4.2 PIC Microcontroller Display Development Tools
Display development tools are both hardware and software tools used during the development of display based projects. In this section we will look at both types of tools briefly. In the following chapters, the use of these tools will be described in detail, together with actual physical projects.
4.2.1 Display Hardware Tools
Some of the displays, such as LEDs, 7-segment displays and text based LCDs are simply connected directly to the I/O ports of microcontrollers. These simple display devices are driven directly by software written by the user. In this section we are more concerned with GLCD display devices with integrated microcontrollers. These are in general small handheld devices incorporating GLCD displays on one side of the PCB, and microcontroller hardware on the other side of the PCB. The microcontroller is programmed for a specific display task, and once programmed the devices can be used stand-alone, for example by connecting to a battery. Some displays incorporate Touch Screen panels and circuits to enable the user to make selections by touching the screen.
4.2.1.1 SmartGLCD Board
SmartGLCD board (see Figure 4.10) is a small (14 × 9 cm) handheld GLCD display development board manufactured by mikroElektronika. The board consists of a 240 × 128 pixel monographic graphics display on one side, and as shown in Figure 4.11, a PIC18F8722 microcontroller on the other side. The device includes a RGB backlight and Touch Screen ...
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