On: Busy Status Bar

[password4321]

This 16x32 RGB LED panel (6.75"x2.75", USB powered, Bluetooth programmable) was $15 for a while, now $26: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP5P7RY7

Programming it with your own code is still a mess, see "Panel Communication": https://github.com/auc0le/JT-Edit

[nine_k → password4321]

Could be even cheaper as a string of addressable LEDs + some arduino board.

But quite some people are happy to pay the extra $174 for not needing to hack together software, a housing, physical controls, etc.