Hi Arduino Forum!
I am trying to understand if it would be possible to boost the constant current output (18.5 mA) of the WS2811 driver chip. Datasheet here:
What I am trying to do, is to use this chip to make a string on individually controlled LED filament bulbs (warm white, single color).
My thoughts would be to use one of the three output channels (for example the red channel) of the WS2811 driver to PWM control the brightness of each bulb. The constant current output of 18.5mA is however to low for the use of led filament bulbs.
Could I pair this chip with a transistor, to increase the output current?
I really like this chip because I then can easily deasy chain the data on each bulb, to control all of them using commenly available libraries like fastled.
Here someone did something similar:
He even made it 16 bit PWM dimmable instead of 8 bit. For me, 8 bit is fine, so I am looking at a more simple hack.
Will just pairing it with a transistor work?
Thanks for any help!