Although the Raspberry Pi can use a monitor or TV as a display, it is often nice to use a smaller, more specialized display with it. In this chapter, we explore a range of different displays that can be attached to a Raspberry Pi.
An alternative to attaching special-purpose displays as described in this chapter is to attach a monitor (this can be a small one) to your Raspberry Pi or even use a phone or tablet connected over VNC.
15.1 Using a Four-Digit LED Display
Problem
You want to display a four-digit number in an old-fashioned, seven-segment LED display.
Solution
Attach an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) LED module, such as the model shown in Figure 15-1, to a Raspberry Pi using female-to-female jumper wires.
Figure 15-1. Seven-segment LED display with a Raspberry Pi
Adafruit 4×7-segment LED with I2C backpack (see “Modules”)
The connections between the Raspberry Pi and the module are as follows:
VCC (+) on the display to 5V on the Raspberry Pi general-purpose input/output (GPIO) connector
GND (–) on the display to GND on the Raspberry Pi GPIO connector
SDA (D) on the display to GPIO 2 (SDA) on the Raspberry Pi GPIO connector
SCL (C) on the display to GPIO 3 (SCL) on the Raspberry Pi GPIO connector ...
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