Reposting as it's own thread instead of discussing it in-line in the PCB thread (which didn't feel entirely right, TBH). By way of context: I'm going to be attending the Cyberpunk-themed Neotropolis ...

I’ve talked about HD44780 displays before – they’ve been a mainstay of microcontroller projects for literal decades. In the modern hobbyist world, there’s an elephant in the room – the sheer variety ...

[Tom] needed 8 displays for a project. He wanted to to control them over I2C, and was trying to reduce cost. Some vendors make I2C controllable seven segment displays, but they cost about $10 each.