All about LED 7-segment displays...
There is a huge range of 7-segment LED displays in the market. Although basically the same, they vary in critical ways:
- common anode or common cathode configuration
- arrangement of pins
- size, LED colour and forward voltage
The basic unit will have 10 pins, and comprise 7 LED segments plus a decimal point and a common anode or cathode.
Although pin assignments vary, they all operate in a similar manner:
- the "common anode"/"common cathode" terminology basically indicates the polarity of the circuit. Common cathode means all the LED segments share a common cathode (negative pole) and are switched on by pulling segment pins high.
The 7-segment components I have are similar to the SC56-11.
| Segment | SC56-11 pin |
|---|---|
| a | 7 |
| b | 6 |
| c | 4 |
| d | 2 |
| e | 1 |
| f | 9 |
| g | 10 |
| dp | 5 |
