hi-
while I havent messed with the ledControl lib for a while now.. (or been in the MAX72XX datasheet)
I think I remember something about blanking/initializing the chips before starting.. (should be outlined in the tut/library)
yes the first parameter means the chip you want to target I believe..you can have up to 8 daisy chained I believe..
the second is the 'led' you are targeting.. 3rd parameter is the state of the on or off..
you are using the 7xsegment led functions though.. which looks as if it takes an additional parameter...
You'd have to refer back to the documentation as I dont recall the 7-segment functions as I havent used them.