Single Digit vs 4‑Digit Display - Which One Should You Start With?

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Well, hello there. You're starting off with learning how to program displays and [music] you're wondering which one you should start with. You have a couple of choices, a single digit or a four-digit seven-segment display. You thought the choice was easy, but it's not.

[00:00:16]You're asking yourself now, why is it so difficult? Well, it's because that's why. In all seriousness, it completely changes your wiring and your code. But, at the end of the day, each segment is just an LED. So, here's a shortcut. If you actually want to learn how displays work, start with a single digit. If you just want something working fast, go for a four-digit. A single digit is just one number. You control every single segment yourself, A through to G, straight from your GPIO pins. It's perfect for understanding what's going on under the hood. But, yes, it uses a lot of pins. A four-digit module on the other hand, that's multiple digits already combined.

[00:00:49]So, you multiplex it with a built-in driver or manually through code. So, you can control everything with just a couple more pins. With a single digit, it's a manual route. Each segment, it gets its own wire. You add resistors and your code turns segments on and off.

[00:01:03]But, with a four-digit module, it's simpler. [music] Power, ground, couple of data lines and you just use a library to print numbers across all four digits.

[00:01:11]You can even be fancy, use a shift register, cut down on the GPIO pins. So, here's a TLDR version. If you're learning, experimenting or debugging, start with a single digit. But, if you're building something that actually needs to show values, like a clock, a counter or sensor data, use a four-digit module. It's got cleaner wiring, less code and it scales way better. But, once you start wiring these up, you hit a weird problem. Your inputs, they start behaving randomly, like they're floating. That's where pull-ups come in.

[00:01:40]We'll fix that in the next video. Thanks for watching. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.