While the 7-segment displays are all well and good, they’re considered a bit of an old hat these days. From this project [Matt Deeds] Bringing their future screams, though, every color plays under the rainbow.
[Matt’s] The build SK6812 consists of a PCB filled with side-mounted LEDs, arranged in a simple 7-segment pattern. Each PCB has two 7-segment numbers. SK6812 LEDs can be powered in the same way as the famous WS2812B addressable LEDs, although they have the advantage of being more stable in color and brightness over different supply voltages.
The LEDs are installed, and the second PCB solder is only used as a diffuser except for the parts of the mask, it is a compact 7-segment solution only 2.7 mm thick. The bonus is that each segment can be set in a different color thanks to the nature of the addressable RGB LED. Too much ham on this subject will make the display difficult to read, but it can easily be used to display green, red or yellow numbers, for example, to create a visual guide for a numerical range.
It’s a great build, and we love seeing the 7-segment displays re-imagined in so many different ways – even mechanically! It takes fewer pins to drive a car than the old way of working in the non-addressable LED era. If you’ve got your own 7-segment projects under development, please let us know!