I have a small project and I would like to have an LED display, just for the sheer fun and look of it. However it would be too expensive for me to make (I would like to use RGB leds) and I would need small LEDs very densely packed to display the information I want. However, the project I'm making I don't want to just stick an LCD panel in it.
So I was wondering, is there any way of hiding the fact an LCD is being used.
My initial thoughts where to use some kind of black / dark acrylic which would be strong enough to block out backlight bleed and the "greys" of an LCD but the colours and information on the LCD will be bright and strong enough to shine through the acrylic. Coupled with say an LED font or LED / dot matrix style graphics it will look like an LED display.
Is this a feasible idea? Are there any other alternatives or other techniques I could use? I thought about making my own LED backlight and using software it would only light specific parts of the screen that have text or information, making the black areas truly black with no light behind.