Well, maybe this is not the best title, but there are a few basics that are good to know before you move ahead on a custom LCD display.  This is true for all static, segment or glass displays such as 7 (seven), 14 (fourteen) and 16 (sixteen) segment displays. This is also true for all Character / numeric LCD modules.

Our goal is to recommend a standard display whenever possible; not a custom Liquid crystal display.  If this will not work, we are able to suggest alternatives.  Sometimes the customer needs a custom LCD with tooling to replace a module that has been discontinued.  Below are a few guidelines.

1. If the customer pays for the tooling/ engineering (NRE), then the customer owns that LCD display. module In other words we cannot sell that display to any other customer without the permission of that customer.
2. When the customer has approved the drawing of the display, we will then request samples. As a general rule, when the customer pays for the LCD tooling, we supply 5 samples at no cost.
3. The cost of freight to bring in the custom lcd module samples is included in the tooling cost. This is for the first shipment only.
4. The tooling fees for static, glass or segment displays are lower then for a character LCD module (alphanumeric LCD display module).
5. The use of TN, STN or FSTN does not affect the tooling fee for the custom display, but this will affect the unit cost.

Here is a link showing the process for a custom display.