Hi there,

My lights have finally arrived!

Final thing I need to do is look at powering these lights up. They work off 5V but how do I work out how many amps I will need?

On the specs on the website it simply states:
Current: 3.2A

Seeing as it's a 5 meter roll does this mean it needs that to power 5 metres but would be less for 2 meters?

Thanks Hippynerd!

Perhaps that mega is an overkill. I may look at returning or it keep it to learn more about them and what they can do anyways. I would like it all small and compact so I think I may go for a nano now instead as I found a project someone did here to be useful and will use this direction for mine: http://www.cjo20.net/blog/?p=42 but just use the nano instead.

I've gone for the following LED Strip: http://www.yozop.com/index.php/5m-ws2801-led-digital-tape-32pcs-ic-5050-smd-rgb-led-each-meter.html

Thanks again for your reply and suggestions and will let you know how it all goes.

Regards

Hi there,

I'm very new to this (electronics and arduino boards etc) and have done some looking around but can't quite find an answer.

I want to look at using Amblone or Adafruit to create an ambilight clone on my 42" tv. I know I'll need 2 metres of RGB LED strip to do this. I already have an Arduino Mega 2560 R3 so just need to get some LED Strips now.

I know I'll need to be using either LDP8806 or WS2081 addressable RGB LEDs. The problem is I don't know which ones is best. I know there are some slight differences but for use for an ambilight affect - is any one faster than the other?

What do you use or what would you recommend? I'm also not sure if its possible to use 52 LEDs per metre as opposed to 32 LEDs per metre but can the Arduino even power/control 52 p/m or should I rule this out completely? I'd imagine it would give a more accurate and maybe better affect but maybe its not possible to use the 52 one.

Thanks for your help in advance and I look forward to completing this project with great results!