Controlling RGB Leds

Yeah, but you can read that two ways :wink:

All change to the new different color but all the same.
OR all change to a individual different color.

For the first using NeoPixels is a bit overkill :slight_smile:

septillion:
Yeah, but you can read that two ways :wink:

All change to the new different color but all the same.
OR all change to a individual different color.

For the first using NeoPixels is a bit overkill :slight_smile:

Other than RGB LEDs are there others that lets him change colors on the fly?

No, but read it again :wink: He does not make clear of all those leds need to change to the same new color or from all being one single color to being all a different color.

All NeoPixels are RGB leds. Not all RGB leds are NeoPixels :slight_smile:

If all those 100 (RGB) leds just need to go from red to green all at the same time NeoPixels can be used but are wayyyyyyy overkill. Normal RGB leds with simple transistors in front is way simpler and a heck of a lot cheaper.

septillion:
All NeoPixels are RGB leds. Not all RGB leds are NeoPixels :slight_smile:

To me they are synonymous as when people use the brand name Kleenex to mean facial tissue.

To me they are in NO way synonymous. NoePixels and WS2801, WS2811, WS2812B, LPD8806 or TM1809 are.

But a normal RGB led


and NeoPixel

are not.

Like I said, a NeoPixel is a RGB led, a RGB led does not need to be a NeoPixel :wink:

To me, a RGB LED is a generic RGB with the controller whereas the NeoPixel is a brand name.

Then you have a weird view :wink: To me (and many many others) a RGB led is a led and tells NOTHING about the driver. That there are leds with build in driver and we tend to call them by the brand name NeoPixel just is a subset

NeoPixel ∈ RGB led
RGB led ∉ NeoPixel

septillion:
Then you have a weird view :wink: To me (and many many others) a RGB led is a led and tells NOTHING about the driver. That there are leds with build in driver and we tend to call them by the brand name NeoPixel just is a subset

NeoPixel ∈ RGB led
RGB led ∉ NeoPixel

The ones I buy on eBay don't have brand names.

To me, when people are asking about them here, I translate RGB LED as being shorthand for RGB LED with controller especially when they are talking about them as on a LED strip.
If the OP doesn't mean that, then perhaps he will return and set me straight.

I translate RGB LED as being shorthand for RGB LED with controller especially when they are talking about them as on a LED strip.

Then you are missing something big.
Their are four major types:-

  1. Four connections, one positive and one for each of the grounds for R,G and B. Normally these are 12V and are controlled by a PWM signal driving a FET in each colour line. This is how you use them Usage | RGB LED Strips | Adafruit Learning System. What ever is the colour all the LEDs on that strip have the same colour.

  2. Three connections 12V - Every three LEDs have full independent colour control.

  3. Three connections 5V - power ground and data, of the WS2812 type sometimes called Neopixels. Each LED has full independent colour control.

  4. Four connection 5V - power ground data clock, sometimes called dot star. Each LED has full independent colour control.
    Overview | Adafruit DotStar LEDs | Adafruit Learning System

ieee488:
I translate RGB LED as being shorthand for RGB LED with controller

As Grumpy_Mike also says, I would drop that idea and ask what the person has / want to. Option 1 is still the most sold strip in China supermarkets :slight_smile:

Grumpy_Mike:
Then you are missing something big.
Their are four major types:-

  1. Four connections, one positive and one for each of the grounds for R,G and B. Normally these are 12V and are controlled by a PWM signal driving a FET in each colour line. This is how you use them Usage | RGB LED Strips | Adafruit Learning System. What ever is the colour all the LEDs on that strip have the same colour.

  2. Three connections 12V - Every three LEDs have full independent colour control.

  3. Three connections 5V - power ground and data, of the WS2812 type sometimes called Neopixels. Each LED has full independent colour control.

  4. Four connection 5V - power ground data clock, sometimes called dot star. Each LED has full independent colour control.
    Overview | Adafruit DotStar LEDs | Adafruit Learning System

I have never been to a supermarket in China so I don't know what they sell.

Perhaps you can point out the four types on eBay.
As I said, that's where I buy mine.

"RGB LED" to me means dumb 5/10/etc mm bulb shape with 4 leads, common anode or common cathode.

Just links to the first I could find today.

  1. LED Strip light Tape RGB 5050 DC5V USB Cable LED Strip 1M DIY HDTV TV Dec | eBay
    Ignore the controller/remote. You can easily buy them without.

  2. WS2811 5050 RGB LED Strip 150 300 Leds 90 60 30LED/M Individual Addressable 12V | eBay

  3. WS2812B Strip LED Lights 5050 RGB 30/60/144 LED/M IC Individual Addressable DC5V | eBay

  4. Adafruit DotStar Digital LED Strip White 144 LED m 1M WHITE ADA2242 | eBay
    Just used the DotStar brand name but those are based on the APA102 but there are other controllers with separate clock and data.

@INTP, agreed. But on the forum I always ask just to be sure :slight_smile:

Are you in the Netherlands? All the links are to ebay.nl

I am in the USA.

There is nothing in those auctions to indicate how #1 [5M RGB 5050 Waterproof 300 LED Strip light SMD] is different from #2 or #3. At least, #2 and #3 is differentiates by the description of WS2811 vs WS2812B

Nothing on #4 subject [Adafruit DotStar Digital LED Strip - White 144 LED/m - 1M - WHITE [ADA2242]] indicates that it is RGB, so if I searched for RGB, that auction would not show up.

All in all not a lot of in-depth information in those auctions to help me understand what is exactly different about them.

ieee488:
Are you in the Netherlands? All the links are to ebay.nl

Yes sir I am.

ieee488:
I am in the USA.

