Tri-Colour RGB LED The LEDs we are using is from everbright 339-1VRKGBBW-1. It has 6 pins:
2 Blue Anodes + its common cathode 1 Green and 1 Red anode + its common cathode
RGB LED
The LED Driver MAX7219 LED driver from MAXIM-IC: It can drive 64 Single colour LEDs. With 3 7219s we can drive a 8x8 Matrix of RGB LEDs The first option was TLC5940 from Texas Instruments which has 16 PWM channels capable of sinking currents for 16 LED's. But unfortunately the LEDs we purchased are common cathode versions which cannot be used for the TLC5940.
Texas Instruments TLC5940 16-digit PWM Driver.
The 7219 can source upto 40mA and control a 8x8 LED matrix. Individual LEDs can be turned on or off with 3 wire serial interface (CLK,DATA,LOAD). 16 Brightness steps is also provided, which can control the brightness of all the 64 LEDs.
MAX7219 Features:
10MHz Serial Interface
Individual LED Segment Control
Decode/No-Decode Digit Selection
150�A Low-Power Shutdown (Data Retained)
Digital and Analog Brightness Control
Display Blanked on Power-Up
Drive Common-Cathode LED Display
24-Pin DIP and SO Packages
Maxim 7219:Serially Interfaced, 8-Digit LED Display Drivers Pin Diagram