Replacing array member on the fly (big LCD characters idea)

[richard]

But can it show the time or date or anything else but the one digit ?

if you really want big chr's on that size display get a 122x32 graphical job

[CuriousOne]

Yes, why not?
Here I was having fun with animation process - direct reading from EEPROM is a new thing for me. I already have clock code written to use these 2x2 chars, will post it after I'll tidy it up.

Graphical screens might be good but 1602 OLED have 2 advantages:

1. We know the interface.
2. They're cheap for their size (comparable physical size Graphical OLED is more expensive)

[CuriousOne]

And almost forgot - 1602 OLEDs also support mixed mode - having both character and graphic mode together. So you can save on memory when displaying the text and digits, and use graphics only where needed - and you're not limited by 8 custom characters in that case.

[richard]

Yes, why not?

the font you depict has 22 "shapes" that i can see, the display can hold only eight user defined [cga ram] shapes at any one time

try to show this

[CuriousOne]

This is 1602 OLED, using WS0010 controller, and besides the standard mode, it also has Graphical mode. So you can write whatever you want. Or you can use a trick - Draw something with these 8 custom chars. Switch display to graphic mode - all image on screen remains, but it is turned into graphics. Now turn back to standard mode, update custom charset and draw next symbol at next place (the symbol you've drawn previously is kept on display, because it turned into graphics) and so on.

[Ioannis]

And there is Nextion displays, in many sizes, low cost, with touch and colors to do anything like that with almost zero overhead in programming.

But in either case, nice study case.

Ioannis

[mpgmike]

I am using the Nextion displays more and more. Not only can they display anything you like, they're easy to program, use a simple UART communication protocol (with user defined Baud rate), and because they're touch screen, they eliminate the need for buttons, knobs, and switches. You can load practically any font you want into your project, along with graphics for fancy buttons etc.

(Nuts & Volts Magazine currently has Part 4 of a 7 part article series on using the Nextion... and yes, I wrote it.)

[CuriousOne]

Unfortunately, nextion displays are junk in several aspects:

1. Low display brightness, bad viewing angles, zero daylight visibility, bad contrast. Can't be compared to OLED in this field. And who needs "ease of programming" (which is very questionable), if you can't see the result?
2. Their IDE is written with left rear feet and has appropriate usability.
3. Price? Above mentioned 1602 OLED module costs $9. I'd love to have Nextion for that price.

All above is based on personal experience with nextion displays, not other's ideas or impressions.