SparkFun Qwiic Alphanumeric Display - White

We are quite familiar with seven-segment displays. We see them on our alarm clocks, ovens, and microwaves. By adding more segments to each digit you can display more than just numbers! Introducing the brand new SparkFun Qwiic Alphanumeric Display. These white fourteen-segment digits allow you display all sorts of numbers, characters, and symbols. With Qwiic, simply plug it in and go. No soldering, no figuring out which is SDA or SCL, and no voltage regulation or translation required!

The SparkFun Alphanumeric Display Arduino library makes printing strings to the display as easy as calling the print() function. With this library, you'll be able to send I2C commands to the VK16K33 LED driver chip to light up segments (including the decimal point or colon) and even scroll your string across the display. You can download the library through the Arduino library manager by searching 'SparkFun Alphanumeric Display' or you can get the GitHub repo as a .zip file and install the library from there.

The VK16K33 also supports I2C address configuration. Simply close a combination of the address jumpers on the back and you can communicate with up to four displays on the same bus. Our slim board design also features detachable stand off holes, vertical Qwiic connectors, and internal mounting holes.


The SparkFun Qwiic Connect System is an ecosystem of I2C sensors, actuators, shields and cables that make prototyping faster and less prone to error. All Qwiic-enabled boards use a common 1mm pitch, 4-pin JST connector. This reduces the amount of required PCB space, and polarized connections mean you can’t hook it up wrong.


  • White display
  • Operating Voltage: 3.3V
  • Integrated RC oscillator
  • Maximum display segment numbers: 128 patterns
  • 13×3 matrix key scan circuit
  • 16-step dimming circuit
  • I2C Addresses: 0x70 (0x71, 0x72, 0x73)
  • 2x Qwiic connectors
  • 2x Wall Mounting Points

SparkFun Qwiic Alphanumeric Display - White Product Help and Resources

SparkFun Qwiic Alphanumeric Display Hookup Guide

October 21, 2021

A Hookup Guide to get you started with the Qwiic Alphanumeric Display.

Core Skill: Programming

If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.

2 Programming

Skill Level: Rookie - You will need a better fundamental understand of what code is, and how it works. You will be using beginner-level software and development tools like Arduino. You will be dealing directly with code, but numerous examples and libraries are available. Sensors or shields will communicate with serial or TTL.
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Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping

If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.

2 Electrical Prototyping

Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
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Customer Reviews

4 out of 5

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Don’t Buy it Unless You Plan to use a Sparkfun Redboard

I can get it to work fine on a Redboard. However, it will no work on an Arduino Un Wi-Fi Rev 2. Wish I had known this before I bought several.

Good display, will be great to fix issue with the width

Everything is good. The only thing is that the width of the display is a bit less than the width of the PCB, so it creates additional padding between displays if you use more than one together. It will be great to fix it because there are a lot of cases you need more than 4 characters in a row.