Raj over at Embedded Lab has just finished a new project article about a serial seven segment LED display shield:
Seven segment LED displays are brighter, more attractive, and provide a far viewing distance as well as a wider viewing angle compared to LCD displays. This project describes a serial seven segment LED display shield for Arduino Uno or compatible boards. The shield consists of eight 0.56″ seven segment displays that are driven by one MAX7219 chip. The shield also features a light dependent resistor (LDR) to implement adaptive brightness control to the LED displays. The LDR output can be fed to A0 or A1 analog input channel of Arduino to read the surrounding illumination level. Arduino can then use that information to adjust the brightness of the LED displays. A demo code and Eagle CAD files are also provided in the latter part of the article.
Full details at Embedded Lab blog.