Nick_Pyner:
I was going to say use something like the 7219 but...... so I guess the real answer is to consider using a less archaic way to display information. An LCD panel could do the same job with four wires, so that gets pretty persuasive.
This project that I'm working on is for someone else. They want these LED's specifically because we are making a custom hockey scoreboard for a board game. It's supposed to look lifelike when its done so we would like to stick with these LED's.
dougp:
How many 7219's are you using? A quick scan of the datasheet shows that two would suffice. I'd think seven segments x seven digits + seven segments x three digits would only be twenty-four wires. Looks like you've got a lot more.
I am using 2x 7219's. That should be all I need for this whole project. I haven't connected the last half of the LED's yet because its very tedious. And each of the single digit seven segments have 13 pins. 8 of them are for the segments (8 because of the DP), and the rest are the common cathodes (but you only need to use one of those). Then the 2 digit 7 segments on top have 18 pins each. So that's a current total of ~114 pins from the LED's that absolutely need connections.
cheche_romo:
You can try to etch your own PCB, you can use a heat transfer method with a laser printer and an iron
I thought about doing something like this. I'll look into that more. I have all the tools necessary to do this.