SparkFun Forums

[dude]

It like to drive my graphic serial backpack and 128x160 LCD off a 5V supply used for the rest of my project. As it is, the backpack is supposed to be driven at 6V-7V which is awkward and, for me, very impractical, but that is simply so the regulator on the backpack can deliver 5V. At 5V regulator on the backpack drops the voltage too low for the LCD text to be readable, but the LCD itself is supposed to run well at 5V.

Can the regulator on the backpack be short circuited (jumpered) so that the unregulated 5V runs both the backpack and the LCD? If my supply voltage is clean it looks from the schematic that this should work. If I run it off a USB-serial, then I am guessing I will get a clean enough 5V not to require the regulation. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[whoismaha]

I've been using the SF Serial 128x64 with backpack on a 5v power supply.. so far it has been working very well. When you run yours at 6v the display is more readable? If you haven't, my guess is the contrast needs to be adjusted, there is a little gold knob on the backpack. You could also try turning the backlight brightness down?

I noticed that sometimes the display looks washed out for some reason. If i draw a box around the border of the display, everything looks clear (not sure why though).

If you wanted to just power the display directly, you can see the correct pins here: http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/LCD/ ... 8STBWW.pdf