or 2% duty cycle standby mode when there has been no button presses/input in a while and then fade back in when you press a button.
Also no external resistor is needed for the backlight; just like almost all other 5v character LCDs this one has a series resistor right on the board. Mine is 130 ohms.

Very Awesome display! It fired up and worked for me first try using the Arduino Liquid-Crystal library.
Strongly recommend using this display!

Hello everyone.
Can anyone here give me a schematic that shows how to connect the above lcd with one atmega328
running arduino bootloader (just the chip not the whole
dev board,on a breadboard)

The mbed example that is listed is not using serial. Setting up the serial with mbed is quite easy though.<br />
<br />
Serial lcd(p13,NC); // NC = not used

Works Great! Used with the Arduino and LiquidCrystal. Very clear and easy to read. I originally was setting contrast with a PWM pin to see how it worked(AKA I forgot to buy a trimpot), but it made the screen 'pulse'. Switched to a potentiometer I scrounged and that worked much better. Ive got the backlight hooked to +5 and its been working fine so far.

I was able to achieve much better contrast by applying a slightly negative voltage on the Vo pin (3). Minus 200 mV did the trick. I seem to remember that LCD's used to have a negative output for just this reason. I don't know what the rating of this pin is, so proceed with caution.

For those of you trying to hook up the LED backlight, here are some things to consider:
1) The spec sheet says 120mA typical, 160mA max. for the backlight.
2) The backlight is a 4.2V forward biased LED, so pin A (or 15) is the anode and K (or 16) is the Cathode.
3) If you hook it to an Arduino, powering the LED backlight from a digital I/O pin will only source 40mA max. (PIC micros are even less), any more and you are overloading your output. Tie pin K (or 16) to ground, and A (or 15) will be the high side. If you design for 40mA, calculate the current limiting resistor to put between the I/O pin and pin A (or 15) of the LED backlight as follows: 5V-4.2V=0.8V and 0.8V/0.040A=20ohms however, be sure to measure the voltage across your current limiting resistor and calculate the actual current flowing to the LED just in case... don't overload your Arduino I/O!
(more continued below...)

Got it working with this tutorial
http://www.hacktronics.com/Tutorials/arduino-character-lcd-tutorial.html

Thanks to the guy who did that wiring up diagram at Aruduino.
Thanks to the guy who first pointed that for that bcklight to work one needs pin 15 on +4.2V and pin 16 on ground. Without that I was getting a pretty dim job.
For me, 82ohm resistor produced exactly 4.2V, on the pin 15. 10ohm resistor was giving me around 4.8V. Since I've no clue, better safe than sorry.
It is a brilliant little LCD. Really looks cool. I bought it for the looks ;-)

I made it work by using the same schematic featured in the LiquidCrystal Arduino library page, except LCD pin 6 is hooked to a digital PWM instead of a potentiometer for controlling contrast.
I used a 10ohm resistor for pin 15 to drop the backlight voltage, it works great and looks just like the picture. Pin 16 is hooked to ground.
Very nice, bright, easy to use LCD!

Pretty cool little LCD. I had some problems initially with the 4bit LCD library, but after finding that the standard LiquidCrystal library supports 4-bit data lines it worked great.
The one thing that threw me off was that the standard (not extended) datasheet mentions that the backlight (BKL) can be driven by pins 1,2 or 15,16 -- however I found that I needed to apply 4.2v to pins 15,16 before the backlight would work. Easy fix, just misleading on the datasheet.

I'm very impressed. I followed the connections from the data sheet and set them up the same way the LiquidCrystal "Hello World" example sketch calls for, and the display worked perfectly with my Arduino Duemilanove. It does take some playing with the contrast potentiometer, but I quickly found the perfect setting. The display is sharp, clear, and cool white letters on a black background.

Ordered mine a week ago and finally got around to playing with it. I used the included LiquidCrystal.h for Arduino to run this thing. Very easy to use once you get it up and running. To get the contrast working I used a 3.3Kohm resistor going to ground, looks amazing. Not quite as bright as picture but I think I'm close. 2.2Kohm is too washed out and 6.8 Kohm nothing shows up. I can't believe how much easier this is compared to the 68HC12. Uhhh, I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life.

Hey I'm thinking of buying one, but I'd like to know. How bright is it, I'm thinking of using it on a buggy to show fuel, tack, and speed. So it will be vibrating around in bright sunlight. My question is, will it be legible?
Thanks.

Characters on mine look very dimmed! I'm using a potentiometer, however when powered up doesn't look anything like the product image thumbnail.
I'm following the schematics from Arduino website: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/LiquidCrystal
It works fine with my second LCD (black on green) but not with this one (white on black).
Am I missing something?

Does anyone have a recommended source for a mounting bezel faceplate for this display?

nvm the pdf above not only has the dimensions but also the tolerances! nice

are the above dimensions the lcd itself or the actual part?

Has anyone got this working with the LiquidCrystal or LCD4bit library? I am having quite a bit of trouble getting it to work reliably and am at the point where I am going to try and code my own library for it.

Nice bit of kit : )

Great little lcd, for basic output, debugging etc. Very easy to interface, and looks very slick! If you need a basic no frills LCD, this is a good buy.

Great Product! I am a arduino newb and got it up and running in no time. I would love to be able to power this with a battery...anyone try this?