> **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

# Standard LCD 16x2 + extras - white on blue

**Type:** Product page · **SKU:** ADA181 · **Brand:** [Adafruit](https://core-electronics.com.au/brands/adafruit-australia)
**Page:** https://core-electronics.com.au/standard-lcd-16x2-extras-white-on-blue.html ([markdown](https://core-electronics.com.au/standard-lcd-16x2-extras-white-on-blue.html.md))

Standard HD44780 LCDs are useful for creating standalone projects. 16 characters wide, 2 rows White text on blue background Connection port is 0.1" pitch, single...

## Pricing

- **Price:** $21.55 (inc GST) — $19.59 AUD, exc GST
- **Quantity discounts:** 10+ $19.00 (exc GST) · 50+ $18.61 (exc GST)

## Availability & dispatch

- In stock, ships same business day if ordered before 2PM (Australia/Sydney).
- We can dispatch 2 today, and up to 500 more in 8–12 days.

## How to buy

- **Build a cart:** compose `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link?items=ADA181:1` (comma-separated SKU:qty pairs) and share the link. Opening it shows a confirmation page with live pricing and stock before anything is added to the cart.
- **Verify the cart first:** fetch `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link/ADA181:1.md` for live line prices (inc & exc GST, quantity discounts applied), stock and dispatch estimates, and totals. Append `/to/{AU-postcode}` (or `/to/{country-code}:{postcode}`) before `.md` for delivery options and prices to that destination. Unknown, retired, or out-of-stock SKUs are flagged. (Query form `cart/link.md?items=...` also works but some robots parsers refuse query strings here.)
- **Checkout** is completed on-site and includes a captcha at the payment step. Share the cart link; checkout takes it from there.
- **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

Standard HD44780 LCDs are useful for creating standalone projects.

- 16 characters wide, 2 rows
- White text on blue 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
- Single LED backlight included can be dimmed easily with a resistor or PWM and uses much less power than LCD with EL (electroluminescent) backlights
- Can be fully controlled with only 6 digital lines! (Any analog/digital pins can be used)
- Built in character set supports English/Japanese text, see the HD44780 datasheet for the full character set
- Up to 8 extra characters can be created for custom glyphs or 'foreign' language support
- Comes with [necessary contrast potentiometer](https://www.digikey.com.au/en/products/detail/bourns-inc/3386F-1-103TLF/1232544) and strip of header
 
For more information, check out Adafruit's [detailed step-by-step Arduino+LCD tutorial](https://learn.adafruit.com/character-lcds)

Adafruit have [a datasheet that has pin-locations and more](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/p181_1145131ed7c.pdf) plus a [HD44780 datasheet with the detailed commands for control](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/uploads/ada181-HD44780.pdf)

## Technical Details

- PCB Dimensions: 36mm x 80.6mm x 1mm / 1.4" x 3.2" x 0.04"
- Screen Dimensions: 24mm x 69mm / 0.9" x 2.7"
- Height (pcb+screen): 8.4mm / 0.33"
 
 ![](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/rohs_icon_8216055e11.jpg)

## Images

- [Product image 1](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/catalog/product/1/8/181-02.jpg)