> **Source:** Core Electronics is an Australian maker-electronics retailer and manufacturer based in Newcastle, NSW, run by a team of makers and educators. We design and manufacture our own product lines (PiicoDev, CE originals) and are official retailers for iconic maker and industrial brands including Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Adafruit, SparkFun and DFRobot. Orders ship Australia-wide from our Newcastle warehouse. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Pricing, stock and dispatch on this page are generated from the store's live catalog. Full machine-readable index: https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt

# Blue Character OLED 16x2

**Type:** Product page · **SKU:** ADA823 · **Brand:** [Adafruit](https://core-electronics.com.au/brands/adafruit-australia)
**Page:** https://core-electronics.com.au/blue-character-oled-16x2.html ([markdown](https://core-electronics.com.au/blue-character-oled-16x2.html.md))

## Retired product

This product is retired and no longer available for purchase. Search the catalogue for an alternative.

## How to buy

- **Search the catalogue:** `https://core-electronics.com.au/search/{query}.md` (URL-encode the query; pages 2-3 at `search/{query}/{page}.md`; `search.md?q=` also works)
- **Payment methods, purchase orders, policies and contact details:** https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt
## Description

When you need low power, ultra-high contrast and any-angle readability, you can't beat these great looking character OLEDs. They are pin/shape compatible with 'standard' HD44780 LCDs. The code is slightly different (they're more timing sensitive) so [Adafruit have Adafruit's own Arduino library that plays better with the OLEDs than the standard LiquidCrystal library](https://github.com/ladyada/Adafruit_CharacterOLED). Best of all, no backlight or contrast control is required, so they're even simpler to get running.
 
 **This OLED is not compatible with any of our LCD shields or backpacks!**

- 16 characters wide, 2 rows
- Bright blue OLED text on black background
- Connection port is 0.1" pitch, single row for easy breadboarding and wiring
- Pins are documented on the back of the LCD to assist in wiring it up
- No backlight! Each pixel is an individual LED
- Can be fully controlled with only 7 digital lines! (Any analog/digital pins can be used)
- Built in default character set supports English/Japanese text. Can also be set to use Western European and Russian, see the WS0010 datasheet for the full character sets
- Up to 8 extra characters can be created for custom glyphs or 'foreign' language support
- Comes with a strip of header
- Works with 3V or 5V power & logic
 
As an added bonus, the controller allows you to use it as a 100x16 graphic display as well - check the WS0010 datasheet for details. Adafruit don't have a tutorial for this mode.
 
 By default, the module is set up to be 4 or 8-bit HD44780 compatible. If you're handy with a soldering iron, you can apparently place it in 'SPI' mode, by changing some of the jumpers on the back of the PCB. Adafruit don't have a tutorial for using this mode, check the datasheets for details.
 
 For basic wiring information, check out Adafruit's detailed step-by-step Arduino+LCD tutorial however, [you'll need to use Adafruit's character OLED library and wire up the RW pin instead of grounding it](https://github.com/ladyada/Adafruit_CharacterOLED)

## Technical Details

For more information, check out Adafruit's detailed step-by-step Arduino+LCD tutorial

Adafruit have [a datasheet that has dimensions and pin-locations](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/WEH1602.pdf) and then a [WS0010 datasheet with the detailed commands for control](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/WS0010.pdf)
 
 [This NHD display datasheet](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/NHD-0216KZW-AB5.pdf) seems to be identical and has some information on how to set the display into SPI mode by adjusting the L\_CS\_H and L\_PS\_H resistor jumpers on the back of the PCB

 ![](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/wysiwyg/resources/rohs_icon.jpg)

## Guides for this product

- [Character Displays with Particle](https://core-electronics.com.au/guides/particle/character-displays-with-particle/)

## Videos for this product

- [Character Displays with Particle Photon and Electron](https://core-electronics.com.au/videos/character-displays-with-particle-photon-and-electron)

## Images

- [Product image 1](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/catalog/product/8/2/823-05.jpg)