These two threads seem ripe to be married. one two

So how about using an ethernet cable from the trunk to the TINI hooked to the serial VFD.
Oops, I forget, power supply, more cost, more complex programming...

edit: Well there could also be a full suite of controls too I suppose.

There's really no point using a TINI or Ethernet for a serial VFD, unless you're using it as a way to keep the serial port available for something else. The built-in serial is faster than any of the serial VFDs.

Where the TINI gets interesting is using it to drive other kinds of displays that are faster or not serial; composite video, maybe a directly driven VFD that greyscale could be implemented on...