What’s better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small colorful display is to use a 1.2″ Bi-color 8×8 LED Matrix. Matrices like these are ‘multiplexed’ – so to control all the 128 LEDs you need 24 pins. That’s a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 that can help control a matrix for you but there’s a lot of wiring to set up and they take up a ton of space. Here at Adafruit 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. They work perfectly with the matrices we stock. It’s called a Bicolor LED, but you can have 3 colors total by turning on the red and green LEDs, which creates yellow. That’s 3 colors for the price of 2!
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, 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/bicolor (or a combination, such as four mini 8×8’s and two 7-segments and two bicolor, etc) on a single I2C bus.
The product kit comes with:
- A fully tested and assembled LED backpack
- 1.2″ Bi-color 8×8 LED 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, they have a detailed tutorial showing you how to solder, wire and control the display. Adafruit 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
Bi-Color LED Display Datasheet
Datasheets, schematic, EagleCAD PCB files, and Fritzing available in the product tutorial
- This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit address between 0x70-0x77, selectable with jumpers
Backpack Dimensions:
- 33mm x 41mm x 4mm / 1.3″ x 1.6″ x 0.16″
- Mounting Holes: 28mm x 36mm / 1.1″ x 1.4″
Fast Shipping with Professional Packaging
Due to our longstanding partnership with UPS FedEx DHL as well as other major international carriers, we are able to provide a range of shipping options. Our warehouse staff is highly trained to package your goods exactly according to the specifications we provide. Your items will go through a thorough examination and will be safely packaged prior to being sent out. We deliver to thousands of customers every day from all over the world. The fact that we are determined to become the largest online retailer in the world is obvious. Warehouses and distribution centres can be located in Europe as well as in the USA.
It is important to note that orders with multiple items are subject to a processing period that is based to the particular item.
Prior to shipping, our team will perform an extensive inspection of the products you have ordered. Most orders today are shipped in 48 hours. The expected delivery time will be between 3 and 7 days.
Returns
Due to the multiple parties involved such as the factory and the warehouse, we cannot completely manage our stock. The actual levels of stock can change at any moment. It's possible that you may not receive your order once the order has been made.
Our policy is for 30 days. If 30 days have gone without a trace since the purchase however, we're unable to give you a return or exchange.
You are able to return a product in the event that it is not used and still in the same state as when you first received it. The item must be returned in its original packaging.
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