Thanks for the replies, guys. I should have been more descriptive in my post. I will attempt to clear up any vagueness; please excuse any erroneous assumptions as I am still a student and learning.

I was planning on using six of the 74LS373 octal latches to multiplex the six displays. P0 of the 8051 is used a a data bus, with the 8 output pins connected in parallel to each of the 373s inputs. By using the enable of the 373, I could then multiplex the displays by only turning on the appropriate 373 when I needed to change that digit. Otherwise, it would contniue to display the same info, which is perfect for what I wanted to do.

I then was planning on driving the displays somehow from the 373s, which as Jan correctly pointed out is impossible as the 373 cannot source or sink sufficient current. I was hoping some array of transistors might give me the output desired. Should I abandon this plan and instead pursue use of the MAX7219? I notice on Maxim's web site they even list an application for driving higher power loads. (http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes....mber/1196) However, they note that this works for common anode displays only. Could I simply use a PNP transistor to accomplish the same thing?

I appreciate any help!

PS: Jan special thanks to you, the guy who lives in the town where my VW R32 was born!