I've retired & I want to dabble in electronics. I'm interested in getting an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

I want to create a LED matrix. I know that I can use a shift register for the columns & a shift register for the rows. I know that the Arduino can't drive the LEDs directly but there has to be a LED driver between the Arduino & the LED. I read on Wikipedia that a buffer IC is also an amplifier. Can a buffer IC be used as a LED driver?

I'm a firm believer in the KISS principle. Whatever is the simplest solution.

Note: I'm a beginner so please keep the technobabble to a minimum. You know, electronics for dummies!

 

Can a buffer IC be used as a LED driver?

Yebbut...a single transistor is a good method, too.
Bipolar transistors (NPN, PNP) work just fine. You can buy an array of 4 or 8 of them (I forgot how many) in a single chip. Mosfets are a little simpler if you are using at least 5 volts. That's what they need for their gate drive.

Here are some nice packages with 4 transistors each:
http://www.mouser.com/Semiconductor...r-Transistors-BJT/_/N-ax1sh?P=1z0z63xZ1z0y25u

 

The term "buffer" has several meanings in electronic circuits, depending on which circuits. For what you are doing, a better term is "driver", as in segment drivers and digit drivers. These can be as simple as one transistor and one or two resistors, or a part of a multi-channel IC that has current limiting, variable brightness, and other cutsie features.

As above, single transistors or transistor arrays are the best starting point. The ULN2003 array has 7, the ULN2803 has 8. They are 1/2 of the total circuit solution.

ak

 

I've retired & I want to dabble in electronics. I'm interested in getting an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

I want to create a LED matrix. I know that I can use a shift register for the columns & a shift register for the rows. I know that the Arduino can't drive the LEDs directly but there has to be a LED driver between the Arduino & the LED. I read on Wikipedia that a buffer IC is also an amplifier. Can a buffer IC be used as a LED driver?

I'm a firm believer in the KISS principle. Whatever is the simplest solution.

Note: I'm a beginner so please keep the technobabble to a minimum. You know, electronics for dummies!

An arduino pin can drive a single LED.

 

Other LED , etc. drivers That I have found useful : 4049 inverting, 4050 non inverting, &
for higher current, CY74FCT244T, Vcc 7V, out low =64 mA, out high =15 mA.; 20 pins, 8 non inverting stages, 3-state outputs. Was on sale @ US $ .39.