This build from [mircemk] is of the latter variety, repurposing a VFD display to do the job ... become a surprisingly-responsive VU meter. An Arduino Nano runs the show, with an envelope follower ...

In this build, [mircemk] shows us how he drives unknown VFD displays using an Arduino in order to build his own weather forecasting station. For this demonstration [mircemk] decided to turn a VFD ...