To start off, thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring this project as well as providing pcbs to get the ball rolling. JLCPCB Prototype for $2 (Any Color): https://jlcpcb.com

First prototype inspired by the many discrete LED display projects I've seen on Hackaday. Things I've learned for this first trial:- Hand soldering twenty 0603 smd LEDs for a single digit gets to be a tedious pain and alignment is fairly critical or you'll notice wonky segments when they are lit up- Black soldermask (in my case matte) really contrasts well with the LEDs but you need to clean residual flux off really well or it will be readily apparent- Due to the number of IO required to drive each digit individually it isn't very practical to dedicate a controller per digit which increases overall cost, my next iteration will have a couple of digits all multiplexed by a single controller to simplify things- Having 0.1" pins on the sides of the digits is less than ideal as it spaces them further apart and puts them in the wrong orientation on a breadboard.