Adafruit
Adafruit RGB Negative 16x2 LCD+Keypad Kit for Raspberry Pi
The Adafruit RGB Negative 16×2 LCD + Keypad Kit is a Pi Plate that combines a 16×2 character LCD with RGB backlight and a 5-button keypad, all controlled ove...
The Adafruit RGB Negative 16×2 LCD + Keypad Kit is a Pi Plate that combines a 16×2 character LCD with RGB backlight and a 5-button keypad, all controlled over I2C using just two pins. The negative-style display shows light text on a coloured background, giving a crisp, high-contrast appearance.
By using an I2C port expander, this kit frees up your GPIO pins — and since I2C is a shared bus, you can still connect other I2C devices like sensors and RTCs alongside the display. The 4 directional buttons plus select button provide a built-in user interface for standalone projects.
Key Features
- I2C Interface – Controls the LCD, RGB backlight, and 5 buttons using only the SDA/SCL pins
- RGB Backlight – Displays red, yellow, green, teal, blue, violet, white, or off (on/off per channel, not PWM)
- 5-Button Keypad – 4 directional buttons plus select, with software debouncing in the library
- 16×2 Character LCD Included – RGB negative display (light text on coloured background) included in the kit
- Shared I2C Bus – Other I2C devices can share the same bus
- Extra-Tall Header – Clears USB and Ethernet jacks on the Pi
Compatibility
- Raspberry Pi Models – Works with Revision 1, Revision 2, Model A+, B+, Pi 2, and Pi 3
- Model B+ / Pi 2 Note – Place a piece of electrical tape on the USB ports to prevent the resistors from shorting against the metal housings
Ideal For
- Standalone Pi projects with built-in user interface
- Status displays and system monitors
- Menu-driven configuration interfaces
- IoT dashboards without a full monitor
Package Contents
- 1× Pi Plate PCB with all surface-mount components
- 1× RGB Negative 16×2 Character LCD
- 5× Tactile buttons
- 1× Extra-tall 26-pin header
- All required passive components
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- GPIO
- General-purpose input/output pins are microcontroller pins you can set in software to read signals, switch devices on and off, or connect to peripherals. The number of GPIO pins matters because it limits how many buttons, LEDs, sensors, and other parts you can wire directly to the board.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- IoT
- Short for Internet of Things, meaning physical devices that connect to networks or the internet to send data or be controlled remotely. It matters if you want projects such as connected sensors, remote controls or classroom data-logging activities.
- LCD
- LCD stands for liquid crystal display, a screen technology that uses a backlight and liquid crystals to show images or text. It matters because LCD modules usually need a display driver and enough controller pins or a bus interface to send image data.
- PCB
- A printed circuit board is a rigid board with copper tracks that connect electronic parts without loose wires. For this kit, the PCBs also form the airplane shape, so they are both the circuit base and part of the finished model.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
- RGB
- Short for red, green and blue, usually referring to an LED that can mix those three colours. It matters because controlling an RGB LED teaches how separate outputs combine to create different colours.
- SDA/SCL
- SDA and SCL are the two signal lines used by an I2C bus: data and clock. Seeing these names helps you identify the correct connections when wiring I2C devices, even though Qwiic cables usually hide that wiring for you.
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