| The most fundamental decision
to make is whether the display will have the drive circuitry attached
(module), or not (glass only). There are advantages and disadvantages to
each approach.
When purchasing a Custom LCD Module, the basic electronic design work will
be done by the manufacturer. This obviously saves design time and
reduces the manpower needed to bring a product to market. You can benefit
from the experience we have gained during our previous designs to shorten
the design cycle and deliver an optimized product. The major decisions you
need to make are the interface type, with standard serial or parallel
interfaces being the most common, and the type of integrated backlighting
desired. The temperature range, viewing angle, viewing mode, and contrast
will need to be considered, but those decisions are common to both
approaches.
A glass only design puts the design burden on the end user. You will need to
learn a great deal about LCD's in order to complete your design. Luckily,
our website provides Application Information and Web
Links to assist you in the search for the information you may need.
The main reasons to buy just the LCD glass are to reduce costs, and provide
design flexibility. The total cost of the components necessary to build the
drive circuitry is typically less than the cost of a pre-built module, and
as long as you have space on your existing PC board, you won't have to pay
for an extra PC board on which to mount the display, and have access to cost
effective assembly and test . By doing a little homework, your design will
work just as well as a module, and will allow the flexibility most designers
need to adapt their design to ever changing demands.
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