DDRAM - Display Data RAM

Display data RAM (DDRAM) stores display data represented in 8-bit character codes.
Its extended capacity is 80 X 8 bits, or 80 characters. The area in display data RAM
(DDRAM) that is not used for display can be used as general data RAM. So whatever
you send on the DDRAM is actually displayed on the LCD. For LCDs like 1x16, only
16 characters are visible, so whatever you write after 16 chars is written in DDRAM
but is not visible to the user.

Figures below will show you the DDRAM addresses of 1 Line, 2 Line and 4 Line LCDs.

Figure 2: DDRAM Address for 1 Line LCD

Figure 3: DDRAM Address for 2 Line LCD

Figure 4: DDRAM Address for 4 Line LCD

CGROM - Character Generator ROM

Now you might be thinking that when you send an ascii value to DDRAM, how the
character is displayed on LCD? so the answer is CGROM. The character generator
ROM generates 5 x 8 dot or 5 x 10 dot character patterns from 8-bit character codes
(see Figure 5 and Figure 6 for more details). It can generate 208 5 x 8 dot character
patterns and 32 5 x 10 dot character patterns. Userdefined character patterns are
also available by mask-programmed ROM.

Figure 5: LCD characters code map for 5x8 dots

Figure 6: LCD characters code map for 5x10 dots

As you can see in both the code maps, the character code from 0x00 to 0x07 is
occupied by the CGRAM characters or the user defined characters. If user want to
display the fourth custom character then the code to display it is 0x03 i.e. when
user send 0x03 code to the LCD DDRAM then the fourth user created charater or
patteren will be displayed on the LCD.

CGRAM - Character Generator RAM

As clear from the name, CGRAM area is used to create custom characters in LCD. In
the character generator RAM, the user can rewrite character patterns by program.
For 5 x 8 dots, eight character patterns can be written, and for 5 x 10 dots, four
character patterns can be written. Later in this tutorial i will explain how to use
CGRAM area to make custom character and also making animations to give nice
effects to your application.

BF - Busy Flag

Busy Flag is an status indicator flag for LCD. When we send a command or data to
the LCD for processing, this flag is set (i.e BF =1) and as soon as the instruction is
executed successfully this flag is cleared (BF = 0). This is helpful in producing and
exact ammount of delay. for the LCD processing.

To read Busy Flag, the condition RS = 0 and R/W = 1 must be met and The MSB of
the LCD data bus (D7) act as busy flag. When BF = 1 means LCD is busy and will
not accept next command or data and BF = 0 means LCD is ready for the next
command or data to process.

Instruction Register (IR) and Data Register (DR)

There are two 8-bit registers in HD44780 controller Instruction and Data register.
Instruction register corresponds to the register where you send commands to LCD
e.g LCD shift command, LCD clear, LCD address etc. and Data register is used for
storing data which is to be displayed on LCD. when send the enable signal of the
LCD is asserted, the data on the pins is latched in to the data register and data is
then moved automatically to the DDRAM and hence is displayed on the LCD.

Data Register is not only used for sending data to DDRAM but also for CGRAM, the
address where you want to send the data, is decided by the instruction you send to
LCD. We will discuss more on LCD instuction set further in this tutorial.

Commands and Instruction set

Only the instruction register (IR) and the data register (DR) of the LCD can be controlled by the
MCU. Before starting the internal operation of the LCD, control information is temporarily
stored into these registers to allow interfacing with various MCUs, which operate at different
speeds, or various peripheral control devices. The internal operation of the LCD is determined by
signals sent from the MCU. These signals, which include register selection signal (RS),
read/write signal (R/W), and the data bus (DB0 to DB7), make up the LCD instructions (Table
3). There are four categories of instructions that:

Designate LCD functions, such as display format, data length, etc.

Set internal RAM addresses

Perform data transfer with internal RAM

Perform miscellaneous functions

Table 3: Command and Instruction set for LCD type HD44780

Although looking at the table you can make your own commands and test them. Below is a breif
list of useful commands which are used frequently while working on the LCD.

