Adeept TM1638 LED 4-Digit 7 Segment Digital Display Module

Working with seven segment LED displays can be rather complicated. Working with a seven segment LED display module connected to an Arduino can be extremely simple. Let's take a quick look at a bit of what you need to know when working with the average individual seven segment displays.

As you probably know, working with a seven segment display can be a little complicated.
For instance you have to learn stuff like this:
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Interface a Seven Segment Display to an Arduino

For many applications, there's no need to use a more expensive liquid crystal display to display data. A simple seven-segment display is sufficient.
If your Arduino application only needs to display numbers, consider using a seven-segment display. The severn-segment display has seven LEDs arranged in the shape of number eight. They are easy to use and cost effective. The picture below shows a typical seven-segment display.

To display a particular number, you turn on the individual segments as shown in the table below:
Digit gfedcba abcdefg a b c d e f g
0 0×3F 0×7E on on on on on on off
1 0×06 0×30 off on on off off off off

And on and on and on.

Seven segment displays come in two flavors. A seven segment display can have either a common anode or a common cathode. And they come in different sizes and colors. And they are good for clock displays, temperature sensors data display, and tachometers showing the RPM of a motor.

The Adeept TM1638 LED 4-Digit 7 Segment Digital Display Module is very simple to use. I bought mine off of Ebay at what I would call an affordable cost. I had a little trouble tracking down the example sketch from Adeept but it is included here. A little about Adeept: I have read reviews that tell of little to no support from Adeept. I have never tried contacting them so I know nothing about that. They seem to sell direct on Ebay. And the only Adeept product I have purchased is the Adeept TM1638 LED 4-Digit 7 Segment Digital Display Module but I will say it is very well made and easy to work with. I have been wanting to work with seven segment displays for some time and decided to try the Adeept version and for me it has worked very well. If you are interested in getting one here is an Ebay link for you.

I used two Arduinos to test the sketch. An Arduino Uno and an Arduino Pro-Mini to run the code and control the Adeept Seven Segment Module. To program the Arduino Pro-Mini I used a Serial Adapter Module for the Arduino. The positive aspects of this arrangement means you can include an Arduino Pro-Mini into a permanent placement in your project and keep the costs low by keeping the programmer as external and not permanent. Here's an Ebay link to serial programmers.

Here is the sketch:

The Arduino Uno can supply the power needed to run the module but the Pro-Mini can not supply the needed current the Adeept TM1638 LED 4-Digit 7 Segment Digital LED Display Module requires, so using an external power supply for the Adeept TM1638 LED 4-Digit 7 Segment Digital LED Display Module is required when using the Arduino Pro-Mini. I show that in the video.

My plans call for using the Adeept Seven Segment Module for displaying the RPM of motors. I look forward to what you will build. Of course if I can be of any assistance just let me know. Thank you to Instructables for providing me with the chance to publish this little bit of information. And thank you to the Instructables community for sharing so much great stuff with me.

David

Volthaus Electronics Laboratory hobby shop.