SSH1106/SSD1306 OLED Display with I²C communication

The SSD1306 and SH1106 (often misspelled as SSH1106 or SSH1306) are both popular single-chip CMOS OLED drivers used for small monochrome displays (0.91“, 0.96”, 1.3“). While they are very similar and often share the same I²C address (0x3C), they are not directly compatible because of differences in memory mapping and supported operating modes.

The key difference is that the SH1106 has more internal RAM (132×64) compared to the SSD1306 (128×64). As a result, a 128×64 display using an SH1106 chip may display garbage pixels or appear shifted by 2 pixels on each side when controlled with a standard SSD1306 library.

• SSD1306: Works with standard libraries like Adafruit_SSD1306
• SH1106: Requires specific libraries, such as Adafruit_SH110x or U8g2 (using U8G2_SH1106_128X64_NONAME…)

Both are commonly used with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and ESP8266/ESP32 via I²C (SDA/SCL) or SPI, typically requiring only 4 pins (VCC, GND, SDA, SCL). If an SH1106 display is initialized with an SSD1306 library, the screen will likely show “garbage” or shifted lines.

SSH1106 Chip 128 x 64 Pixel	SSD1306 Chip 64×48 Pixel	SSD1306 Chip 128 x 32 Pixel	SSD1306 Chip 128 x 64 Pixel

• Note on Ordering: On some cheap modules, VCC and GND are swapped. Verify your module label before powering it up to avoid damage.
• I²C Address: Usually 0x3C or 0x3D.

1. Installing the olikraus/u8g2 library (installation only works manually) from here: https://github.com/olikraus/u8g2
2. Example program:

#include <Arduino.h>
#include <U8g2lib.h>
#include <Wire.h>
 
// Constructor for SH1106 128x64 I2C (Hardware I2C)
// U8G2_R0: No rotation. U8X8_PIN_NONE: No hardware reset pin.
U8G2_SH1106_128X64_NONAME_1_HW_I2C u8g2(U8G2_R0, /* reset=*/ U8X8_PIN_NONE);
 
void setup(void) {
  u8g2.begin();
}
 
void loop(void) {
  u8g2.firstPage();
  do {
    u8g2.setFont(u8g2_font_ncenB14_tr); // Set font
    u8g2.drawStr(0, 24, "Hello World!"); // Draw text
  } while ( u8g2.nextPage() );
}

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