No.

Instruction

Hex

Function Set: 8-bit, 1 Line, 5x7 Dots

0x30

Function Set: 8-bit, 2 Line, 5x7 Dots

0x38

No.

Instruction

Hex

Function Set: 4-bit, 1 Line, 5x7 Dots

0x20

Function Set: 4-bit, 2 Line, 5x7 Dots

0x28

Entry Mode

0x06

Display off Cursor off

(clearing display without clearing DDRAM content)

0x08

Display on Cursor on

0x0E

Display on Cursor off

0x0C

Display on Cursor blinking

0x0F

10

Shift entire display left

0x18

11

Shift entire display right

0x1C

12

Move cursor left by one character

0x10

13

Move cursor right by one character

0x14

14

Clear Display (also clear DDRAM content)

0x01

15

Set DDRAM address or coursor position on display

0x80 + address*

16

Set CGRAM address or set pointer to CGRAM location

0x40 + address**

No.

Instruction

Hex
Table 4: Frequently used commands and instructions for LCD

* DDRAM address given in LCD basics section see Figure 2,3,4

** CGRAM address from 0x00 to 0x3F, 0x00 to 0x07 for char1 and so on..
The table above will help you while writing programs for LCD. But after you are done testing
with the table 4, i recommend you to use table 3 to get more grip on working with LCD and
trying your own commands. In the next section of the tutorial we will see the initialization with
some of the coding examples in C as well as assembly.
LCD Initialization

Before using the LCD for display purpose, LCD has to be initialized either by the
internal reset circuit or sending set of commands to initialize the LCD. It is the user
who has to decide whether an LCD has to be initialized by instructions or by internal
reset circuit. we will dicuss both ways of initialization one by one.
Initialization by internal Reset Circuit

An internal reset circuit automatically initializes the HD44780U when the power is
turned on. The following instructions are executed during the initialization. The busy
flag (BF) is kept in the busy state until the initialization ends (BF = 1). The busy
state lasts for 10 ms after VCC rises to 4.5 V.
Display clear
Function set:
DL = 1; 8-bit interface data
N = 0; 1-line display
F = 0; 5 x 8 dot character font
Display on/off control:
D = 0; Display off
C = 0; Cursor off
B = 0; Blinking off
Entry mode set:
I/D = 1; Increment by 1

S = 0; No shift

Note: If the electrical characteristics conditions listed under the table Power Supply
Conditions Using Internal Reset Circuit are not met, the internal reset circuit will not
operate normally and will fail to initialize the HD44780U. For such a case, initialization must be performed by the MCU as explained in the section, Initializing by
Instruction.

As mentioned in the Note, there are certain condtions that has to be met, if user
want to use initialization by internal reset circuit. These conditions are shown in the
Table 5 below.

Table 5: Power Supply condition for Internal Reset circuit

Figure 7 shows the test condition which are to be met for internal reset circuit to be
active.

Figure 7: Internal Power Supply reset

Now the problem with the internal reset circuit is, it is highly dependent on power
supply, to meet this critical power supply conditions is not hard but are difficult to
achive when you are making a simple application. So usually the second menthod
i.e. Initialization by instruction is used and is recommended most of the time.

Initialization by instructions

Initializing LCD with instructions is really simple. Given below is a flowchart that
describles the step to follow, to initialize the LCD.

Figure 8: Flow chart for LCD initialization

As you can see from the flow chart, the LCD is initialized in the following sequence...

