4 ms·

I did see this article when I was researching, but it's incorrect. You can find references to the HD44780 in earlier catalogs. The earliest reference I can find

by ajxs 1y ago

I did see this article when I was researching, but it's incorrect. You can find references to the HD44780 in earlier catalogs. The earliest reference I can find is 1981: https://archive.org/details/Hitachi-DotMarixLiquidCrystalDisplayControllerandDriverLCD-IIHD44780UsersManualOCR/page/n1/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Hitachi-DotMarixLiquidCrystalDis... It's also referenced in this catalog from 1982: https://bitsavers.org/components/hitachi/_dataBooks/1982_Hitachi_Full_Line_Condensed_Catalog.pdf https://bitsavers.org/components/hitachi/_dataBooks/1982_Hit... Likely the first year of manufacture was 1981/82.

userbinator 1y ago
That 1981 document says "preliminary", which suggests very limited trial production. Even the 1985 reference I found is "advance". First tape-out may have been earlier than that. Have you tried asking Hitachi (apparently now Renesas) about it? It's more likely that this information is available on the Japanese part of the internet.