UPDATE 2022: The MAX7219LED8x8 library, now renamed to MAX7219tiny has now a new home at tinusaur.com/libraries/max7219tiny. Check also this MAX7219 & ATtiny85 tutorial to learn how the library works.

The MAX7219 controller manufactured by Maxim Integrated is a compact, serial input/output common-cathode display driver that could interface microcontrollers to 64 individual LEDs, 7-segment numeric LED displays of up to 8 digits, bar-graph displays, etc. Included on-chip are a BCD code-B decoder, multiplex scan circuitry, segment and digit drivers, and an 8×8 static RAM that stores each digit.

The MAX7219 modules are very convenient to use with microcontrollers such as ATtiny85, or, in our case the Tinusaur Board.

The Hardware

The MAX7219 modules usually look like this:

MAX7219 Module LED Matrix 8x8 — MAX7219 Module and LED Matrix 8×8

They have an input bus on one side and output bus on the other. This allows you to daisy chain 2 or more modules, i.e. one after another, to create more complicated setups.

The modules that we are using are capable of connecting in a chain using 5 small jumpers. See the picture below.

Pinout and Signals

MAX7219 module has 5 pins:

VCC – power (+)
GND – ground (-)
DIN – Data input
CS – Chip select
CLK – Clock

That means that we need 3 pins on the ATtiny85 microcontroller side to control the module. Those will be:

PB0 – connected to the CLK
PB1 – connected to the CS
PB2 – connected to the DIN

This is sufficient to connect to the MAX7219 module and program it.

The Protocol

Communicating with the MAX7219 is relatively easy – it uses a synchronous protocol which means that for every data bit we send there is a clock cycle that signifies the presence of that data bit.

In other words, we send 2 parallel sequences to bits – one for the clock and another for the data. This is what the software does.

The Software

The way this MAX7219 module works is this:

We write bytes to its internal register.
MAX7219 interprets the data.
MAX7219 controls the LEDs in the matrix.

That also means that we don’t have to circle through the array of LEDs all the time in order to light them up – the MAX7219 controller takes care of that. It could also manage the intensity of the LEDs.

So, to use the MAX7219 modules in a convenient way we need a library of functions to serve that purpose.

First, we need some basic functions in order to write to the MAX7219 registers.

Writing a byte to the MAX7219.
Writing a word (2 bytes) to the MAX7219.

The function that writes one byte to the controller looks like this:

void max7219_byte(uint8_t data) {
    for(uint8_t i = 8; i >= 1; i--) {
        PORTB &= ~(1 << MAX7219_CLK);   // Set CLK to LOW
        if (data & 0x80)                // Mask the MSB of the data
            PORTB |= (1 << MAX7219_DIN);    // Set DIN to HIGH
        else
            PORTB &= ~(1 << MAX7219_DIN);   // Set DIN to LOW
        PORTB |= (1 << MAX7219_CLK);        // Set CLK to HIGH
        data <<= 1;                     // Shift to the left
    }
}

Now that we can send bytes to the MAX7219 we can start sending commands. This is done by sending 2 byes – 1st for the address of the internal register and the 2nd for the data we’d like to send.

There is more than a dozen of register in the MAX7219 controller.

Sending a command, or a word, is basically sending 2 consecutive bytes. The function implementing that is very simple.

void max7219_word(uint8_t address, uint8_t data) {
    PORTB &= ~(1 << MAX7219_CS);    // Set CS to LOW
    max7219_byte(address);          // Sending the address
    max7219_byte(data);             // Sending the data
    PORTB |= (1 << MAX7219_CS);     // Set CS to HIGH
    PORTB &= ~(1 << MAX7219_CLK);   // Set CLK to LOW
}

It is important to note here the line where we bring the CS signal back to HIGH – this marks the end of the sequence – in this case, the end of the command. A similar technique is used when controlling more than one matrix connected in a chain.

