I've looked the various posts about these 2 devices but I can't seem to get to the bottom of a few questions I have.
Q1) Can I build an equivalent of a LEDSEE board but with the leds free standing?
Q2) What sort of leds does the LEDSEE board use?
Q3) From the number of connections between the colorduino and the LEDSEE it is clear that multiplexing is going on, but is it multiplexing of commands or multiplexing of the driving if the leds? What I mean is are there latches on the LEDSEE board which hold the data for all 256 leds or are they scanned (using persistence of vision to get the effect)
Q1) Can I build an equivalent of a LEDSEE board but with the leds free standing?
Yes, you can. They appear to be wired just like any other 8x8 LED matrix.
Q2) What sort of leds does the LEDSEE board use?
They probably use separate bare-die or surface-mount red, green, and blue LEDs. If you are making a free-standing cube you will need pre-packaged LED's. You could use 196 separate LED's or save some soldering time by getting pre-packaged RGB LEDs. That will be expensive.
Q3) From the number of connections between the colorduino and the LEDSEE it is clear that multiplexing is going on, but is it multiplexing of commands or multiplexing of the driving if the leds? What I mean is are there latches on the LEDSEE board which hold the data for all 256 leds or are they scanned (using persistence of vision to get the effect)
The best price I've found so far is from some guy on ebay http://stores.ebay.co.uk/bestshop2008hk. I've ordered from him, but package is still in the post, so I can't comment on the service or product yet.
For 500 Common Cathode 5mm RGB units will set you back about $0.18 each inc packaging. 2000 CC units will set you back $0.16, $0.18 for the CA.