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Serially Interfaced 4x20 Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD)

 VFD-420; size 3.9 by 2.4 in.

VFD-420 Serial VFD

The VFD-420 offers a terminal-style serial interface (like our 4x20 and 4x40 LCDs), with these advanced features:

  • 2400/9600 baud serial input with 64-byte buffer
  • Bright VFD screen with attractive blue-green pixels
  • Wider temperature range than LCDs
  • Serial control of VFD brightness and power-down mode
  • Output for a piezo buzzer that responds to the ASCII bell character
  • Large-character mode automatically generates 4-line-tall symbols (0-9 and A-Z)
  • Automatic right-alignment features for easy spreadsheet-style formatting of data
  • *New automatic bargraph feature in v6.0

*New! Latest version (v6.0, March 2001) features EEPROM-stored startup screen and custom configuration options; see the manual for details.

Dimensional Data Basic Specs Control Characters Prices, More Info
 

Dimensional Data

 

A y offset edge to hole center (top & bottom) 2.50
B y pcb height 60.00
C y hole spacing (inside pair) 55.00
D y screen opening 20.90
E y character size 4.70
F x character size 2.40
G x offset pcb edge to hole center 2.50
H x screen frame NA
I x screen opening 70.80
J x hole spacing 93.00
K x pcb width 98.00
L y frame height NA
- mounting hole diameter 2.50
- frame depth 14.00
  • All dimensions in millimeters
  • Tolerance is +/- 0.50mm
  • Maximum depth (front of screen to highest point on pcb) is 26mm
 

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Basic Specifications

Power requirements 4.8 to 5.25Vdc @ 350mA max
User connector 5-pin header; 0.025" posts on 0.10" centers
Serial Input RS-232 or inverted TTL, 2400/9600, N81
Buffer depth 64 bytes
Operating/Storage Temperature -20° to 70° C
Operating Humidity 20 to 80% RH (non-condensing)
 

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Control Characters by Function

ASCII Value Control Code ASCII Name Function
0 ctrl-@ NUL Null; ignored prior to buffer
1 ctrl-A SOH Send cursor home (position 0, upper left corner)
2 ctrl-B STX Begin big-character mode
3 ctrl-C ETX End big-character mode
4 ctrl-D ETO Hide cursor
5 ctrl-E ENQ Ignored (no UL cursor)
6 ctrl-F ACK Show blinking-block cursor
7 ctrl-G BEL Pulse piezo buzzer output
8 ctrl-H BS Backspace
9 ctrl-I HTAB Tab to next multiple-of-4 column
10 ctrl-J LF Smart linefeed; move down one row
11 ctrl-K VTAB Vertical tab; move up one row
12 ctrl-L FF Formfeed; clear the screen
13 ctrl-M CR Carriage return; move to beginning of next line
14 ctrl-N SO Return from power-down mode
15 ctrl-O SI Enter power-down mode
16 ctrl-P DLE Accept cursor-position data
17 ctrl-Q DC1 Clear 4-line-tall column
18 ctrl-R DC2 Accept right-alignment data
19-26 - - All ignored
27 ctrl-[ ESC Escape; begin multipart instruction (below)
  • Define custom character: ESC D n B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 where n is the character number (0-7) and B0 - B7 are bytes mapping the pixels.
  • Load (E)EPROM data: ESC E n where n is 0 (custom screen) or 1 (default custom characters).
  • Write configuration to EEPROM: ESC W {data} where {data} is a sequence of 8 bytes setting startup options such as splash screen, brightness, operating mode, etc.
  • Transfer screen contents to EEPROM: ESC X 0.
  • Set brightness in 25% units: ESC n where n is a value from 0-3 (25% to 100%)
  • Generate horizontal bargraph: ESC = {style}{width}{value} where style is A-H indicating type of bargraph; width is the number of characters wide the bar should occupy; and value is the number of bar positions that should be lit.
ESC instructions new in revision 6 and later (March 2001).
 

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Links for Additional Information
Scott Edwards Electronics Inc.
1939 S. Frontage Rd. #F, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
phone 520-459-4802; fax 520-459-0623
e-mail info@seetron.com