Matrix Oribital is probably the most well known display company for case modders and overclockers. Matrix Orbital sells a wide range of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) products that are designed to easily work with your computer. There are a few benefits of using a VFD over a LCD including: a 180 degree viewing angle, crisper display, and the ability to filter out light better.
This particular display that I will be reviewing today is a MX312 from the MX3 family of VFDs. In the past you had no option but to use a legacy serial or parallel connection for your LCD or VFD. However with USB now prevalent in any recent computer Matrix Orbital now offers their displays with USB connections making life much easier.
The display and accessories come packaged in a Matrix Orbital branded box. Everything is well packaged and protected with packing foam and bubble wrap.
The display itself comes protected with bubble wrap and the front of the display has a piece of plastic on it to prevent scratching. The back of the VFD has many connections for accessories and communication. These connections include four 3-pin fan headers (2), 4 headers for the temperature probes (1), +5v/+12v jumper for fan headers (3), 12v auxiliary power connector (4), headers for the LED indicator bus (5), keypad header for the front (6), VFD communication headers for LEDs (7), External USB connector (8), and internal USB connector (9).
Included with the display is a set of installation instructions and a mini CD that contains drivers, information, and LCDC. Most of the stuff on the CD will be looked at later in the review. Matrix Orbital also sent a 2 foot internal USB cable and two 2.5 feet temperature probes that are accurate within .5 degrees. These temperature probes can be attached to anything in your system and monitored through the VFD.
Another accessory that they sent is a LED indicator bus that will work in conjunction with the VFD and LCDC for some extra functionality. Included in this package is the indicator LED bus, mounting hardware, cable, and overlay. This looks like neat idea and nice addition to the VFD but we will look at it in more detail later in the review.
I hooked up the two temperature probes that were provided as well as the LED indicator and internal USB connection. For testing purposes I will be using the external USB connection however for a future project I will be using the internal one. With my accessories connected I put the VFD into a 5.25″ drive bay and man does it look sweet.
Before installing the software the display will need drivers which can be found on the CDROM. As long as you have a basic understanding of how to install hardware this shouldnt be a problem at all. With the USB connection plugged in Windows 2000 and Windows XP will automatically find it and prompt you for the drivers. Complete the installation of the drivers and they will show up in your device manager.
LCDC v1.05.26 is provided so you can fully utilize the display. When you run the setup file it will walk you through the installation and when it is done you should launch it.
When the installation finishes it will detect to see if it can find certain programs that it can work with such as Trillian and Winamp. It will then ask you to select the screen type you have, in this case the MX3.
After you select the screen type another dialog box will pop up saying “LCDC needs to be configured with the screen type and connection information. Would you like me to try and auto detect the screen and configure it for you?” If you click Ok it will bring you to a auto detection section. When you click next it will search your ports to find the display and will then let you select the correct one. In this case there is only once to choose from since only one display is being used.
With LCDC installed and the screen configuration complete you will want to register the program. You need to go to http://www.lcdc.cc/bundled and enter the key on the CD into the field on the website. It will then get some information from you and when you finish it will email you the actual registration name and key to use. Now you can run LCDC and click “Enter Key”.
Enter the information from the email you got into the fields and click Okay. LCDC is now registered however I would recommend upgrading the program to the newest version which is currently v1.06.30 and can be found here http://www.lcdc.cc/downloads.htm.
Now rather than going into everything with LCDC I am going to focus on the VFD and let you discover the program. There are so many options, configuration, and plugins for you to utilize your VFD it could be a full article in itself. Also feel free to download an evaluation copy of the software, you can play around with it even if you don’t yet own a display. One thing that I do touch on before we leave the subject of LCDC is the temperature probes, or dallas 1-wire device as LCDC likes to call them.
With the temperature probes installed you can go into the “Configure/Test” menu and go to the Dallas one wire section and scan the interface. This will detect any temperature probes that you have plugged into your VFD.
One final thing that I wanted to touch on that is included on the CD is a program called BootEdit. This program allows you to change the boot screen that is displayed when the unit receives power. You can also edit the default GPO (General Purpose Outputs), backlight, contrast, and brightness. Now to be honest I was not able to get this program to work, I was able to connect to the unit but when I wrote to it nothing happened. I talked with Matrix Orbital and they told me how the program was supposed to work but I was still unsuccessful in changing anything.
There are so many pictures that could be taken of the VFD in action so rather than filling an entire page and talking about all the great things it can do I have provided some pictures. The VFD is capable of much more than I am showing before and there are many plugins that you can use and even add your own personal designs.
This is a short movie that I recorded of the Winamp plugin in action. I took the video with my digital rather than my camcorder simply because it was faster and easier. To view the video simply click the play button on the embedded controls below. If you are unable view the embedded video below you can download it by clicking here.
Conclusion
To be totally honest this is my first real experience using a VFD, weird isn’t is. However because this is my first time using a product like this I was able to look at it from the perspective of an end user. I’m grateful that this product uses USB for communication; I can’t say how much I dislike using legacy connections.
The LCDC software that is provided to work with the VFD is great and has tons of configuration options and many available plugins. Not only does this display look amazing but it has a built in keypad for external control. Also if you ever want to change the color of the display you just need to buy a new filter and replace the original one.
One thing that I always look for with computer hardware and software is good documentation. Because everyone has a different level of experience it may be necessary to follow the documentation to get the product working the way that you want. Matrix Orbital has done an excellent job providing documentation for just about everything concerning this product and is detailed with pictures and great information.
Taking everything into consideration I couldn’t ask for much more from a product like this so I am going to give it a 9.5/10 and awarded it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval. I would like to thank Matrix Orbital for making this review possible.
Pros
- USB communication
- LCDC included
- External keypad
- Temperature probes
- Excellent documentation
- Hardware & software simple to install
- Looks amazing
- Great plugins
- PWM fan control
- Can change display color with new filters
Cons
- None