Send command 0x30 - Using 8-bit interface

Delay 20ms
Send command 0x30 - 8-bit interface
Delay 20ms
Send command 0x30 - 8-bit interface
Delay 20ms
Send Function set - see Table 4 for more information
Display Clear command
Set entry mode command - explained below

The first 3 commands are usually not required but are recomended when you are
using 4-bit interface. So you can program the LCD starting from step 7 when
working with 8-bit interface. Function set command depends on what kind of LCD
you are using and what kind of interface you are using (see Table 4 in LCD
Command section).
LCD Entry mode:

From Table 3 in command section, you can see that the two bits decide the entry
mode for LCD, these bits are:
a) I/D - Increment/Decrement bit
b) S - Display shift.
With these two bits we get four combinations of entry mode which are
0x04,0x05,0x06,0x07 (see table 3 in LCD Command section). So we get different
results with these different entry modes. Normally entry mode 0x06 is used which is
No shift and auto incremement. I recommend you to try all the possible entry modes
and see the results, I am sure you will be surprised.

Programming example for LCD Initialization

LCD_data equ P2

;LCD Data port

LCD_D7 equ P2.7 ;LCD D7/Busy Flag

LCD_rs equ P1.0 ;LCD Register Select
LCD_rw equ P1.1 ;LCD Read/Write
LCD_en equ P1.2 ;LCD Enable

LCD_init:
mov LCD_data,#38H ;Function set: 2 Line, 8-bit, 5x7 dots
clr LCD_rs

;Selected command register

clr LCD_rw

;We are writing in instruction register

setb LCD_en

;Enable H->

L
clr LCD_en
acall LCD_busy

;Wait for LCD to process the command

mov LCD_data,#0FH ;Display on, Curson blinking command

clr LCD_rs

;Selected instruction register

clr LCD_rw

;We are writing in instruction register

setb LCD_en

;Enable H->

L
clr LCD_en
acall LCD_busy

;Wait for LCD to process the command

mov LCD_data,#01H ;Clear LCD

clr LCD_rs

;Selected command register

clr LCD_rw

;We are writing in instruction register

setb LCD_en
L

;Enable H->

clr LCD_en

acall LCD_busy

;Wait for LCD to process the command

mov LCD_data,#06H ;Entry mode, auto increment with no shift

clr LCD_rs

;Selected command register

clr LCD_rw

;We are writing in instruction register

setb LCD_en

;Enable H->

L
clr LCD_en
acall LCD_busy
ret

;Wait for LCD to process the command

;Return from routine

Now we can do the same thing in C, I am giving example using Keil C. Similar code
can be written for SDCC.

#include <AT89X51.H>
.
#define LCD_data P2
#define LCD_D7 P2_7
#define LCD_rs P1_0
#define LCD_rw P1_1
#define LCD_en P1_2

void LCD_init()
{
LCD_data = 0x38;

//Function set: 2 Line, 8-bit, 5x7 dots

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing in data register

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

L
LCD_en = 0;
LCD_busy();

//Wait for LCD to process the command

LCD_data = 0x0F;

//Display on, Curson blinking command

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing in data register

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

L
LCD_en = 0;
LCD_busy();

//Wait for LCD to process the command

LCD_data = 0x01;

//Clear LCD

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing in data register

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

L
LCD_en = 0;
LCD_busy();

//Wait for LCD to process the command

LCD_data = 0x06;

//Entry mode, auto increment with no shift

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing in data register

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

L
LCD_busy();

With the help of the above code, you are able to initialize the LCD. Now there is a
function/subroutine coming in the code i.e. LCD_busy, which is used to put delay for
LCD so that there should not be any command or data sent to the LCD untill it finish
executing the command. More on this delay routine is explained in the next section.

Reading the busy Flag

As discussed in the previous section, there must be some delay which is needed to be there for LCD
to successfully process the command or data. So this delay can be made either with a delay loop of
specified time more than that of LCD process time or we can read the busy flag, which is
recomended. The reason to use busy flag is that delay produced is almost for the exact amount of
time for which LCD need to process the time. So is best suited for every application.

Steps to read busy flag

when we send the command, the BF or D7th bit of the LCD becomes 1 and as soon as the command
is processed the BF = 0. Following are the steps to be kept in mind while reading the Busy flag.

Select command register

Select read operation

Send enable signal

Read the flag

So following the above steps we can write the code in assembly as below...

1.

