Can anyone recommend a seller in the UK for the MAX7219.
I've had a couple from ebay sellers , and although they have worked, the connections seem to have been not a good one or firm. When I connected it up to an Arduino, if I touched one of the jumper wires, the display flickered or went off. I tried to make sure the connecting wires were a good tight fit onto the pins, but there was still flicker or similar.
This strongly suggests you have dodgy jumper wires, doesn't it?
It appears a proportion of these do not even use copper wire! 
PerryBebbington:
RS Components
I am looking for the actual MAX7219 dot matrix display, not the chips or drivers.
Paul__B:
This strongly suggests you have dodgy jumper wires, doesn't it?It appears a proportion of these do not even use copper wire!
You could be correct there.
That's another problem, finding decent jumper wires, Dupont , maybe.
I am looking for the actual MAX7219 dot matrix display, not the chips or drivers.
Is there such a thing? AFAIK MAX7219 refers to the driver chip. What you connect to it could be any kind of LED matrix. Show me I'm wrong, but I doubt there is a display with the part code 'MAX7219'. There might be an LED matrix sold as being compatible with a MAX7219, but that's not what you asked for.
Can anyone recommend a seller in the UK for the MAX7219?
That's what you asked for, that's what I replied to.
@PerryBebbington, the MAX7219 link you gave me goes to this:
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/cp/1897542,1899444,5402388,5402697P/?pst=MAX7219CNG%2B&sra=p, whis an LED driver
Yes ok I did ask for a MAX7219 in my post, but I was a bit more specific in the title.
Thanks anyway
Surely you just buy modules from Ebay e.g. [from UK stock](http://20A 6 positions rotary switch)
Or from China
In my experience soldered headers with ready-made Dupont cables work fine.
There is a certain amount of scepticism about chip authenticity. Hey-ho, the LED matrix cost money, a Maxim chip costs money, ...
I would expect them to work good enough for hobbyist purposes.
Any serious project will have several modules. Buy a 4-module pcb
I would avoid kits with DIP MAX7219. The SMD chips will be safer.
David.