The Futaba NA202MD13AA VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) module is a large, bright, high quality display capable of displaying 2 rows of 20 character wide text. These displays have limited onboard logic - this library provides all the necessary driving, timing, character set, etc. To the sketch, this library is virtually identical to the standard LiquidCrystal library.
The library and examples are available here:
See Arduino Libraries for information on how to install libraries. For the purposes of that page, this library is a "user-created library".
Pros:
Cons:
If this display/library is not suitable for an particular application, the NCR 4x20 VFD may be more suitable.
Display pin descriptons:
Display Pin | Test Point | Description |
---|---|---|
2 | TP2 | +5v |
4 | TP4 | Data |
6 | TP6 | Clock |
8 | TP8 | Latch |
10 | TP10 | 0v/GND |
The VFD requires 5v power rated at 1A. Do not connect to the 5v connection on the Arduino as it can not provide sufficient current. Instead, a separate 5v regulated power supply connection is required. External computer peripherals often have suitable power supplies. Connect power supply GND to display pins 10. Connect power supply 5v to display pins 2.
Caution: While the display operates on 5V, higher voltages are generated on board. As with all VFDs, the display board should not be operated outside of an appropriate enclosure.
It is easy to connect the display to the Arduino using commonly available single-wire M-F pin headers. If only F-F wires are available, one end can be converted to male my inserting a short length of solid wire. These wires are available connected together into a separable ribbon which can make it very easy to keep track of connections.
For unmodified example sketches, connections should be made as described below.
Display Pin | Arduino Pin |
---|---|
4 | 2 |
6 | 3 |
8 | 4 |
10 | GND* |
* Display ground must be connected to both power supply ground and Arduino ground.
These methods differ from the implementations in LiquidCrystal:
These methods are identical to LiquidCrystal:
This LiquidCrystal method is not implemented:
These example sketches have identical functionality to the samples in LiquidCrystal:
PrimeVfd provides two additional samples: