Hello TO U all,

thanks for ur priceless help so far.
i will be going to the market to buy some components this weekend. after going through all ur ideas and googling a little, i desided to

1. Use 5mm LEDs as i earlier stated. I will limit the current to 10mA with a 330 ohm resistor.

2. For the row addressing, i will use 74LS138 or HC138. the buffer will be BC327 PNP transistors or any available equivalent.

3. For column adressing, i will get 74HC or LS164 or a 74HC595. the buffers will be ULN2803 or discrete BC337 transistors.

4. i will put the current limit resistors at the anodes of the LEDs (i.e. one resistor for the input point of each row.

NOTE: my final choice will be based on price and availability at the market.

Wish U all a wonderful weekend.

regards,

Ehigie