【R&D Department of Bocen Tech】The most fundamental decision to make is whether the display will have the drive circuitry attached (module), or not (panel only). There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach.

When purchasing a customized LCD module, the basic electronic design work will be done by the manufacturer. This obviously saves design time and reduces the manpower needed to bring a product to market. You can benefit from the experience we have gained during our previous designs to shorten the design cycle and deliver an optimized product. The major decisions you need to make are the interface type, with standard serial or parallel interfaces being the most common, and the type of integrated backlighting desired. The temperature range, viewing angle, viewing mode, and contrast will need to be considered, but those decisions are common to both approaches.

A glass only design puts the design burden on the end user. You will need to learn a great deal about LCD´s in order to complete your design. Luckily, our website provides Application Information and Web Links to assist you in the search for the information you may need.

The main reasons to buy just the LCD panels are to reduce costs, and provide design flexibility. The total cost of the components necessary to build the drive circuitry is typically less than the cost of a pre-built module, and as long as you have space on your existing PC board, you won´t have to pay for an extra PC board on which to mount the display, and have access to cost effective assembly and test . By doing a little homework, your design will work just as well as a module, and will allow the flexibility most designers need to adapt their design to ever changing demands.