THE MAGAZINE FOR COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Circuit Cellar Online offers articles illustrating creative solutions
and unique applications through complete projects, practical
tutorials, and useful design techniques.

AN ELECTRONIC LITESHOW DISPLAY

Part 1ýThe Electronics Behind the Lights
by James Antonakos

Start ý The Big Picture ý Inside a Panel ý The Driver Board ý The 64-Bit Shift Register Board ý Interfacing with the PC ý A Little Math ý The Real Thing ý Sources and PDF

One of the things that has always fascinated me about electronics is the numerous ways you can flash lights on and off. Whether the lights are LEDs or 120-VAC lamps, putting groups of them together provides the ability to create letters, words, and graphics. In this article, Iýll describe the method used to control an electronic display called LiteShow, which contains 384 lamps, all individually controlled by only three signals from the PC printer port. Partial inspiration for this project came from a BYTE article written by Steve Ciarcia many years ago.

NEXT