Making An LCD UI Look More Like Classic Indicator Lamps

The TermDriver 2 is a USB-to-serial interface with a twist—it has a built-in screen for displaying relevant information. It can run at anywhere from 100 bit/s to 2Mbit/s, while showing …. Making An LCD UI Look More Like Classic Indicator Lamps.

[James Bowman] worked on the TermDriver 2, and paid special attention to one feature— the visual look of the status indicators on the display. [James] had hoped to make the status indicators look a little more old-school, a little more analog. His inspiration was the classic indicator panels from Apollo-era space hardware, which used bulbs behind plastic indicators.

Incandescent bulbs don’t switch instantly on and off; they take time to warm and cool. This behaviour is both more pleasant, visually speaking, and would aid in making short-duration events on the TX, RX and other indicators more visible. Thus, [James] set about giving the LCD UI elements sixteen steps of brightness from off to fully on.