I started a new kickstarter project today for a full sized 16x2 alphanumeric display arduino shield that you can add to your custom projects (pinball or other arcade inspired coolness). An open source library for controlling it will also be released as part of a successful campaign. It has serial in for connecting up to other systems and is i2c based

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070905543/jims-retro-pinball-display-for-arduino?ref=email

I just launched it and am looking for backers and like minded people to join in the adventure.

Thanks for reading

http://blog.mypinballs.com
http://mypinballs.com

Hi,

Thanks for the message and interest. Answering your questions in order:

1) The display shield has a serial connection (UART) that interfaces with the arduino controller on the shield board. This means that any other device can interface to it very easily. The display shield is designed to work with any custom project requiring a large text capable display, be that pinball, arcade, panel displays etc.

2) Yes you could do text scrolling and animations using text characters and delays. I plan to add built in effects to the library to make it even easier to implement. For example you would call a scroll method with a few parameters such as the direction of the scroll, the speed etc

Still looking for backers and like minded people to help me get this project off the ground. Just under a week to go. If you'd like to support me and get one please visit the page here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070905543/jims-retro-pinball-display-for-arduino?ref=email

Thanks

http://blog.mypinballs.com
http://mypinballs.com