Matrix Oribtal LCD
LCD's have been around for some time now, and Matrix Orbital have established themselves as the main provider of high end LCD's for computers. They have recently introduced a range of colour LCD's that provide a refreshing change from the normal green LCD's. The one I chose was a blue lcd with white text. Its my favourite of the models. I had a chance to look at the inverse blue LCD and although it was nice I definitely preferred the normal blue model.
The model I chose is the LK202-25-WB-V. It has many advanced features including:
- 20 characters x 2 lines
- Interface with up to 25-key keypad
- Use 6 General Purpose Outputs
- Software controlled speed, splash/start-up screen, line wrapping, scrolling, contrast, backlight and time-out setting (up to 180 minutes)
In my plans for the lcd early on I decided that I want to try out connecting the lcd via USB not by the normal Serial connection. The easiest way of doing this is to use a RS232 to USB converter these are available from Maplins
The converter emulates a com port so you can use all the software you can with a serial connection. Those looking for an lcd but with motherboards with no legacy ports should definitely look into these converters.
As far as software goes for the LCD I only use LCDC. You now have to pay a small registration fee but it is well worth it. The software is so advanced and set-up only for Matrix Orbital LCD's and can do more things than any other piece of software that I have used. I tried to go back to using other LCD software after this and I got frustrated very quickly. It was money well spent when I signed up for a registered copy.
