I scored a few DMF-50573NB-FW 480×80 pixel graphic LCDs off trademe for $NZ5 each.  However, the documentation around on the internets for this particular variant of the Optrex DMF family seems to be sparse. So here is the information that I have gleaned from the looking at the devices themselves, datasheets for other LCDs in the family, probing with a multimeter and general experimentation. No guarantees as to the accuracy of this data, but so far it has worked for me.  If anyone has a datasheet please link in the comments .

T6963C Controller

The 50573 is based around a Toshiba T6963C controller IC.  Documentation for these is plentiful and there is plenty of software available to talk to them (e.g. LCD4Linux, serdisplib, etc.).  Given that the 50573 is based around the T6963C it makes it fairly similar to some of the other DMF LCDs for which datasheets are easier to find (e.g. the DMF-50136NF-FW). Beware though, the pinout is different.

Pinout

Pin descriptions

Most of these pins (\RESET, Dx, C/D, \CE, \WR, \RD)  connect directly back to the T6963C, so just have a look at the datasheet for more information.

Vdd and Vss are power supply, which is 5V.  Vee is the LCD driving supply, there is special timing and voltages for this, so check out the datasheet of a similar DMF display (e.g. DMF-50136NF-FW).  Basically, when the LCD is in a reset state (as it is at power up), then this should be Vdd. To actually display something on the LCD this needs to be -15v.

I have called pin 20 the page select pin, as this seems to be an appropriate name for its function, so far as I can tell.  If someone can correct me on this, then please do so.  This pin is connected to the most significant address pin of the LCD’s display RAM (which stores what is currently being displayed on the screen).  Therefore, using this signal it is possible to quickly change between ‘pages’ in this RAM.  To be honest, I haven’t used this feature yet and have just left it tied to either Vdd or Vss with no problems.

Internal Wiring

There are some connections to the T6963C chip which may be of interest. The table below details them and their meanings:

These pins configure the T6963C for the following:

• Lines 10
• Vertical Dots 80
• Columns 64
• Font 8×8