Adafruit Small 1.2" 8x8 LED Matrix with I2C Backpack

What's better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small display is to use an 8x8 matrix or a 4-digit 7-segment display. Matrices like these are 'multiplexed' - so to control 64 LEDs you need 16 pins. That's a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 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. What a pain! After all, wouldn't it be awesome if you could control a matrix without tons of wiring? That's where these lovely LED matrix backpacks come in. We have them in two flavors - a small 1.2" 8x8 and a 4-digit 0.56" 7-segment. They work perfectly with the matrices stocked in the Adafruit shop and make adding a bright little display trivial. The matrices use a driver chip that does all the heavy lifting for you: They have a built in clock so they multiplex the display. They use constant-current drivers for ultra-bright, consistent colour, 1/16 step display dimming, all via a simple I2C interface. These 1.2" matrix backpacks come with three address-selection jumpers so you can connect up to eight 1.2" 8x8's together (or a combination, such as four 1.2" 8x8's and four 7-segments, etc) on a single I2C bus. The product kit comes with:

• A fully tested and assembled 1.2" LED backpack
• Ultra-bright 1.2" 8x8 red matrix
• 4-pin header

A bit of soldering is required to attach the matrix onto the backpack but its very easy to do and only takes about 5 minutes. Of course, in classic Adafruit fashion, There is also a detailed tutorial showing you how to solder, wire and control the display. There is even 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. If you've been eyeing matrix displays but hesitated because of the complexity, this is the solution you've been looking for!