These were probably a custom order for some product (anyone wanting to dig further into the mystery can try to find what that could be) as there are clearly enough pins on the connector for an 8-bit interface, but they omitted connecting the 4 lower data bus bits.
On the other hand, all alphanumeric LCDs are almost certainly going to have a controller with the same or nearly the same instruction set as the infamous HD44780.
Nonetheless, longer single-line sizes than 16x1 are not entirely nonexistent; here's someone who has a 24x1:
(One of Google's most noticeable degradation in search results is when searching for parts like this. I'm sure there are plenty more sites where a 32x1 character LCD can be found, but it's just not returning them.)
>On the other hand, all alphanumeric LCDs are almost certainly going to have a controller with the same or nearly the same instruction set as the infamous HD44780.
This. Reverse engineering character LCD displays is bit-banging your way around the HD44780 specs and see where you land.
One of Google's most noticeable degradation in search results is when searching for parts like this.
It's not just parts like this, it's pretty much all parts. Search results are massively front loaded with SEO farms 'selling' something that is vaguely related to the search term (all of whom don't actually stock the part). Getting actual information about the part, a blog post about the part, or finding someplace it's in stock, is increasingly an exercise in frustration.
P.S. - Kagi.com is an absolute game changer here. With all the ads and (most) crap SEO sites masked out, you can actually find shit. Worth every penny of the subscription.
This. Reverse engineering character LCD displays is bit-banging your way around the HD44780 specs and see where you land.