Im new to this world and I would like to know more about multi colored leds. I would like to make a cool night light with the Arduino using them, but i would like some info first. How do you get them to change color? will the colors fade to each other? can more them one color be on at one time? How to i control them?
this is what i found on ebay
if you read it it says that the blink on there own, I want to be able to control them. what should i look for on ebay?
Thank you :o
Look for ones that are 4pin LEDs. These are either common cathode (-) or common anode (+) Each color can be controlled separately.
Here is a good site for working with RGB LEDs
How do you get them to change color?
Looking at the eBay link, I think the question should be "How do you stop them changing colour"?
By the way, you might want to give your keyboard a shake - looks like your question mark key is a little sticky.
I bought those exact ones about a month ago, It's 3 small Red Blue and Green (I believe) LED's packed into one with a very small microchip devoted to slowly changing the colors. It's completely Automatic, the chip cycles to a different color about every 3 seconds, You cannot change that. And when you remove the voltage and put it back on, it resets the cycle to the starting color, Red.
Also, try 4-Pin RGB Led's. Probably common cathode. You ground the LED on one of the pins, and when you apply voltage the one of the other 3 pins, it lights up that color. You can mix the colors by doing two or more at once, all 3 shows White. Also, with some simple coding you can change the voltages on each pin and play with some dimming capabilities.
Try these,
there are also 6 pin rgb leds from kingbright 1 red, 1 green, 2 blue in one 5mm led and two pins are for ground (-). hard to solder and i don't really see a big advantage to the normal 4 pin rgb leds.