Built-in Controller VFD: BC-VFD
The Built-in Controller VFD module type has been discontinued. However, we will keep this page up for historical technical reference.
What is BC-VFD
BC-VFD or built-in controller Vacuum Fluorescent Display has the dependable and reliable CU-U Series HD44780 compatible controller built-in to the display glass package.
Benefits
What are the benefits?
– Reliability
Driver and control chips are built-in to Vacuum Enclosure. Field proven CU-U Series HD44780 compatible controller is used.
– Easy to use
Common Code Library with CU-U can be used.
Simple 3-wire synchronous serial interface.
– Design flexibility
Space saving by embedding a BC-VFD directly into your design.
– Cost saving
Display can be made with only adding a simple power supply.
Available Models and Sizes (mm)
Typical Font Size
- 20×2 DS2025R 96.0 x 24.0 x 5.8
- 20×4 DS2045G 96.0 x 35.0 x 8.0
Medium Font Size
- 20×2 DS2029H130.0 x 32.0 x 6.7
- 20×4 DS2049E130.0 x 55.0 x 9.2
Large Font Size
- 20×2 DS202MZ 186.0 x 36.0 x 7.0
- 20×4 DS2049F195.0 x 59.0 x 11.2
Design flexibility
Embed directly into your design
BC-VFD can be mounted on your PCB and its 2 mm pitch lead pins can be soldered directly.
Compact design
Height
Smaller height :DS2045G has 42% height compared to 20×4 CU-U VFD module.
Depth
Thin :DS2045G can be mounted with 1/16″ thickness double sided tape. The standard VFD module will require minimum of 1/2″ of clearance.
Circuit required
BC-VFD | CU-U VFD module | |
---|---|---|
Logic controller | Integrated CU-U controller | Integrated CU-U controller |
Power supply circuit | 5V DC and 36V DC required | Integrated |
DS2049F horse racing demo using Arduino
Product image
- 20×4 5mm Char.:DS2045G
- 20×2 5mm Char.: DS2025R
- 20×2 9mm Char.: DS2029H
- 20×4 9mm Char.: DS2049E
- 20×2 11mm Char.: DS202MZ
- 20×4 9mm Char.: DS2049F
Reliability
Same controller as CU-U Series VFD module
- CU-U series has been the leader in display solutions for over 20 years
- Controller has been supported for over 20 years
- Vacuum design allows to withstand the most demanding environment
- Wide viewing angle display. The display content WILL NOT wash-out like the LCD.
- Faster display response time and refresh rate allowing data to display clearly.
What is CU-U Series VFD module?
HD44780 compatible character VFD module serving display solutions for over 20 years
Following are example applications for CU-U Series VFD modules:
- Instrumentations
- high-end audios
- Broadcasting equipments
- PLC
- Green energy equipments
EV chargers
Solar panel inverters - Commercial food industry equipments
- Medical equipments
- Gaming equipments
- Vending machines
Long term support
Noritake has supported global demands for industrial displays since 1966. Because of their high quality and life cycles in excess of 10 years, Noritake has enjoyed a long-standing reputation with Fortune 100 companies.
We offer the assistance of experienced and qualified application engineers nationwide, working hand-in-hand to solve customer’s problems and ensure reliable display solutions.
Just-in-time (JIT) programs are also available.
Factory ISO9001 and ISO14001 Certified
Application photos
Specifications
Specifications Summary
Part Number | Instructions | Number of characters | Display size | Viewing area | Interfaces | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DS2025R | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 2 | 96.0 x 24.0 mm | 70.8 x 11.5 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
DS2029H | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 2 | 130.0 x 32.0 mm | 102.6 x 18.8 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
DS2045G | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 4 | 96.0 x 35.0 mm | 70.8 x 20.9 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
DS2049E | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 4 | 130.0 x 55.0 mm | 99.6 x 37.6 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
DS202MZ | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 2 | 186.0 x 36.0 mm | 159.6 x 23.75 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
DS2049F | HD44780 Brightness control Set font table |
20 x 4 | 195.0 x 59.0 mm | 164.1 x 42.4 mm | SPI (3 wires) | Discontinued |
Pin Description: DS2045G
Pin number | Symbol | Function | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1 – 3 | F(+) | Filament supply voltage | 4.0 V DC to F(-) |
26 | HOSC2 | NC | No connect |
27 | HOSC1 | NC | No connect |
28 | T1 | Test signal | Must be connected to VDD1. |
29 | NC | Not connected | – |
30 | OSCI | RC oscillator | Must be connected to VDD1 through resistor and capacitor. R = 200 KΩ, C = 0.01 μF |
31 | RST | Reset signal | Used for Power-on reset which is composed by an RC device. R = 10 KΩ, C = 0.01 μF Pull-up when connected to MCU |
32 | SI/SO | Data input/output | – |
33 | STB | Strobe signal | Used as read/write enable signal. |
34 | SCK | Clock signal | Shift clock Data is written at the rising edge |
35 | VDD1 | Logic supply volatage | 5.0 V DC |
36 – 37 | VSS1 | Ground | 0V |
38 | VDD2 | Display supply volatage | 36.0 V DC |
41 – 43 | F(-) | Filament supply voltage | Filament bias voltage = 1.0 V DC to Ground |
Power Supply Circuit Reference: DS2045G
Interface
Synchronous serial Data Transfer
Data write

