DIY 8x8-LED-Matrix with Arduino

This video shows the first prototype of my selfmade 8x8 LED matrix along with its controller. I use an Arduino Uno to display the scrolling text. The controller itself uses a M74HC595 shift register for row control and a 74HC4017 Decade Counter for column switching.
What looks like faulty scrolling in the dark sections of the video is in fact an optical illusion that results from the lowered frame rate of the camera I shot this little clip with. The display scrolls smoothly and without glitches (as you can see in the illuminated scenes).

Read more about this project (in German): http://www.icanmakeit.de/2011/02/16/8...

The schematics and the code is available at https://github.com/hmbusch/Arduino-Pr...

For information on how to build something similar without ICs using only IO pins and charlieplexing, see the documentation for the LOLShield by Jimmie Rodgers: http://jimmieprodgers.com/2009/12/my-...

UPDATE 2017/01/24: I ported the sketch to the latest Arduino version (1.8.1) and modified the timer code. I did some tests and the sketch now runs fine with the current Arduino version.

You need to install the TimerOne library for it to work properly and you will need and Atmel compatible board. TimerOne uses the ATMega hardware timers, those are not available on e.g. the ESP8266 so the sketch won't run there.

TimerOne: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_T...