ESPHome is a good start, as it provides a great framework for layering components together. For example, you could assemble what you want out of: * The display

ESPHome is a good start, as it provides a great framework for layering components together. For example, you could assemble what you want out of: * The display component that handles drawing into a grid of pixels (https://esphome.io/components/display/ https://esphome.io/components/display/) * The text renderer * addressable_light platform (https://esphome.io/components/display/addressable_light https://esphome.io/components/display/addressable_light) to create a display matrix on top of an addressable LED driver (https://esphome.io/components/light/neopixelbus https://esphome.io/components/light/neopixelbus) * An inexpensive 8x32 LED panel (https://www.google.com/search?q=8x32+ws2812b https://www.google.com/search?q=8x32+ws2812b) * You can make multiples of these, or chain the panels together, for more space Of course, rather than reinventing any wheels, you can follow guides like https://community.home-assistant.io/t/led-matrix-with-esphome-homeassistant/472603 https://community.home-assistant.io/t/led-matrix-with-esphom... There's not a lot of soldering needed, especially if you go the route of repurposing existing hardware like an Ulanzi. It's mostly about making the right data connections and providing the right power.