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 8x8's or eight 7-segments (or a combination, such as four mini 8x8'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 8x8 red 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, his is the solution you've been looking for!
Technical Details
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* This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit address 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
