static void LCD_thread()
{
byte[] oldlcdMessageLine1 = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("0");
byte[] oldlcdMessageLine2 = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("0");
// initialise the LCD display
LCD lcd = new LCD("COM2");
// Timer turns Backlight off after 30 seconds of inactivity
Timer backlightTimer = new Timer(BacklightTimerOff, lcd, 30000, 0);
Thread.Sleep(2000);
// Turn on Backlight for LCD, flickers due to power when only running on USB
lcd.backlightOn();
lcd.clear();
while (true)
{
// Check if LCD data needs to be updated
if (System.Convert.ToBase64String(lcdMessageLine1) != System.Convert.ToBase64String(oldlcdMessageLine1) || System.Convert.ToBase64String(lcdMessageLine2) != System.Convert.ToBase64String(oldlcdMessageLine2))
{
lcd.backlightOn();
backlightTimer.Change(30000, 0); // Reset backlight timer to 30 seconds after screen change
if ((lcdMessageLine1 != oldlcdMessageLine1) && (lcdMessageLine2 != oldlcdMessageLine2))
{
lcd.clear();
}
if (lcdMessageLine1 != oldlcdMessageLine1)
{
oldlcdMessageLine1 = lcdMessageLine1;
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(lcdMessageLine1);
}
if (lcdMessageLine2 != oldlcdMessageLine2)
{
oldlcdMessageLine2 = lcdMessageLine2;
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(lcdMessageLine2);
}
}
Thread.Sleep(200);
}
}
