I really like software for z8Encore. It is very nice, stable, you can do 99% of development without connecting to board because IDE has simulator. Imho, it beats PIC programming hardware (and software) hands down because it gives you ICD functionality using single pin while using simple level shifter 232-TTL. $10 versus $200 (and saves pins).
patsky,
If you need help, you should post some of your code and ask specific question(s).
that is assembler, if you are not familiar with it, just use C.
i have several development kits for Zilog, one of them was with four 5*7 displays.
but code for your application will depend on type of hardware you use to drive LEDs.
you may google "dot matrix driver" to get something like this:
**broken link removed**