So I was looking around for an LED microcontroller thing and its on one of my threads; thankfully another arduino-er was awesome enough to help me find one.
Now that he helped me find one, i realized that I need to understand all the technical stuff about it.
So I have a few questions about the Texas Instruments TLC5940.
here's the link [url=http://http://arduino.cc/playground/Learning/TLC5940]Arduino Playground - TLC5940
First of all, I don't get channals, what are they, how do they work?
Secondly, Whats a duty cycle and what does 12 bit have to do with it. and then the 0-4065 range thing, whats that referring to.
Third, whats a 6-bit current limit control? does it just limit current? if so, whats the 6-bit mean?
12 bit means you can resolve 4096 different levels, because 212 = 4096.
6 bit current limit means you have 64 levels of current control.
Duty cycle is the ratio of "on" time to "off" time.
So you mean like 4096 different levels, like colors if i used leds?
so like 64 levels of current control would be how bright the leds would be?
and then the duty cycle would be running at 12bits/ms? like checking which is on or off?
and then i still don't get the 16-channal thingy
funkyguy4000:
So you mean like 4096 different levels, like colors if i used leds?
No. Levels of brightness per channel.
funkyguy4000:
so like 64 levels of current control would be how bright the leds would be?
LEDs require a constant current source to function properly. So there are 64-level the current source can be set to. In other words, it is the resolution of current. (Yeah you could alter brightness this way, but you wouldn't. That's what the 4096 levels of PWM are used for.) Not all LEDs (and not all colors) use the same amount of current.
funkyguy4000:
and then the duty cycle would be running at 12bits/ms? like checking which is on or off?
Nothing to do with bits. Duty cycle is simply how long the signal is on versus how long it is off. A duty cycle of 50% would mean the signal (and thus the LED) is on 50% of the time and off 50% of the time. This generally corresponds to a level 2048 (of the total 4096).
funkyguy4000:
and then i still don't get the 16-channal thingy
Each output of the TLC5940 is a channel. If you had single LEDs, each LED would be a channel.
Before understanding the TLC5940, I would suggest learning more about PWM.
How many threads are you going to have going for the same project? You're bouncing all over the place, new thread for each new question that pops into your head it seems. How about sticking with one for some continuity.
I have many questions about many different things and there isn't a category that has everything in one or else everybody would post in there.
If you look at them, they do all deal with LED's but they are varying in what they are considering the are very different parts of a project and 1 person may not know everythign about it. You may but others may not, one person may know more about microcontrollers rather than the audio parts and then another may know more about resistors rather than analog inputs.
What i'm saying is not everybody knows the same amount of stuff about components and such. Just because you may know it all doesn't mean everybody else does, if you think everybody does then you are stuck in a psychological aspect called egocentrism. I'm sorry but the reasoning for posting in different areas is to get the best the answer for each separate question and is completely justified.
You just don't get it. The level you are working at is like kindergarden level. It might be new to you but I have had over 45 years at this game and so have a lot of others here. We scan most of the sections so in at attempt not to piss us off we are asking you nicely not to post so many threads all over the place.
Of course it is your right to ignore us like it is our right to ignore you.
I can understand that. Okay, I'll do my best to not post as many. I didn't realize that I knew so little....
I just want to learn as much as I can as fast as I can.
I'll look at other threads in hopes that my questions can be answered that way or i'll figure them out or something.
What we are saying is go on and ask more questions in this thread because it is one project, one bit in isolation may not make sense when taken in conjunction with the whole project.
How would I go at programming the TLC5940? I've always wondered if you could do it through the arduino, but i've always come up with a no.
Is there some other way, I haven't been able to find a TLC5940 programmer like there are for some PICS.
Yea, I did.
I thought that the library commands for the TLC5940 that it has there on the playground page were just things of code just for the arduino.
I don't understand the diagram, do you take out the atmega and then just use the tlc? or what?
bear with me, i'm stupid. If i can get this then I can figure out many other things, i promise.
I'll be back in a little bit, I gotta go do a few errends.
The TLC5940 is not a microcontroller. It is a PWM LED driver chip, and it can easily be controlled by an Arduino. If you do a Google search for [tlc5940 arduino] you would find useful information even if you closed your eyes and clicked randomly on the page of results.
At this point it looks like the OP is having trouble understanding the questions he wants to ask, let alone able to understand the answers we would give. When someone starts asking about the merits of a particular chip, we automatically assume they understand roughly how things should be wired together, how to read a datasheet, where the code will reside, and how much work will be necessary to specify components, decouple logic supplies, determine power requirements, and actually solder this thing together.
I do sell everything the OP could just plug together and get some kind of audio reactive LED object running. There might be minimal profit in it for me, though, due to the time required for customer service....
mmkay well i recieve the sample TLC5940NT and a few other variations of it here soon. I'll install the stuff and wire it up just like the diagram and let you guys know how it goes and get back to you if I have any questions.