ZX Spectrum v Raspberry Pi - The view of an 80's kid

You might be interested in reading another competition blog that I published recently. It's called 'ZX Spectrum v Raspberry Pi - The view of an 80's kid'. I hope you enjoy reading it. The link to reach it is shown below -

http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/blog/zx-spectrum-v-raspberry-pi-the-view-of-an-80-s-kid

How to build an Arduino Micro LCD Game Console

You might be interested in reading a blog that I wrote recently for a competition. It's called 'How to build an Arduino Micro LCD Game Console'. It shows you how to make a hand-held game console which you can write your own games for. I hope you enjoy reading it. The link is shown below.

http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/blog/how-to-build-an-arduino-micro-lcd-game-console

LED Display Filter

When you make an electronic project with an LED display you can give it a more professional look by placing a filter in front of the display. This has the effect of reducing the glare of the LEDs, it also hides the display and makes it easier to read. You can buy thin pieces of plastic film that act as filters from electronics stockists, however I found another way of making a cost effective filter, by simply salvaging the lenses of 3D glasses that you purchase when you go to see a 3D film in the cinema.

The lenses of 3D glasses contain Polaroid lenses that have a grey tint to them which I found is ideal for placing in front of red LED displays. To remove the lenses you need a sharp craft knife to cut them into the shape and size that you require to match the size of your display.

WARNING! - Be careful when using a craft knife because they are very sharp. Children should ask an adult to cut the lenses to size

One of the nice properties of Polaroid lenses is that if you place the two lenses on top of each other and rotate them you can either increase or decrease the amount of light that shines through.

Depending on how bright your LED display is you can either use one or two lenses in front of your display. I am really pleased by the effect that this creates, take a look at the pictures below of a digital clock that I built using four 7-segment LED displays. As you can see the filter gives a dark appearance to the display but still allows the display to be read when it is illuminated.

Blogging again!

It's been a while since I last posted a blog, and I've decided to start again! I'll show you soon how I found a neat way of creating an inexpensive display filter which can be used in your LED projects. Watch this space....