PWM multiple 7-segment LEDs

[Demon]

I would use what Maxim suggest for the displays and would not bother with mods to drive common anodes. ...

Yeah, I wasn't going to keep fighting against the current.


I'm looking at using PICs instead. Concatenating values and remembering which one is in which position is going to be a massive chore, with lots of place for error.




I'm looking at using PICs instead. My 7-segment displays will range between 2 and 6 digits. I just send each PIC a USART message with the value they have to display and forget about them until the value changes.

This is why I had gotten common anode in the first place. The power to the LEDs was going to be controlled by pot & PWM from a main PIC. I was planning on using transistors to control the 8 segments. It's cheaper to use MAX7219, but in my case I don't think it's worth it.

Another thing consider is that this is the "basic" console; the Cessna 152 is one of the simplest planes with a single engine in MSFS 2020. I plan on making consoles for much more complex planes, most having 2 - 4 engines. That's a truckload of displays; that's why USART-and-forget is my favorite technique so far.

I started looking at 16F PICs on JLCPCB. I forgot about those and had only looked at 18F PICs the first time. So far I'm looking at:

- 14-pin 16F1823 @ $1.16
- 28-pin 16F1933 @ $1.51

And I'm just starting, I'm pretty sure I saw some 44-pins in there. I can easily control 6 digits with that and a few transistors.