# Colon control with 14 segment LED displays **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 28, 2026, 11:31am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/colon-control-with-14-segment-led-displays/29063 "2026-08-28T11:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mickf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@mickf](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/mickf)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 11:31am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/colon-control-with-14-segment-led-displays/29063/1 "2026-08-28T11:31:03Z")
I am trying to use a 4 digit, 14 segment alphanumeric LED display driven from a Plasma Stick 2040W programmed in Micropython via an I2C interface. The display in question features a colon comprising two digits between the 2nd and 3rd digits. My basic problem is that I want to be able to turn this colon on and off independently from the rest of the display content. The code I have tried is:- _1 import plasma 2 from plasma import plasma2040 3 import time 4 from pimoroni\_i2c import PimoroniI2C_ _6 PINS\_PICO\_EXPLORER = {“sda”:4, “scl”:5}_ _8 from ht16k33segment14 import HT16K33Segment14_ _10 i2c = PimoroniI2C(\*\*PINS\_PICO\_EXPLORER) 11 led = HT16K33Segment14(i2c)_ _13 led.set\_colon(True).draw() 14 time.sleep(2)_ _16 led.set\_character(“1”,0).set\_character(“2”,1).draw() 17 led.set\_character(“3”,2).set\_character(“4”,3).draw()_ _19 led.set\_colon(False).draw()_ _21 time.sleep(10)_ _23 led.clear() 24 led.draw()_ forgive the “clumsy” coding (I have copied snippets from various sources) but this basically works; the colon illuminates at line 13, followed 2 seconds later by the digits “1,2,3,4” on the display, but does **not** extinguish until the entire display does at line 24. I am afraid my coding skills do not allow me to analyse in detail the functioning of the ht16k33segment14 driver but feel sure the problem is buried in there somewhere. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. mickf. ---
**Author:** ![hel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/hel/32/6075_2.png) [@hel](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/hel)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/colon-control-with-14-segment-led-displays/29063/2 "2026-09-02T16:01:33Z")
Are you using the most recent version of the driver? It looks like this issue was fixed here: [HT16K33 Python Drivers · Issue #6 · smittytone/HT16K33-Python · GitHub](https://github.com/smittytone/HT16K33-Python/issues/6) I note the [docs](https://smittytone.net/docs/ht16k33_segment14.html#importing-the-driver) say that you should import the library like this, might be worth a try? ```python from ht16k33 import HT16K33Segment14 ``` ---
**Author:** ![mickf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@mickf](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/mickf)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 9:51am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/colon-control-with-14-segment-led-displays/29063/3 "2026-09-03T09:51:00Z")
Hi Hel, we have communicated in the past, probably on this topic. For your information I am the ClaytonDenbigh mentioned in the Github conversation and raised the original issue about the display colon. Certainly Tony Smith solved the problem of turning it On but what I want to do is also to turn it OFF so that I can make it flash. I have imported the driver exactly as stated so I don’t think that’s the problem. I have looked at the driver code in Github (I have to be very careful as frankly I am not confident in Github and fear that I might inadvertently do damage) but although I can identify a “colon\_on” function in the driver there does not appear to be a corresponding “colon\_off”. I tried applying a bit of logic and added a parameter to colon\_on; although it results in the colon turning On for “True” (but isn’t necessary as it turns On with a simple “colon\_on()”), colon\_on (False) doesn’t have any effect. I understand that you can take this no further as the driver was written by a third party but as always, thank you for your prompt response. From another source I have been given contact details for the Sparkfun technical team so I shall try that route next. Once again, thank you, (and watch out for the sharks!) Mick Farmer ---
**Author:** ![hel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/hel/32/6075_2.png) [@hel](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/hel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:49am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/colon-control-with-14-segment-led-displays/29063/4 "2026-09-03T10:49:00Z")
Ah I see - I wondered if you were the same poster! It might be worth opening a fresh issue on the repo if `led.set_colon(False).draw()` isn’t working as expected - it’s easy to miss replies to closed ones.