DIY LED Array Display – using ATmega168 microcontroller

 

NerdKits has put together a video that describes how a LED row/column matrix is wired. This comes in handy when you have limited pins and need to control lots of items. Another popular method is to use a serial to parallel latch.

 

"This project makes use of row-column addressing, which lets us control lots of LEDs without having one wire going to each one. We also use one more trick — the fact that diodes only conduct in one direction — to double the number of LEDs you can handle with the ATmega168 microcontroller. "

6 Comments



  1. By switching the polarity and driving the led with a backward current you will destroy them in the near future.
    better way is to adress the rows and colums by multiplexer ics.


  2. It is actually safe Chris LEDs have a reverse voltage range, as long as the reverse biased voltage is within that range you will be fine. It is usually in the 5 or 6 volt range. There are actually 2 lead LEDs that have two internal LEDs and depending on which one is forward biased it will light and the other will not conduct and stay dark.

    http://www.scienceprog.com/bi-color-led-indication/


  3. Not to be mean but invented? AFAIK this is known as charlieplexing and is nothing new!

    I don’t mean to be rude, but misinformation is something I dislike =)


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