Introduction

   Any of you remember seeing for the first time a casemod incorporating a character or VFD LCD module? I can't remember it myself but for those who do remember, it was probably in a time when it was a do-it-yourself venture, where a user has to carefully solder wires to the LCD in order for it to send and receive data to the PC. The LCD too wasn't meant for to be used for a PC! The LCD output was used to display primarily temperatures of the system components and for those with a little programming background, more information could be sent to the LCD for display. A daunting task for the newbie and un-initiated but fear not as those days are long gone. With the advancement in LCD manufacturing and programs developments, even a first time user could enjoy his brand new LCD from the moment he unpacks it and quickly gets up to speed with it.

   One of the biggest, if not the biggest, player in this field is Matrix Orbital. Having been in the business for so long, they make some of the best LCD units out there and they are well known for their build quality and ease of use. I still remember my first LCD module from MO, the GLK12232-25-WBL Graphical LCD, which I got from Thor. I had a lot of fun using it in various mod projects and it served me well over the years. Too bad it died on me just a few months back. And like any good company, Matrix Orbital didn't just sit back but kept improving on their LCD designs and their latest offering is the MX4xx series, a 4-line version of their popular MX2xx USB LCD Series. I have the pleasure of checking one out today courtesy of our good friends at Performance-PCs.

   Hank over at Performance-PCs went all out in providing me the review unit, a MatrixOrbital MX411 4-Line USB LCD, along with 2 x Dallas 1-Wire Temperature Probes as well as the MX Indicator LED Bus, for use with the GPO output of the MX4xx LCD. The MX411 is just one of the many colour choices that's available from Matrix Orbital. With 4 different panels or bay inserts, users can choose from a total of 16 different combinations, although the aluminium bay inserts do not feature the 15 keypads layout.

Bay Inserts	LCD Screen Colour
Beige bay insert with 15 Keypads	Yellow/Green Background, Black Text
Black bay insert with 15 Keypads	Black Background, Yellow Text
Silver aluminium bay insert	Grey/White Background, Ice Blue Text
Black aluminium bay insert	Blue Background White text

   Before we go any further, let's take a look at the specs and features of this LCD, direct from Matrix Orbital's product page;

Appearance

• 20 characters x 4 lines

• Module size: 98.0mm(L) x 60.0mm(W) x 24.4mm(T)

• Display size: 76.3mm(L) x 25.0mm(W)

• Character size: 2.95 x 4.75mm

• Grey/White Background

• Ice Blue Text

• Black Keypad Overlay

Includes

• LK204-24-USB-GW Display, 3ft A to B USB Cable and software.

Interfaces

• Interface with up to 24-key keypad

• Use 6 General Purpose Outputs

• Communicate over USB

Speed

• USB mode : 19.2 Kbps using VCP or direct USB 1.0 or 2.0 communication

• Fully buffered - no delays in transmission

Functional Capabilities

• Variable brightness backlight

• Software and manual on CDROM

• Memory chip saves settings

• Available in a PC drive bay insert.

Power Requirements

• Supply Voltage: +4.75 to +5.25Vdc

• Supply Current: 25mA typical

• Backlight Supply Current: 115mA typical

Now let's take a closer look at the unit and the accessories..