Back in the late 1980s, Kozhikode witnessed a remarkable milestone in technology when a large Red LED dot-matrix display board was installed at Mananchira Park, the first and only unit of its kind in the city during that time. The LED display board was brought from Bangalore to Kozhikode by Premanand M.K, marking a pioneering step that introduced digital advertising to Malabar and gave a new option for advertisers for the first time. At a time when most advertising relied on static signboards and painted displays, this electronic board with bright, animated text immediately stood out as a symbol of innovation, curiosity and modernity in the heart of the city.
The responsibility of operating and programming this display board system was handled with great dedication by two brothers, Anil Dayanand and Arun Dayanand, who were trained from Bangalore to operate and program the display system. They were already experienced software instructors since the mid-1980s, with early exposure to computers through the Sinclair ZX Spectrum operating with BASIC and audio cassette storage, followed by work with IBM PCs and compatibles using Intel 8086, Intel 8088 and Intel 80286 systems with 5.25-inch floppy disks and DOS. Long before software tools and graphical interfaces were easily available for EPROM programming, they learned the complete process of constructing characters manually, converting shapes into hexadecimal code and programming EPROM memory chips that controlled every single LED on the display board.
The display worked using LED dot-matrix sections, each using a 7 × 15 layout, where 7 represented the number of LED rows and 15 represented the number of LED columns. These 7 × 15 LED sections formed the fundamental unit that controlled how each character and animation appeared on the board. Multiple such 7 × 15 sections were arranged together to create each rectangular LED display panel block, forming a single large display surface. Three of these large rectangular display panel blocks were then placed side by side, creating the full display board as one long continuous horizontal LED surface mounted on multiple huge poles that supported the entire LED display system at Mananchira Park. The total length of the display was large enough to appear as a long rectangular illuminated structure that stood out clearly across the area.
Every character that appeared on the board started its journey on paper. Each LED position on a module matched a small round cell on graph paper, and each circle was marked to indicate whether that LED should be ON or OFF. Characters were first drawn manually using a pencil on the graph paper using a 7 × 15 layout so that the shapes stayed within the limits of the display. For Malayalam characters, which often needed more width to form their rounded shapes and curves, multiple graph sheets were sometimes taped together horizontally to capture the full design. A blank 7 × 15 layout similar to what was used in those days could be represented like this, with each circle corresponding to an LED position.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Once the blank layout was ready, a Malayalam character could be drawn by filling the circles that should light up. An example of such a character on a 7 × 15 grid looked like this:
○ ○ ○ ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Each row of this grid was converted into binary values (1 for ON, 0 for OFF), divided into two parts and written in hexadecimal form. During programming, the values for each row were entered as pairs such as:
AA FF
D1 FA
3F 00
41 80
80 40
80 40
80 40
41 80
3F 00
00 00
— and continued in this format for all characters and advertisement frames, filling many pages of handwritten hexadecimal values.
This hexadecimal data was written into EPROM chips using an EPROM Programming Board. EPROM stands for Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, and these chips had a distinctive glass window at the top through which ultraviolet light was used to erase the stored data. When new content needed to be programmed, the EPROM was placed in a UV eraser device and later inserted back into the programming board so that fresh hexadecimal values could be entered from the beginning. The EPROM chip was fixed on a green ZIF socket, a clip-style socket with a lever that allowed the chip to be inserted and removed easily during repeated programming cycles without damaging the pins. Each hexadecimal value was typed manually through the keypad on the EPROM Programming Board, with every entry requiring complete accuracy since a single wrong value could alter the entire output.
The EPROM Programming Board heated up quickly during continuous entry, so the work demanded speed and accuracy with intense concentration. The programming board did not provide any preview of the final output. Once the complete set of data was entered, the EPROM was taken to the installation at Mananchira Park, where they climbed the display supporting poles to reach the display unit, and fitted into the display unit. If any correction was needed, the chip had to be erased again under ultraviolet light and programmed once more from the start. When a new advertisement had to be added, the process repeated fully so that the entire sequence remained in correct order. In reality, mistakes were very rare, because every single value was entered with care and focus as a disciplined teamwork effort.
Working through the long evenings, often surrounded by pages filled with handwritten hexadecimal values, the process demanded patience and determination. Erasing the EPROM itself took around 20 to 30 minutes under the ultraviolet light before the chip was ready to accept new data, and this waiting period required calm focus without rushing. Each cycle of erasing the EPROM, re-entering long sequences of data and returning to Mananchira Park for late-night testing required dedication that reflected true passion for achieving something new and meaningful for the city.
When the display was turned on in the evenings, people often gathered around the park to watch the bright scrolling advertisements, looking at the moving text with a sense of awe and curiosity, as it was something entirely new and surprising for the time. The display board showed messages in both English and Malayalam, along with all its simple animation effects, including text moving from left to right and right to left, lines appearing from top to bottom, blinking sequences and fading-style changes that made parts of the message appear and disappear in order, creating an exciting visual experience for viewers who had never seen anything like it before.
Viewed as a whole, this LED advertisement display board at Mananchira Park brought together several layers of careful work. It combined LED modules arranged in a long line, detailed graph-paper design, manual conversion of patterns into hexadecimal, EPROM-based storage with ultraviolet erasing and night-time verification directly at the installation site. For people walking past the park, it appeared as bright animated text and graphical advertisements lighting up a familiar public space. Behind that appearance, it represented a significant technological step in Malabar’s journey into electronic displays, showing how thoughtful planning, patient effort and methodical work came together to create an early example of digital advertising that still remains memorable in the region’s local history.
It also stands as a testament to the dedication of Premanand M.K, who introduced this technology to Kozhikode, and to the remarkable commitment of Anil Dayanand and Arun Dayanand, whose skilled hands and disciplined teamwork made the display function with precision and reliability during an era when such systems were rare and challenging to operate.