Smartsockets are versatile device specific controllers which are designed to make implementations of multiple element visual displays simple to create.
*A new version of smartsockets, generic smartsockets, is available to enable the creation of a 4 digit multiplexed display using any suitable display type....LED,VFD,Neon, ? ...* (Please see the files section)

There are Smartsockets for B7971 neon filled multisegment display tubes, as well as ZM1350 planar displays and now IV-17 and IV-4 VFD displays.

Each type of Smartsocket can be daisychained with others of the same kind, controlled by a simple format serial data stream, to produce very long and complex display arrays. (Simple displays are just as easy to implement too !)

There are many inbuilt fonts and transition effects which can run at several speeds. This allows you to make an interesting display display routine with the minimum of fuss, the only requirement in terms of data signals is an industry standard 9600,8,N,1 input. This means they can be driven directly by a PC, a PDA, or a microcontroller. There are also user-defineable characters, which allows for the creation of a new character set, which is stored in non-volatile memory.

Please explore the files section for details, schematics and code, as well as some videos. There are videos on YouTube posted by me to demonstrate these devices which will be found by searching for me under the username 'Fixitsan'

Open discussion and comments are welcomed.

* If you are looking to buy Smartsockets please check the recent messages for offers by group members who have invested in making batches of boards available to other group members*

Chris Barron