;Ports used are same as the previous example

2.
3.

LCD_busy:

4.

setb LCD_D7

;Make D7th bit of LCD data port as i/p

5.

setb LCD_en

;Make port pin as o/p

6.

clr

7.

setb LCD_rw

8.

;Select command register

;we are reading

check:

9.
10.

LCD_rs

clr

LCD_en

;Enable H->

11.

setb LCD_en

12.

jb

13.

ret

LCD_D7,check ;read busy flag again and again till it becomes 0

;Return from busy routine

The equivalent C code Keil C compiler. Similar code can be written for SDCC.

1.

void LCD_busy()

2.

3.
4.

LCD_D7 = 1;

//Make D7th bit of LCD as i/p

5.

LCD_en = 1;

//Make port pin as o/p

6.

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

7.

LCD_rw = 1;

//We are reading

8.
9.

while(LCD_D7){

10.
11.

LCD_en = 0;
L

//read busy flag again and again till it becomes 0

//Enable H->

12.

LCD_en = 1;

13.

14.
15.

The above routine will provide the necessary delay for the instructions to complete. If you dont want
to read the busy flag you can simply use a delay routine to provide the a specific ammount of delay.
A simple delay routine for the LCD is given below.

1.

LCD_busy:

2.
3.

mov r7,#50H
back:

4.

mov r6,#FFH

5.

djnz r6,$

6.

djnz r7,back

7.

ret

1.

void LCD_busy()

2.

;Return from busy routine

3.

unsigned char i,j;

4.

for(i=0;i<50;i++)

5.
6.

for(j=0;j<255;j++);
}

//A simple for loop for delay

Now we are ready with the initialization routine and the busy routine for LCD. In the next section we
will see how to send data and command to the LCD

Sending Commands to LCD

To send commands we simply need to select the command register. Everything is same as we have
done in the initialization routine. But we will summarize the common steps and put them in a single
subroutine. Following are the steps:

Move data to LCD port

select command register

select write operation

send enable signal

wait for LCD to process the command

Keeping these steps in mind we can write LCD command routine as.

1.

;Ports used are same as the previous example

2.

;Routine to send command to LCD

3.
4.

LCD_command:

5.

mov LCD_data,A

;Move the command to LCD port

6.

clr LCD_rs

;Selected command register

7.

clr LCD_rw

;We are writing in instruction register

8.

setb LCD_en

;Enable H->

9.

10.

clr LCD_en

11.

acall LCD_busy

12.

ret

;Wait for LCD to process the command

;Return from busy routine

13.
14.

; Usage of the above routine

15.

; A will carry the command for LCD

16.

; e.g. we want to send clear LCD command

17.

18.

; mov a,#01H

19.

; acall LCD_command

;01H is command for clearing LCD

;Send the command

The equivalent C code Keil C compiler. Similar code can be written for SDCC.

1.

void LCD_command(unsigned char var)

2.

3.

LCD_data = var;

4.

LCD_rs = 0;

//Selected command register

5.

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing in instruction register

6.

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

7.
8.

L
LCD_en = 0;

//Function set: 2 Line, 8-bit, 5x7 dots

9.

LCD_busy();

//Wait for LCD to process the command

10.

11.

// Using the above function is really simple

12.

// var will carry the command for LCD

13.

// e.g.

14.

//

15.

// LCD_command(0x01);

Setting cursor position on LCD

To set the cursor position on LCD, we need to send the DDRAM address...

1.
2.

Bit7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
1 AD6 AD5 AD4 AD3 AD2 AD1 AD0

The seventh bit is always 1, and bit 0 to 7 are DDRAM address (See the introduction section of LCD).
so if you want to put the cursor on first position the address will be '0b0000000' in binary and 7th bit
is 1. so address will be 0x80, so for DDRAM all address starts from 0x80.
For 2 line and 16 character LCD. The address from 0x80 to 0x8F are visible on first line and 0xC0 to
0xCF is visible on second line, rest of the DDRAM area is still available but is not visible on the LCD, if
you want to check this thing, then simply put a long sting greater than 16 character and shift the
entire display, you will see all the missing character coming from the back.. this way you can make
scrolling line on LCD (see more on shifting display in commands section).
Below is an example for setting cursor position on LCD.

1.

;We are placing the cursor on the 4th position

2.

;so the DDRAM address will be 0x03

3.

;and the command will be 0x80+0x03 = 0x83

4.

mov a,#83H

5.

acall LCD_command

1.

// to do the same thing is C

2.

// as we done before

3.

LCD_command(0x83);

;load the command

;send command to LCD

Sending Data to LCD

To send data we simply need to select the data register. Everything is same as the command
routine. Following are the steps:

Move data to LCD port

select data register

select write operation

send enable signal

wait for LCD to process the data

Keeping these steps in mind we can write LCD command routine as.

1.

;Ports used are same as the previous example

2.

;Routine to send data (single character) to LCD

3.
4.

LCD_senddata:

5.

mov LCD_data,A

6.

setb LCD_rs

7.

clr LCD_rw

8.

setb LCD_en

9.

;Move the command to LCD port

;Selected data register

;We are writing

;Enable H->

10.

clr LCD_en

11.

acall LCD_busy

12.

ret

;Wait for LCD to process the data

;Return from busy routine

13.
14.

; Usage of the above routine

15.
16.

; A will carry the character to display on LCD

17.

; e.g. we want to print A on LCD

18.

19.

; mov a,#'A'

;Ascii value of 'A' will be loaded in accumulator

20.
21.

; acall LCD_senddata ;Send data

The equivalent C code Keil C compiler. Similar code can be written for SDCC.

1.

void LCD_senddata(unsigned char var)

2.

3.

LCD_data = var;

4.

LCD_rs = 1;

//Selected data register

5.

LCD_rw = 0;

//We are writing

6.

LCD_en = 1;

//Enable H->

7.

//Function set: 2 Line, 8-bit, 5x7 dots

8.

LCD_en = 0;

9.

LCD_busy();

//Wait for LCD to process the command

10.

11.

// Using the above function is really simple

12.

// we will pass the character to display as argument to function

13.

// e.g.

14.

//

15.

// LCD_senddata('A');

Now you have seen that its really easy to send command and data to LCD. Now what if we have a
string to send to LCD? how we are going to do that?
Is simple, we will store the LCD string in the ROM of controller and call the string character by
character. A simple exmple is shown below.

1.
2.

;Sending string to LCD Example

3.

LCD_sendstring:

4.

clr a

5.

movc a,@a+dptr

6.

jz

7.

acall lcd_senddata

8.

inc dptr

9.

sjmp LCD_sendstring

10.

exit

;clear Accumulator for any previous data

;load the first character in accumulator

;go to exit if zero

;send first char

;increment data pointer

;jump back to send the next character

exit:

11.

ret

;End of routine

12.
13.

; Usage of the above routine

14.

; DPTR(data pointer) will carry the address

15.

; of string to send to LCD.

16.

; e.g. we want to print "LCD Tutorial" on LCD then

17.

18.
19.

; mov dptr,#my_string ;my_string is the label where the string is stored

20.
21.

; acall LCD_sendstring

22.
23.
24.

;Send string

25.

; To store a string..

26.
27.

; my_string:

28.
29.

; DB "LCD Tutorial", 00H

30.
31.

; 00H indicate that string is finished.

The equivalent C code Keil C compiler. Similar code can be written for SDCC.

1.

void LCD_sendstring(unsigned char *var)

2.

3.

while(*var)

4.

//till string ends

LCD_senddata(*var++); //send characters one by one

5.

6.

// Using the above function is really simple

7.

// we will pass the string directly to the function

8.

// e.g.

9.

//

10.

// LCD_sendstring("LCD Tutorial");

Now we are ready with sending data and sending command to LCD. Now the last and final section
which is creating custom characters or patterns to display on LCD.