These small OLED displays, with only about a 1-inch diagonal, offer excellent readability thanks to the high contrast of OLED technology. Composed of 128x32 individual white OLED pixels, each controlled by the controller chip, they emit their own light, eliminating the need for a backlight. This not only cuts down on power consumption but also results in that stunning high contrast we love. The crispness of this miniature display is truly remarkable! The SSD1306 driver chip communicates solely via I2C. You only need 3 pins to communicate with the chip in the OLED display, 2 of which are I2C data/clock pins. The OLED and driver run on a 3.3V power supply and require 3.3V logic levels for communication. To simplify things for our customers, we've added a 3.3V regulator and level shifter on board. This makes it compatible with any 5V microcontroller, like the Arduino. Power consumption varies depending on how much of the display is lit, but on average, it draws about 20mA from the 3.3V supply. The built-in simple switch-cap charge pump in the OLED driver can convert 3.3V - 5V into a high-voltage drive for the OLEDs, making it super easy to integrate into your project. We've got you covered with a detailed tutorial and example code in the form of an Arduino library for text and graphics. You'll need a microcontroller with over 512 bytes of RAM as the display needs buffering. You can download our SSD1306 OLED display Arduino library from GitHub, complete with example code. The library can print text, bitmaps, pixels, rectangles, circles, and lines. It uses 512 bytes of RAM to buffer the whole display and is really fast. The code is easy to adapt to other microcontrollers.
Using this OLED display is quite straightforward. First, connect it to your microcontroller. You'll need to use the 3 pins for communication, with 2 of them being for I2C data and clock. Make sure to supply it with 3.3V power. Since we've added a 3.3V regulator and level shifter on board, it can work well with 5V microcontrollers like the Arduino. When it comes to programming, download the SSD1306 OLED display Arduino library from GitHub. This library has example code that can help you print text, bitmaps, and more on the display. Remember, your microcontroller should have more than 512 bytes of RAM because the display needs to be buffered. As for power consumption, it depends on how much of the display you light up. On average, it uses about 20mA from the 3.3V supply. For maintenance, keep it in a clean and dry environment. Avoid exposing it to extreme temperatures or humidity. If you encounter any issues, refer to the detailed tutorial we provide. And don't worry, the code in the library is easy to adapt to other microcontrollers if you want to use it in different setups.