Data read

SPI wiring example

CU-U Code library
Appendix
Environmental Specifications
Parameter | Condition |
---|---|
Operating temperature | -40 to +85°C |
Optical Specifications
Parameter | Condition |
---|---|
Note: Applying the color filter can alter the illumination color and increase the contrast. More on Noritake color filters > |
|
Luminance | Typ. 1000 cd/m² |
Color of illumination | Green (Blue-green) |
Instruction table
Instruction | Instruction Code | Execution time | Descriptions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RS | R/W | DB7 | DB6 | DB5 | DB4 | DB3 | DB2 | DB1 | DB0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clear display | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100 µs max | Clear all display DDRAM address set to 0x00 |
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Cursor home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | J/E | 1 µs | DDRAM address set to 0x00. Return cursor to its original site and return display to its original status, if shifted. Contents of DDRAM does not change. J/E: Select Japanese / European font table
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Entry Mode Set | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | I/D | S | 1 µs | Set the moving direction of cursor and display. I/D: Increment / decrement of DDRAM address (cursor or blink)
* CGRAM operates the same way as DDRAM, when reading from or writing to CGRAM.
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Display ON/OFF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D | C | B | 1 µs | Control display/blink ON/OFF 1 bit register. D: Display ON/OFF control bit
B: Cursor Blink ON/OFF control bit
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Cursor / Display Shift | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | S/C | R/L | – | – | 1 µs | Shifting of right/left cursor position or display without writing or reading of display data. Shift Patterns according to S/C and R/L bits
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Function Set | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | BR3 | BR2 | BR1 | BR0 | 1 µs | Set the brightness of the display. Brightness setting according to BR3, BR2, BR1 and BR0 bits
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Set CGRAM address | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ACG | 1 µs | Set CGRAM address to address counter. See CG RAM ACG: CGRAM address |
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Set DDRAM address | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ADD | 1 µs | Set DDRAM address to address counter. See DD RAM address ADD: DDRAM address |
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Read busy flag and address | 0 | 0 | BF | ACC | 1 µs | This instruction shows whether VFD is in internal operation or not and read the value of the address counter. BF: Status of VFD
ACC: Address counter |
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Write data to RAM | 1 | 0 | D7 | D6 | D5 | D4 | D3 | D2 | D1 | D0 | 1 µs | Write binary 8-bit data to DDRAM/CGRAM. The selection of RAM from DDRAM, and CGRAM, is set by the previous address set instruction (DDRAM address set, CGRAM address set). RAM set instruction can also determine the address counter direction to RAM. After write operation, the address is automatically increased/decreased by 1, according to the entry mode. |
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Read data to RAM | 1 | 1 | D7 | D6 | D5 | D4 | D3 | D2 | D1 | D0 | 1 µs | Read binary 8-bit data to DDRAM/CGRAM. The selection of RAM is set by the previous address set instruction. RAM set instruction can also determine the address counter direction to RAM. After read operation, address counter is automatically increased/decreased by 1 according to the entry mode. After CGRAM read operation, display shift will not execute. |
Font tables
Font table for DS2045G can be selected by setting the DB0 of the “Cursor home” instruction.
RS | R/W | DB7 | DB6 | DB5 | DB4 | DB3 | DB2 | DB1 | DB0 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | J/E |
J/E: Select Japanese / European font table
- J/E = 1, set to Japanese font table
- J/E = 0, set to European font table
Japanese font table | European font table |
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DD RAM address
Line number | Number of characters | Address range |
---|---|---|
1 | 20 | 0x00 – 0x13 |
2 | 20 | 0x40 – 0x53 |
3 | 20 | 0x14 – 0x27 |
4 | 20 | 0x54 – 0x67 |
CG RAM
The Character Generator RAM (CGRAM) allows the user to reconstruct the character patterns from 8-bit by software programming. Eight character patterns can be written and constructed using 5 x 7 dots. Areas that are not used for display purposes may be used as general data RAM.
Definable character code (DDRAM data)
- 0x00 or 0x08
- 0x01 or 0x09
- 0x02 or 0x0A
- 0x04 or 0x0B
- 0x05 or 0x0C
- 0x06 or 0x0D
- 0x07 or 0x0E
Character map
Byte | CGRAM data mapping | Character pattern | |||||||||||
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DB7 | DB6 | DB5 | DB4 | DB3 | DB2 | DB1 | DB0 | ||||||
Byte 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Byte 2 | – | – | – | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Byte 3 | – | – | – | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
Byte 4 | – | – | – | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
Byte 5 | – | – | – | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
Byte 6 | – | – | – | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Byte 7 | – | – | – | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 31 | 21 | 33 | 34 | 35 |
Byte 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Relationship between Character Code (DDRAM) and Character Pattern (CGRAM)
Character code (DDRAM data) |
CGRAM address | CGRAM data | Character pattern | ||||||||||||||||
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A5 | A4 | A3 | A2 | A1 | A0 | DB7 | DB6 | DB5 | DB4 | DB3 | DB2 | DB1 | DB0 | ||||||
0x00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
0 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||||
0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||||
1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | ||||
1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 21 | 33 | 34 | 35 | ||||
1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
• • • |
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0x08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
0 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||||
0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||||
1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | ||||
1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 21 | 33 | 34 | 35 | ||||
1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |