What’s better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small display is to use an 8×8 matrix or a 4-digit 7-segment display. Matrices like these are ‘multiplexed’ – so to control 64 LEDs you need 16 pins. That’s a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 that can control a matrix for you but there’s a lot of wiring to set up and they take up a ton of space. We feel your pain! After all, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could control a matrix without tons of wiring? That’s where these adorable LED matrix backpacks come in.
The matrices use a driver chip that does all the heavy lifting for you: They have a built in clock so they multiplex the display. They use constant-current drivers for ultra-bright, consistent color (the images above are photographed at the dimmest setting to avoid overloading our camera!), 1/16 step display dimming, all via a simple I2C interface. The backpacks come with address-selection jumpers so you can connect up to four mini 8×8’s or eight 7-segments (or a combination, such as four mini 8×8’s and four 7-segments, etc) on a single I2C bus.
The product kit comes with:
- A fully tested and assembled LED backpack
- Ultra-bright 8×8 pure green matrix
- 4-pin header
A bit of soldering is required to attach the matrix onto the backpack but its very easy to do and only takes about 5 minutes.
Of course, in classic Adafruit fashion, we also have a detailed tutorial showing you how to solder, wire and control the display. We even wrote a very nice library for the backpacks so you can get running in under half an hour, displaying images on the matrix or numbers on the 7-segment. If you’ve been eyeing matrix displays but hesitated because of the complexity, this is the solution you’ve been looking for!
Technical Details
This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit addresses between 0x70-0x73, selectable with jumpers.
Backpack Dimensions:
- 20mm x 28mm x 4mm / 0.8″ x 1.1″ x 0.2″
- Mounting Holes: 12mm x 22mm / 0.5″ x 0.9″
Datasheets, schematic, EagleCAD PCB files, and Fritzing available in the product tutorial
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Note: Orders with more than one item will be assigned a separate processing time for each item.
Before shipment, all ordered items will be thoroughly examined. Most orders are now shipped within 48 hrs. Delivery is expected to take between 3 and seven days.
Returns
Stock is dynamic, and cannot be fully controlled by us because of the involvement of multiple parties including the factory and our warehouse. This means that the actual stock could alter at any time. It's possible that the stocks could be depleted after your order has been processed.
The policy is for 30 days. Unfortunately, if 30 days have passed from the date you purchased the item, we will not be able to provide a refund or exchange.
The item must not be in use and must be in the original packaging. You must have the item in the original packaging.
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