The example circuit below shows a typical application of multiplex controller/driver ICs for alphanumeric displays. The Hitachi HD44780 easily interfaces with common 4 or 8 bit microprocessors and is fully programmable for font size, duty cycle and display functions such as blinking, clearing and shifting. The character generator is capable of fixed or programmable fonts, including Japanese kana characters. By itself the HD44780 can control a display with either one or two 8-character lines.
This example is typical of Hitachi and compatible devices. See the IC Link Page for information on obtaining these chips.
All LCD drive voltages are generated on-chip with the assistance of a simple resistor divider shown in detail on our page Multiplexing LCD's. These divider networks are somewhat complicated to design, a call to our engineering department at 1-800-786-8710 may be of help during your design efforts.