I'm a newb with electronics and was wondering if there's an IC or PCB that could convert a parallel LCD connection to Serial so I can use 2 wires to communicate with the screen using an arduino and still have open pins on the arduino to use for something else. If this isn't the case, then do people usually have a dedicated microcontroller for the LCD screens or do they handle this a different way entirely?
EDIT: For example, this LCD screen requires approximately 11 pins which is a lot to use on an arduino.
Best Answer
Well, here's the pin out: -
And, the pins that need control are DB0 to DB7, RS, R/W and E.
You can use a serial in parallel out shift register (such as 74xx595) - this means you load the data word (DB0-7) using one pin for data and another pin acting as a clock for the serial register.
The other three pins are probably best left as dedicated IO pins so, in total you can get away with 5. That's a lot better than 11.