I love Vacuum Florescent Displays. They have supreme brightness and contrast, as well as a near 180-degree viewing angle. For applications that are not power-constrained, I feel these advantages make VFDs the obvious choice. Even better, many VFDs are protocol-compatible with the 44780 LCD controller we all love. See attached:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/599/1805 … 540943.jpg
Isn’t that awesome? The main issue with VFDs currently is sourcing them. I have to rely on ebay and long shipping times from overseas. If SparkFun were to carry them, it would no doubt be a valuable contribution to the community.
Another thing I would like to see is a serial backpack specifically for VFDs. While they often are compatible with 44780 controllers, they lack the pins for adjustable contrast, LED backlighting, and draw too much power for the backpack to handle. This means that the controller can’t be mated directly to the VFD and a wiring bundle must be used, along with separate power lines.
Here’s the datasheet for the VFD that I often use, the Samsung 20T202DA1EC:
http://www.egochina.net.cn/e-shop/ebay/ … 02DA1E.pdf
Anyway, those are just my thoughts.