|
A
Closer Look:::...
The
Matrix orbital is a a fairly complex piece of kit with dual
PCBs stacked one above the other. As I mentioned in the
previous review, those short sides make using drive rails
a touch difficult. It can usually be done, just not as securely
as screwing them directly into the sides of a drive cage.
 |
|
The
Display Side View
|
The
ribbon cable you can see is to carry data from the front
control buttons to the display circuitry.
 |
|
The
Display Rear
|
Here's
the same shot but taken from the opposite side.
 |
|
The
Display Rear
|
Looking
head-on you get a better idea how much work goes into one
of these things. This isn't your toy Baybus, this is a serious
piece of kit.The external USB cable, which comes supplied
as standard, is cable-tied securely into place so it can't
be accidentally pulled free.
 |
|
The
Display Rear
|
The
four 3-pin connectors on the very left are connectors for
the optional temperature sensors, while the three headers
to the right of them (GPO 1, 2 and 3) are for connecting
fans, lights or other high draw peripherals. Below these
is a jumper which is used to set either a high power or
a low power feed to them. The "HP" setting is
the "High Power" 12V setting and the unit is supplied
configured this way.
If
you intend using these connectors in high power mode you'll
need to connect a regular, unmodified floppy power plug
to the four pin connector below the high/low power selection
jumper. If not your USB connector should supply all the
power the MX needs.
GPO 1, 2 and 3 are good for 12V/1000mA or 5V/1000mA in
high power mode or 5V/20mA in low power mode.
To the right of the floppy power connector are nine pins,
five on top and four below it. The five top pins privide
5v fed from the USB cable, while the three pins on the left
of the bottom row, along with the 5V pins above them, are
referred to as GPO 4, 5 and 6. The very right-hand pin on
the bottom is a ground pin. Over to the right of the RISC
processor (labeled V1.6 below) is the header to which the
indicator LEDs connect. We'll cover those in the following
pages.
 |
|
The
Display Rear (Left)
|
Over
on the right is the regular type B USB port, alongside which
are pins to allow separate wire USB cable connection.
 |
|
The
Display Rear (Right)
|
So
What's PLED?
Before
we look at the display in action, just a little bit about
the technology behind it. Discovered in 1990 by Friend et
al, early PLED displays used poly(phenylene vinylene) (PPV)
to form the light-emiting layer. More recent research has
identified a wide variety of polymers , each with their
own unique light emitting characteristics.
In
simple terms PLED uses a thin film of polymer sandwiched
between two electrodes. When a voltage is applied, electrons
expelled from the cathode meet positively charged "holes"
expelled from the anode. Some combine to form what''s known
as an exciton, which then decays as the two particles combine,
forming light.
Obviously,
in the example above, the Anode needs to be transparent
otherwise the generated light wouldn't be visible through
the substrate window, while for maximum light, the cathode
needs to be reflective. The transparent Anode is usually
achieved by using Tin doped indium oxide (In2O3),
also known as indium-tin-oxide (ITO).
|
