BS2 Alpha numeric LEDS

Archiver

Hi all,

I'm working on a project where I need to use alpha numeric LEDS so
that I can get the full range of characters on the display (eg M, W
etc).

I've used a MAX7219 to drive the digits before, but am unsure how to
drive an alpha LED. Are there any chips that I can use? Has anybody
had any experience with these?

Any advice or links would be great.

Thanks as always.

Archiver

[font=arial,helvetica]In a message dated 2/11/01 11:48:06 PM Central Standard Time,
egroups@dataweb.com.au writes:

I'm working on a project where I need to use alpha numeric LEDS so
that I can get the full range of characters on the display (eg M, W
etc).

I've used a MAX7219 to drive the digits before, but am unsure how to
drive an alpha LED. Are there any chips that I can use? Has anybody
had any experience with these?

Any advice or links would be great.

I've driven a 5x7 LED matrix with the MAX7219. ·It's neat because I can
define my own characters and do things like scrolling (vertical movement) and
crawling (horizontal) movement. ·The down-side is that you have to do your
own character definitions (takes EEPROM space) and that you need one MAX7219
for each character (big $$$). ·Take a look at my article in the February 2001
issue of Nuts & Volts magazine for the code and an explanation.

There are LED blocks that have ASCII characters built in. ·These units are
usually driven through a synchronous serial interface. ·They're easy to use,
but don't have the ability to display custom characters.

-- Jon Williams
-- Dallas, TX
[/font]

Archiver

> I've driven a 5x7 LED matrix with the MAX7219. It's neat because I
> can define my own characters and do things like scrolling (vertical
> movement) and crawling (horizontal) movement. The down-side is that
you have to
> do your own character definitions (takes EEPROM space) and that you
need one
> MAX7219 for each character (big $$$).

I think you can request free samples off Maxim's web site -- they sent me
2 of them about 2 years ago.