In this post you will find the description of a graphic display that uses a modular solution based on dot matrix blocks (in which each dot is a RGB LED), that are driven – via a specific bus – by a very powerful control board, that is entirely programmable and capable of managing even very fast animations, thanks to the FPGA it is supplied with. Yes, the key factor is the Spartan-6 Field Programmable Gate Array by Xilinx, that is able to execute programs at very high speed, thanks to its parallel processing capability (multi-thread); the model that has been used in the project was chosen because it represents the most performing FPGA available on the market as a TQFP package, therefore it may still be soldered by means of the traditional tools.
