i am trying to control 2 number displays off my uno but there aren't enough pins and i dont want to buy a shield unless absolutely necessary. how can i do this? each has 10 pins but i dont need the dot so i am using 7 of them minus grounds
do you have a link to the datasheet of the displays?
Drive the 7 segments in parallel to each display, control a transistor for each to control the common pin. Enable each common pin for 1mS while you drive the segments for that digit.