Does not matter, all links are from international sellers in China. And they are the first I could find anyway so bad idea to blindly onder from those links

ieee488:
There is nothing in those auctions to indicate how #1 [5M RGB 5050 Waterproof 300 LED Strip light SMD] is different from #2 or #3. At least, #2 and #3 is differentiates by the description of WS2811 vs WS2812B

Yes there is, it's the fact they don't mention a controller because they have none :wink: That's what makes them just pure RGB leds :slight_smile:

ieee488:
Nothing on #4 subject [Adafruit DotStar Digital LED Strip - White 144 LED/m - 1M - WHITE [ADA2242]] indicates that it is RGB, so if I searched for RGB, that auction would not show up.

What can I say? China... If all subjects / descriptions would be perfect in the far east I would not spend hours looking for stuff sometimes.

I am in the USA.

I know this might come as a shock to some in the USA but other places exist.

However you can get all the types in the USA.

Note how the pictures show the same colour on all the LEDs on the reel.

Note how their are different colours on the same reel.

Note how their are four connectors, power, data and clock.

http://led-tronix.com/product/addressable-lpd6803-30leds-5050-led-pixel-strip-lights-12v-dc-waterproof-ip67/
Note how it says "one pixel IC control three 5050 RGB"

Grumpy_Mike:
I know this might come as a shock to some in the USA but other places exist.

However you can get all the types in the USA.

Overview | RGB LED Strips | Adafruit Learning System
Note how the pictures show the same colour on all the LEDs on the reel.

Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - White 60 LED [WHITE] : ID 1138 : $99.80 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
Note how their are different colours on the same reel.

Overview | Adafruit DotStar LEDs | Adafruit Learning System
Note how their are four connectors, power, data and clock.

http://led-tronix.com/product/addressable-lpd6803-30leds-5050-led-pixel-strip-lights-12v-dc-waterproof-ip67/
Note how it says "one pixel IC control three 5050 RGB"

I know fully well other places aka countries do exist.
I was not born in the USA. But since I reside here now, I don't go buying things from eBay in the Netherlands.

Other than the Dotstar which I don't know about because Adafruit products are expensive and I don't buy from their website, it looks like the products are deprecated.

I remember reading a website a few years back, and the one mentioned at the time were those
WS2812B.

septillion:
Yes sir I am.
Does not matter, all links are from international sellers in China. And they are the first I could find anyway so bad idea to blindly onder from those links
Yes there is, it's the fact they don't mention a controller because they have none :wink: That's what makes them just pure RGB leds :slight_smile:
What can I say? China... If all subjects / descriptions would be perfect in the far east I would not spend hours looking for stuff sometimes.

My point is that it is not readily apparent to the casual buyer that there are 4(!) types of RGB LED strips as you and Grumpy_Mike claim.

Links to different webpages.

All confusing and not very clear that they are actually different - it may be that the Chinese sellers are not right with descriptions.

I still stand by my comments that when people are posting here about RGB LEDs, they are referring to the non-Adafruit variety and are ones with the included controller and that run on 5V different colors at the same.
Those are the ones I see most commonly on eBay.com

The analog stuff is deprecated. One color at a time. Ugh.

You guys could do people a favor if you actually created one page that describes these different LED strips.

Photos and descriptions.

ieee488:
I don't go buying things from eBay in the Netherlands.

Like I said, nothing in the Netherlands. It's just the Dutch eBay. Replace the .nl with .com and it will be nicely in English. All sellers are in China (as usual).

ieee488:
it looks like the products are deprecated.

Explain yourself? The pure RGB strips are still commonly used. If you just want to light large areas you don't need individual control over each pixel. Like I said, still the most sold strip. And if you change your expectation that a RGB led comes with a controller/driver listings are not weird. You don't expect a normal 3mm led to come with a driver, do you?

ieee488:
You guys could do people a favor if you actually created one page that describes these different LED strips.

The FastLed website already shows a lot of different types of individual controllers. And like I said, most of use don't expect any controller in a strip so it's just multiple leds on a strip with resistors which you drive like any other led :slight_smile:

ieee488:
My point is that it is not readily apparent to the casual buyer that there are 4(!) types of RGB LED strips as you and Grumpy_Mike claim show ;).

Maybe even more. It just started with the plain strips and manufacturers just thought of nice control chips and even integrated them into the led package itself. And like every industry, every manufacturer tries to get a share of the pie with there own implementation which is or is not compatible with others.

ieee488:
All confusing and not very clear that they are actually different - it may be that the Chinese sellers are not right with descriptions.

Most mention the controller just fine or at least the "general" brand name which they are compatible with. And the once without yeah, like I said, you don't expect a seller to tell you when you buy a regular LED it has no controller?

ieee488:
I still stand by my comments that when people are posting here about RGB LEDs, they are referring to the non-Adafruit variety and are ones with the included controller and that run on 5V different colors at the same.

A lot of people indeed do but that's what makes it confusing. A real engineer would not and will ask just to be sure around here :wink:

ieee488:
Those are the ones I see most commonly on eBay.com

maybe in the US, in China the controller-less variants are still the most popular :slight_smile:

ieee488:
The analog stuff is deprecated. One color at a time. Ugh.

Not everybody likes a rainbow on there ceiling :wink: And your free to make sections again. It's still a heck of a lot cheaper and easier to make sections of 1m with a individual controller if you want a long run and it will also look nice. Yes, individual pixels is nice but I don't think it's worth a tenfold to just light my room.