Summary of 96×48 full-color LED Matrix
The article describes an attempt to build a larger, full-color LED matrix display using 32×16 RGB LED panels with HUB75 connections. The author initially faced challenges with memory limitations on the Basys 2 FPGA and microcontroller, restricting color depth to 16-bit and causing flickering. Due to budget constraints, higher-end FPGA or purpose-built LED drivers were not feasible, leading to the project being put on hold. The panels were rediscovered later, hinting at possible future work.
Parts used in the LED Panels Project:
- 10 32×16 RGB LED panels with 1cm pixel pitch
- HUB75 connection interface
- Digilent Basys 2 FPGA development board
- TI Stellaris microcontroller
LED Panels
A few years ago I built a red-only 32 pixels high, 96 pixels wide LED Matrix, and due to all the positive responses I sought out to do it again the year after with a bigger better matrix. I did some research into affordable solutions, and as usual ended up with Chinese vendors. I got my hands on about 10 32×16 RGB LED panels with a 1cm pixel pitch, and a HUB75 connection, quite similar to the ADAFruit 32×16 matrix. ADAFruit had a bunch of information on them, and there are several other places where they’re being used, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I even bought a Digilent Basys 2 FPGA development board, as these boards are apparently best driven by an FPGA, and I was willing to pick that up.
However, when I started working on it initially, I found out that the Basys 2 did not even have enough memory for 24-bit color, and with my microcontroller of choice at that moment (TI Stellaris) I did not get more than 16-bit color without flickering. While the panels looked fun, with 16-bit color everything still looked very basic, and very limited. Definitely not the neat full-color panels I had in mind. I figured I’d either have to shell out for a much more expensive FPGA, or buy one of the purpose-built LED drivers from china, both of which were out of my budget for this project. The panels disappeared in a box somewhere, only to be stumbled upon at least 2 year later.
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