BPP-440L Version 5 Upgrade Guide

BPP-440L underwent a major hardware update in Summer 2012. This document lists differences between the version 4 (v4) product, sold from 1999—2012, and the v5 model.

Hardware

Both the LCD module ("screen") and serial interface have been upgraded in v5. The hardware reference has been updated to reflect the new specs.

LCD Module

The LCD is now an FSTN (fast supertwist nematic) type with a high-efficiency blue-white LED backlight. It requires no contrast adjustment and has a wider viewing angle than the original STN display.

BPP-440L v5 FSTN LCD

BPP-440L v5 FSTN LCD, backlight at default setting (1/medium)

Critical dimensions of the v5 LCD are identical to the v4; the table below highlights the (minor) differences.

dimensions
    v4 v5
A y offset edge to hole center (top & bottom) 3.50 3.50
B y pcb height 54.00 54.00
C y hole spacing 47.00 47.00
D y screen opening 29.50 29.50
E y character height 4.89 4.89
F x character width* 2.78 2.78
G x offset pcb edge to hole center 3.50 3.50
H x screen frame 170.00 166.30
I x screen opening 147.00 147.00
J x hole spacing 183.00 183.00
K x pcb width 190.00 190.00
L y frame height 42.50 41.90
- mounting hole diameter 3.50 3.50
- screen frame depth 9.50 9.00
*Character-width spec for v4 previously included the blank space between characters and was listed as 3.53mm. For comparison purposes, the actual 5-pixel character width is listed here, and it is identical to v5.

Serial Interface

The serial interface has undergone a ground-up redesign to increase speed and offer new features.

New features in v5:

Here is a comparison of the old and new interfaces:

BPP-440L v4/v5 hardware changes
  1. 5-pin power/serial connector moved 0.450 in. right, 0.075 in. down.
  2. Bell (buzzer) output pads moved 0.440 in. right, 0.187 in. down.
  3. BPS switch eliminated. Default speed is 9600bps; other baud rates by special order.
  4. Contrast pot eliminated. Contrast is stable throughout operating temperature range.
  5. Brightness jumper pads eliminated; brightness controlled by software instruction.
  6. Backlight-on jumper pads eliminated; can be configured in startup screen/settings.
  7. Dsu and SPOL jumpers added: Cut Dsu to write-protect user startup screen (or to disable factory startup screen); cut SPOL for noninverted serial input.

Firmware

The v5 BPP-440L retains all of the features and instructions of the v4, and adds several new ones. Here's a brief list (comprehensive descriptions have been added to the programmer's reference):

Backward Compatibility

The new v5 firmware is 99% backwardly compatible with the old v4; the only exceptions being the elimination of bugs affecting the custom-character instructions (ESC-D and ESC-E) and the right-alignment feature.

Startup Screen. The v4 model powered up with a blank screen, backlight off. The new v5 starts up with a model/version-number screen, backlight on at medium brightness. This should not affect too many existing applications, but it is a change. There are three ways to turn it off:

Serial Bit Rate. The v4 model had a pair of DIP switches that set baud rates from 1200 to 9600bps. The new v5 is fixed at 9600bps (since we couldn't find any users who needed the slower rates). If you do, let us know (sales@seetron.com) and we'll deliver your parts with the baud rate you need.

Other than these items, we avoided making changes that might break older applications, to the point of conforming responses to unspecified or illegal inputs to the behavior of the v4 model. If we missed something, please contact tech@seetron.com with a description and we'll get to work on a fix.

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