Sorry for this simple question I am a rookie still..
How and what components do I need to power this 12v led strip I had laying around with an arduino nano? Is it pretty much the same thing as the WS2812b strip that I know how to program?
The pins on the led strip say "+12v, Dout, Bo, GND.
I think all I have to do is supply the arduino nano with 12v through the vin and it should work the same as ws2812b?
Thank you!
No, don't supply the strip through the Arduino. You don't want lots of current flowing through the tiny copper strips on the Arduino board. Connect the 12V supply directly to the strip, but also take a second pair of wires from the PSU to power the Arduino.
Your description of the connections on the strip don't quite make sense, but if one of them says "Dout" then look at the other end of the strip.
Maybe post some close-up pics of a short section of the strip, the first 3~6 LEDs. Normally there are cut-points indicated with scissor symbols. Show one of those sections.
This image shows the connections to the led strip. 12v, Dout to Din, Bo to Bin, and ground. Is Bo a clock pin?
Can you read any codes printed on the chips?
PaulRB:
Interesting. I suppose it might be a clock line. But if so why not label it Cout and Cin?
These are WS2813 strips. "B" stands for "Backup".
I'll leave the rest to you ...
This sounds like a SK6822 chip.
Paul__B:
These are WS2813 strips.
Are you sure Paul? The strip has separate driver chips and each appears to drive 3 LEDs (as you would expect for 12V strip). I have only heard of ws2813 integrated with the LEDs on 5V strips.
PS. Merry Christmas all!
EDIT: I see some 12V and 24V ws2813 strips on Alibaba. They have 3 or 6 LEDs per cuttable section, 2 data lines, but no chips external to the 5050 LEDs, just a few resistors/caps.
PaulRB:
Are you sure Paul? The strip has separate driver chips and each appears to drive 3 LEDs (as you would expect for 12V strip). I have only heard of ws2813 integrated with the LEDs on 5V strips.
Sure about the identity of the chips? Absolutely not! But that they are the "backup" version of the system like the fully integrated WS2813 or SK6822 as Mike mentions, I think that is what it is.
PaulRB:
Looking closely at the above, 1 in 3 of those 5050 LEDs has a chip integrated, and more pins. The other two have no visible chip and fewer pins.
The plot thickens! 
OK, this is the integrated version of the chip to facilitate 12 V mode. You either have the separate driver IC, or you have the version integrated with the LEDs. In either case it has eight pins because the integrated LEDs are simply in series so the pin count is the same whether they are inside or outside. 
What is different about the two designs is that the WS2811 does not specify current limit resistors except for voltage balancing the red LEDs, but the strip you illustrate has those resistors as well as the resistor and capacitor for the shunt regulator.
This is however where it gets interesting. The WS2811 has eight pins, being ground, Vcc, three RGB outputs, data in, data out and a control pin (different function on the SK6822). If you have a secondary data (or indeed, clock) in and out - there are not enough pins!
