Display Projects

This vfd came from an old Sony 4-head VHS player. I tried to fix the machine but there was a broken gear inside I couldn't repair—even tried 3d printing a replacement.

I connected this beautiful microwave vfd to a Raspberry Pi to make it possible to do things like scrape data to display on it, or run a small language model on it to produce output. I had to port the vfd library I had made for Arduino to a Python version. Now I can use Raspberry Pi Pico boards for future displays.

After 3 years of trying I got this filament driver chip circuit to work. It really simplifies the work on all these random vfds I've been collecting and require any microcontroller pins to work, just a 5V source.

I got interested in this CD4511 chip that can convert binary input from 4 switches to a 7-segment numerical display with no programming. I added four 7-segment displays from a pile someone gave me to show the binary state of each switch so you can see the binary number of each digit. I got 5 boards made from JLC PCB.

A bunch of these displays appeared in the June 2022 NYC Resistor Interactive Show!

7-segment Answering Machine Display

Upcycled answering machine display and case, programmed as a Simon-like game.

Documentation here.

Blu Ray Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed as a slot machine game. 1 switch for input.

Code here.

Philips AM/FM Receiver Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed as a clock. 2 buttons for input, rightmost digit fills in a segment every 10 seconds to show passage of 60 seconds.

Code here.

Microwave LED Display

Programmed with microgame, Climb the Castle mechanic. 3 buttons for input, microwave piezo for sound output.

Code here.

Microwave Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed with microgame, Frogger type mechanic. Joystick for input.

Code here.

j-Win DVD/VCR Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed with fading animations for now, salvaged microswitches and audio potentiometer for input.

VCR LED Display

Programmed with microgame, catch falling object mechanic. Salvaged microswitches and piezo beeper for input and output. Notice the identical design to the vfd that broke above! Documented here.

Code here.

Microwave LED Display

Programmed with microgame, Frogger type mechanic. Salvaged buttons for input.

Code here

DVD/VCR LED Display

Programmed with microgame, slot machine type mechanic. Salvaged microswitch and piezo beeper for input and output.

Code

Phillips DVD Player Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed as clock with animations on the hour, salvaged microwave microswitch and button for input to set time

Code here

VCR Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Sadly dropped on the table, white smudge in corner shows air leaked in and and vacuum seal is lost

Yamaha Entertainment System Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Programmed with animations, documented here.

Code here

Clock LED Display

Programmed with microcontroller-timed clock, display is not multiplexed. Three buttons for input to set time and AM/PM.

Code here.

Onkyo Entertainment System Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Not programmed, powered with microwave 120V AC transformer.

Microwave Vacuum Fluorescent Display

The project that started it all! Documented here.

Code here.