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Espruino is a JavaScript interpreter for low-power Microcontrollers. This site is both a support community for Espruino and a place to share what you are working on.
@DrAzzy
Part 2
The PCD8544 is the go-to display for many of us playing with *duinos, largely on account of it being the cheapest display with high enough resolution to display much of a UI on. Unfortunately, it looks pretty lousy. This is how I made mine look a little nicer - note that the screen can't be easily taken apart after this, due to the glue.
One of the most annoying things is how the glow from the backlight leaks out the sides, and on the screen, is brightest on the sides, just beyond the pixels.
Carefully cut two strips of opaque, thin, somewhat stiff material just over 1/8th inch wide, and 1 1/4 inch long. I used the metal strips from those white acousto-magnetic anti-theft tags.
Glue the strips onto the sides, with the bottom flush against the circuit board, with cyanoacrylate adhesive (super-glue, crazy-glue, etc) - this will help block light leakage from the sides.
Using a fine paintbrush, apply black acrylic paint to the metal frame around the screen, as well as the outer 1/4th inch of the screen itself (don't worry about going too far in). If there are any gaps between the strips you glued onto the edges, and the frame, this is your chance to fill them with paint. Make sure the paint is thick enough that no light leaks through.
Connect the LCD to espruino, turn on the backlight, and drawRect(0,0,83,47) (ie, a rectangle along the edge of the displayable area of the screen.
Using a stiff, hard, non-metallic object, scrape away paint so the entire display area is visible, but nothing outside it is. The top layer of the screen is plastic, so you can't scrape hard.
Ta-da!
I daresay that looks sexier than stock - though I think I should have gone with red backlighting.