Make LED matrix array using a single microcontroller

[Shane]

Circuit diagram for a moving LED matrix display.

text_scroller.jpg (143.41 KiB) Viewed 7474 times

[Rksk]

Circuit diagram for a moving LED matrix display.

text_scroller.jpg

Can I use this for a large matrix display (like 16*64) ?
Will it show good outputs?

[Shane]

Think about it as this. You TV refreshes the display 25 times per second. With two fields, it is like 50 fields per second.
With a microcontroller, How fast you think you can refresh these LED displays ? That's how this scanning method work. Though it can be logically thought as drawing to one display at a time, due its speed, no one will notice that. This is the common method used. Good luck and keep us updated.

[Rksk]

Think about it as this. You TV refreshes the display 25 times per second. With two fields, it is like 50 fields per second.
With a microcontroller, How fast you think you can refresh these LED displays ? That's how this scanning method work. Though it can be logically thought as drawing to one display at a time, due its speed, no one will notice that. This is the common method used. Good luck and keep us updated.

Thank you, I'll try to see it practically.

[Neo]

Writing firmware for this.....
If you can understand the basic operation of a latch and shift register, it is easy to write the firmware by yourself. 74HC259 is a latch and 74HC595 is a shift register. If you want to become a good electronic engineer, it is a must to learn how to read a datasheet carefully and understand.

Here are the datasheets.
http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74HC_HCT259.pdf
http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74HC_HCT595.pdf

[chanakalin]

74HC595 datasheet is not clear to beginners. arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ShiftOut helps me to understand it.
It says "Your account does not have permission to post links or domain/page references." while adding the link