Hi Dave and anyone else who has an interest in this,

    I am willing to design a little interface from the Matrix display signals to some other type of display but I want to make sure it's what people want.   First, let me say that I measured the space from the front of the display/switch pcb to the inside of the front panel on my M6R and it was pretty small.  0.56" IIRC.  That is not enough height for
a simple, inexpensive backlit 16x1 LCD module.   (A non-backlit one would fit, but
probably it's not what people want).   I am looking into some other technologies that are thinner, at somewhat higher cost, like OLED.  

     The least expensive displays are so-called "character" displays, with a fixed Font of characters they can display.   The M6R VFD uses a scheme called "British Flag"
that has 14 segments and can show any number or upper case letter.   But the characters have a very distinctive look to them, rather different from a typical LCD display, which
uses an array of 5x7 dots to make each character.  So if I use a "character" display, the letters may look better than the original, but they won't look the same.  Is that important
Is it only function we are going for, or is it important that it look the same    Is the color important    I have found white on blue background, but so far not blue on white.   Another approach would be to use a so-called "graphic" display, which is just an array of dots, maybe 128x32 or something.   This would allow forming characters that look more like the M6 display.   But the display will be more expensive.  Maybe $35-40 instead of $20.   Is that important   What is a good target price for a replacement display   (A simple backlit LCD 16x1 could be maybe $10-15 if I can find one that will fit in there.

   I am sure that not everyone will agree on the answers, but I would like to get some feedback anyway.   I am still in an information-gathering phase on this project, as I am busy with some other things currently.

     Happy keyboarding,

          Bob