Addressable LEDs Make Giant 16×2 Character Display

A maker called Uncle Stem built a 7x scale replica of a classic 16×2 character LCD using over a thousand addressable LEDs, each character on its own PCB. The display is driven by an RP2040 pre-programmed with the LCD character set and communicates over I2C, making it a drop-in replacement for any Arduino project using the LiquidCrystal_I2C library. Construction details include 3D printed solder paste stencils, nickel strip for joining PCBs, laser-cut plywood as a backing, acrylic with office paper as a diffuser, and brass rods scaled 7:1 to replicate pin headers. The build is paired with an oversized Arduino and giant jumper wires to complete the comedic scale effect.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/08/05/addressable-leds-make-giant-16x2-character-display. 8sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.