On Mon, 18 May 2015 08:56:05 +1000, you wrote: >These 16x32 P10 RGB LED panels=20 >=20 >seem to be cheap and readily available. I've seen DIY projects using=20 >them that employ a Teensy3 or similar to drive them. > >What I'd like to do is use about 8 panels (side by side so 16 x 256=20 >pixels) in a message display. No fancy graphics are required, just=20 >static or scrolling text. > >The text input / commands would be via an RS485 port. My main concern=20 >is refreshing the display reliably while processing comms. > >Is this doable with a PIC or ATXMEGA chip? I have been using the unpaid=20 >version of the XC8 compiler for PIC and Atmel Studio for ATXMEGA projects. >David... Proably a bit of a struggle on an 8-bit part, but I;m sur it's doable - muc= h easier on a faster device like PIC24 or 32 though If only due to RAM available. Obviously you can do without a RAM buffer by = sending data direct from a character lookup table, but having a RAM buffer makes life a lot easier.= =20 An issue is you need to generate six SPI serial streams - with a fast devi= ce that has pin mapping, you can use the SPI hardware and send data sequentially using 2 SPI ports, = mapping them to each of 3 sets of pins in turn to do each colour.=20 --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .