Adafruit Mini 0.7" 8x8 LED Matrix w/I2C Backpack

by Adafruit

What's better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs!

A fun way to make a small display is to use an 8x8 matrix or a 4-digit 7-segment display. Matrices like these are 'multiplexed' - so to control 64 LEDs you need 16 pins. That's a lot of pins, and there are driver chips like the MAX7219 that can control a matrix for you but there's a lot of wiring to set up and they take up a ton of space.

At Adafruit we feel your pain! After all, wouldn't it be awesome if you could control a matrix without tons of wiring? That's where these adorable LED matrix backpacks come in. We have them in two flavors - this mini 8x8 and a 4-digit 0.56" 7-segment. 

The matrices use a driver chip that does all the heavy lifting for you: They have a built in clock so they multiplex the display. They use constant-current drivers for ultra-bright, consistent color (the images are photographed at the dimmest setting to avoid overloading the camera!), 1/16 step display dimming, all via a simple I2C interface. The backpacks come with address-selection jumpers so you can connect up to four mini 8x8's or eight 7-segments (or a combination, such as four mini 8x8's and four 7-segments, etc) on a single I2C bus.

The product kit comes with:

  • A fully tested and assembled LED backpack
  • Ultra-bright 8x8 matrix
  • 4-pin header

A bit of soldering is required to attach the matrix onto the backpack but its very easy to do and only takes about 5 minutes.

Of course, in classic Adafruit fashion,they also have a detailed tutorial showing you how to solder, wire and control the display. They even wrote a very nice library for the backpacks so you can get running in under half an hour, displaying images on the matrix or numbers on the 7-segment. If you've been eyeing matrix displays but hesitated because of the complexity, his is the solution you've been looking for!

TECHNICAL DETAILS

  • This board/chip uses I2C 7-bit address between 0x70-0x73, selectable with jumpers

Backpack Dimensions:

  • 20mm x 28mm x 4mm / 0.8" x 1.1" x 0.2"
  • Mounting Holes: 12mm x 22mm / 0.5" x 0.9"

Datasheets, schematic, EagleCAD PCB files, and Fritzing available in the product tutorial

12 customer reviews

2 years ago
I have used these devices before for several projects; they are bright, easy to interface and mechanically sound. My current application uses a Raspberry Pico and Micropython; I was up and running very quickly. It would have been useful to have more than two bits of I2C addressing to allow more than 4 arrays on the bus.
by William about Adafruit Mini 0.7" 8x8 LED Matrix w/I2C Backpack via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Have played with these before. They are great fun to assemble and program. Adafruit libraries make it really easy. Great product. Looking forward to trying out with Pico too. Great communication and delivery from pimoroni too.
by Keith about Adafruit Mini 0.7" 8x8 LED Matrix w/I2C Backpack via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Well I will say that so far, this is a fantastic product. It came in amazing speed and was in great condition. I will say however it was a little bigger than 0.7" (As described) but that was no issue, bigger the better.
by Kyle about Adafruit Mini 0.7" 8x8 LED Matrix w/I2C Backpack via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
I bought an ultra white led matrix that is not only pretty to see but also useful, because I use it to make a little face for my robot rover but also because of the good brightness and low power usage it is a great flashlight to help Raspberry Pi Camera to see in the dark. Mounting was very simple as well as the instructions to make it work. There are some examples on Adafruit's and with a little tweak you can make nice little face expressions that can go along with robot's movement. It turned to much better than I expected. Thank you!
by Gabriel about Adafruit Mini 0.7" 8x8 LED Matrix w/I2C Backpack via REVIEWS.io