Mobile phone LCD display

[rafael_cordeiro]

Hello everybody,
I would like to know if it is possible to use mobile phone LCD diplays for general purpose, such as in microcontrollers. Does the Mobile displays have a built-in controller or something?
Thanks
Rafael

 

[Exo]

The lcd's for some nokia controllers have been documented on the net (so a google search)...

only nokia's though, no others

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hello everybody,
I would like to know if it is possible to use mobile phone LCD diplays for general purpose, such as in microcontrollers. Does the Mobile displays have a built-in controller or something?

I've never looked at one, but I wouldn't have thought so, any mass market, price driven, unit is going to use the cheapest display it can - this precludes the use of displays with built-in controllers. Many micro-controllers used in these sort of devices are designed to feed such displays, and will have the required drivers for LCD actually built in the micro-controller chip.

 

[Parag0n]

actuelly, there are quite a lot of mobile phone LCDs out there that use I2C, the nokia 3310 LCD is a good example of this, and its relatively easy to control too

 

[BartSimpson]

Buying Mobile Phones is a rather expensive way to get a nice little LCD and the prices they charge for the module are a bit high too, although being a spare part, I guess that is to be expected.

A quick bit of looking around and it seems as though that module is a custom OEM made specifically for Nokia by Solomon Goldentek as they now seem to be called. I think the Solomon ( Goldentek ) part number is GG0804A1FSN6G.

However, there really isn't much difference between that LCD and other COG modules made by a vast number of LCD manufacturers. Even in small quantities you should be able to get a serial graphic LCD for under US$10- Granted most of these would use the Samsung KS (now S6x) driver instead of the Philips. One nice feature of the Philips driver is it's bias generator only requires one or two small capacitors whereas the Samsung driver requires around 6 from memory. I2C may or may not be a feature, dependant upon how you intend to talk to the LCD or what ports/pins you have available in your micro.

I guess in the long run it comes down to what you can source and how many you need. Considering the ease of buying one off, the 50% mark-up which web-traders apply on these sort of things, isn't really that bad but when you start to factor in other items like postage and the like, it starts to add up real quick.

If you were after a small 84x48 LCD. I would be looking for a LCD manufacturer who is using the **broken link removed** and has a local agent or distributor. Be warned though, pricing for LCD modules can vary by huge amounts. It really is one area where you need to spend a great deal of time and effort in shopping around. A lot of companies might appear to be manufacturers or agents, yet they are really just merchants hiding behind some flashy brochures and web pages. If you just want one to hack and play with, you may as well have a look **broken link removed**

If you want to somehow talk to the LCD in a working phone, then all of the above is academic and the short answer to your question is ... forget it.