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The
Display :::...
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Display
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The
biggest advantage to PLEDs is the viewing angle. With a
limit set at an amazing 160 degrees, this means if you can
see the display you can read it, something which can't always
be said for LCD displays.
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Display
Angled
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The
individual pixels are square and illuminate with a bright
yellow/green glow. There are no backlights to worry about,
each pixel is emissive, that is it generates its own light,
just as a conventional LED does. This makes for an easy
to see, high contrast display that's unrivaled for its clarity.
The individual pixels also respond quicker. A PLED pixel
can switch on or off around a thousand times faster than
an LCD cell can meaning no ghosting.
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Display
Closeup
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The best way to see how impressive the display is is to
look at it, so here are a few unfortunately large files
to watch.
Animated Gif (Short animation) 1.67MB HERE
(Please allow time for the complete animation to load)
Animated Gif (Longer animation) 11.9MB HERE
(Please allow time for the complete animation to load)
*.wmv video file 32k HERE
The
Technology:::...
So
what are all those little PCB components about? Well, the
bigger of the two chips visible from the back is actually
a RISC processor!
High-Performance
RISC CPU:
• Only 35 single-word instructions to learn
• All single-cycle instructions except for program
branches, which are two-cycle
• Operating speed: DC – 20 MHz clock input DC
– 200 ns instruction cycle
• 8K x 14 words of Flash Program Memory, 368 x 8 bytes
of Data Memory (RAM), 256 x 8 bytes of EEPROM Data Memory
• Pinout compatible to other 28-pin or 40/44-pin PIC16CXXX
and PIC16FXXX microcontrollers
If
you want more technical details on this CPU, the data sheet
can be found HERE.
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PIC16F877A
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The
other takes care of the USB side of things.
The
FT232BM is FTDI's second generation USB UART device. If
you want to feast on the finer details you can find them
HERE.
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FTDI
FT232BM
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The
temperature sensors are also an optional extra, but one
worth investing in if you want to make the most from your
MX.
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Thermal
Sensor Wire
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The
downside is that these sensors, while very accurate, are
much bulkier than the flat type we've become used to and
not really suitable for mounting beneath your CPU heat sink
or other similarly tight spots.
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Thermal
Sensor
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The
final part of the kit, and also one you need to purchase
as a special option is the three-LED indicator kit.
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Indicator
Kit
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Indicator
Board
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This
connects to the low power GPOs on the rear of the MX using
the supplied data cable and you can then program it to signal
various activities from within the software. Activities
like the receipt of email or a warm CPU to name just a couple.
This obviously ties up all three GPOs as one is needed for
each LED.
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Indicator
Board
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Indicator
PCB Rear
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Indicator
PCB Rear
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Matrix
Orbital supply a template to help you mount the indicator
once you've found a suitable location for it.
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Indicator
Template
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