focalist:
AVRs are so cheap now, it makes sense to use them to replace other chips.. Even if it is an underuse of an avr by our standards.When using 16x2 LCD's, I hate wasting all those pins. Atmega8 costs $1.20, two caps costs a dime, internal oscillator is fine.... And makes an awesome serial and I2C interface chip. For a buck thirty, you can build character sets, handle sprites... Etc..
I am also going to do something similar with a 328 and the TVOUT lib.
All of a sudden, using a "whole" avr doesn't seem like such a waste...
I agree. I was just looking at the ATTiny2313 to make an LCD "backpack". It has a full 8-bit port and a USART and is even smaller than a 328.