Next step, before we start turning on and off the LEDs, is to initialize the MAX7219 controller. This is done by writing certain values to certain registers. For convenience, while coding it we could put the initialization sequence in an array.

uint8_t initseq[] = {
    0x09, 0x00, // Decode-Mode Register, 00 = No decode
    0x0a, 0x01, // Intensity Register, 0x00 .. 0x0f
    0x0b, 0x07, // Scan-Limit Register, 0x07 to show all lines
    0x0c, 0x01, // Shutdown Register, 0x01 = Normal Operation
    0x0f, 0x00, // Display-Test Register, 0x00 = Normal Operation
};

We just need to send the 5 commands above in a sequence as address/data pairs.

Next step – lighting up a row of LEDs.

This is very simple – we just write one command where 1st byte is the address (from 1 to 8) and the 2nd byte is the 8 bits representing the 8 LEDs in the row.

void max7219_row(uint8_t address, uint8_t data) {
    if (address >= 1 && address <= 8) max7219_word(address, data);
}

It is important to note that this will work for 1 matrix only. If we connect more matrices in a chain they will all show the same data. The reason for this is that after sending the command we bring the CS signal back to HIGH which causes all the MAX7219 controllers in the chain to latch and show whatever the last command was.

Testing

This is a simple testing program that lights up a LED on the first row (r=1) on the right-most position, then moves that on the left until it reaches the left-most position, then does the same on one row up (r=2) )until it reaches the top (r=8).

max7219_init();
for (;;) {
    for (uint8_t r = 1; r <= 8; r++) {
        uint8_t d = 1;
        for (uint8_t i = 9; i > 0; i--) {
            max7219_row(r, d);
            d = d << 1;
            _delay_ms(50);
        }
    }
}

MAX7219 Testing MAX7219LED8x8 Library — MAX7219 Testing

This testing code doesn’t do much but it demonstrates how to communicate with the MAX7219 controller.

The MAX7219LED8x8 Library

All of the functions mentioned above are part of the MAX7219LED8x8 library. Its source code is available at https://bitbucket.org/tinusaur/max7219led8x8.

The Tinusaur Shield GAMEx3

If you already have a Tinusaur Board we have the Shield GAMEx3 for it to connect a MAX7219 module easier to your ATtiny85 microcontroller.

The Gametinu Project

The Gametinu is a small game platform that you could build yourself using the Shield GAMEx3 and a few more parts and tools.

References

MAX7219 specification and datasheet:

This article is a rewritten version of another article from 2014:
MAX7219 driver for LED Matrix 8×8.

MAX7219LED8x8 is a C library for working with the MAX7219 display driver to control 8×8 LED matrix. It is intended to be used with the Tinusaur board but should also work with any other board based on Atmel ATtiny85 or similar microcontroller.

The MAX7219 is manufactured by Maxim Integrated is compact, serial input display driver that could interface microcontrollers to 64 individual LEDs such as 8×8 LED matrix. Only one external resistor is required to set the segment current for all LEDs.

To put that in simpler words – with the MAX7219 driver it is possible to control 8×8 LED matrix using just 2 wires serial interface – one for the sync clock and one for the data. There is another wire that could be used to enable/disable the communication with the chip. The maximum frequency for the serial interface is 10MHz.

The LED matrix 8×8 is connected almost diretcly to the MAX7219 driver – only few external components are required.

Working with MAX7219 is very simple – turning on and off individual LEDs is done by sending 2-bytes command to the driver containing the row and the byte which bits define which LED value to set.

There are also few other command that are needed during the initialization process.

The library supports short buffer – only 8 bytes in size – to keep the values before sending them to the driver.

MAX7219LED8x8 is written in plain C and does not require any additional libraries to function except those that come with the WinAVR SDK. Check our WinAVR Setup Guide.

Using it is very simple …

    MAX7219_init();
    MAX7219_buffer_set(2, 3); // Set pixel
    MAX7219_buffer_clr(4, 5); // Clear pixel
    MAX7219_buffer_out(); // Output the buffer

Please continue to MAX7219LED8x8 page to see full source code the rest of the article.