Adafruit 7-Segment LED FeatherWings
Created by lady ada
Last updated on 2018-08-30 06:12:58 PM UTC
Guide Contents
Guide Contents
Overview
Pinouts
Power Pins
I2C pins
Address Jumpers
Changing Addresses
2
3
6
6
7
7
8
Assembly
Prepare the header strips:
Add the FeatherWing PCB:
And Solder!
9
9
9
10
Arduino Usage
Install Adafruit GFX
Run Test!
Library Reference
CircuitPython
Adafruit CircuitPython Module Install
Bundle Install
16
16
17
18
19
19
19
Usage
I2C Initialization
20
20
LED Matrix
Brightness and Blinking
20
23
LED 7-segment Display
Setting Individual Digits
Display Numbers and Hex Values
25
26
26
LED 14-segment Quad Alphanumeric Display
Downloads
Schematic
Fabrication Print
27
30
30
30
© Adafruit Industries
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-7-segment-led-featherwings
Page 2 of 30
Overview
One segment? No way dude! 7-Segments for life!
This is the Adafruit 0.56" 4-Digit 7-Segment Display w/ FeatherWing Combo Pack! Available in Blue,
Green
(http://adafru.it/3107),
Red
(http://adafru.it/3108),
White
(http://adafru.it/3109),
and
Yellow
(http://adafru.it/3110)!
7-Segment Matrices like these are 'multiplexed' - so to control all the seven-segment LEDs you need 14 pins. That's a
lot of pins, and there are
driver chips like the MAX7219
(http://adafru.it/453)
that can 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
LED Matrix
FeatherWings
(http://adafru.it/3088)
come in!
The 7-segment FeatherWing backpack makes it really easy to add a 4-digit numeric display with decimal points and
even 'second colon dots' for making a clock.
© Adafruit Industries
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-7-segment-led-featherwings
Page 3 of 30
The LEDs themselves do not connect to the Feather. Instead, a matrix driver chip (HT16K33) does the multiplexing for
you. The Feather simply sends i2c commands to the chip to tell it what LEDs to light up and it is handled for you. This
takes a lot of the work and pin-requirements off the Feather. Since it uses only I2C for control, it works with any
Feather and can share the I2C pins for other sensors or displays.
The product kit comes with:
A fully tested and assembled
Adafruit 4-Digit 7-Segment LED Matrix Display FeatherWing
(http://adafru.it/3088)
Ultra-bright 4-digit 0.56" tall seven-segment display
Two sixteen pin headers
A bit of soldering is required to attach the matrix onto the FeatherWing but its very easy to do and only takes about 5
minutes!
© Adafruit Industries
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-7-segment-led-featherwings
Page 4 of 30
Of course, in classic Adafruit fashion,
we also have a detailed tutorial showing you how to solder, wire and control the
display
(https://adafru.it/aW8).
We 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
(https://adafru.it/aLI).
If you've been eyeing
matrix displays but hesitated because of the complexity, his is the solution you've been looking for!
© Adafruit Industries
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-7-segment-led-featherwings
Page 5 of 30