Many of us might have seen those arrangements of lights in many digital clocks and traditional calculators that light up in combinations to display different numbers. That display used to show decimal numerals is called a 7-segment display, 7-segment because it’s an arrangement of 7 segments put into order to display the values.
At its structural level, each of the segments is a LED which lights up or stays OFF based on what digit we’re trying to show.
Pinout
A 7 segment display contains 10 pins in total. They’re arrange as shown below:-
1. Pin 1 – e: The first pin1 connects with the left bottom LED of the display.
2. Pin 2 – d: Pin2 helps to light up the bottom-most led.
3. Pin 3 – com: This pin will be common with ground/power. It depends on the type of the 7-segment either it is the common cathode or anode.
4. Pin 4 – c: Pin4 light up the bottom right led to the display
5. Pin 5 – DP: There is a decimal point on the 7-segment which uses the pin5 to light up.
6. Pin 6 – b: It controls the right top led light.
7. Pin 7 – a: The top led of the 7-segments is at pin7.
8. Pin 8 – com: Pin8 is a second common ground pin, works the same as pin3.
9. Pin 9 – f: Top-left led lights up through pin9.
10. Pin 10 – g: Power input on pin10 lights up the middle led.
How to use
Tutorial –
https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/interfacing-seven-segment-display-with-Arduino
Common Applications
● Digital clocks
● Electronic metres
● Basic calculators
Some example projects that students can try out in the ATL Lab
1. Show digits on a 7 segment LED display using arduino –
https://lastminuteengineers.com/seven-segme
2. Create a counter using a button and 7 segment display –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtmUxg
Safety Measures to follow
1. The maximum current rating and the connections inside different 7-segment displays may be different, and not using the devices correctly can “burn out” an LED (it is unlikely that the 7-segment will actually become hot, but the LED inside the segment can become unusable)
Important Links
1. Know about 7 segment display ()
YouTube Videohttps://youtu.be/kEVdZ1i4Uok
