Power connections for addressable LED string lights vs LED strip

Do hardwired string LEDs (you know, the ones wired together like Christmas lights) have the same power hookup issues as the strip LEDs? In other words, do the wired LEDs suffer from the same voltage drop issues requiring multiple power taps over a 5m string? I would guess the wired lights are better in that the they might have thicker copper than the printed strips but I don't know. Ultimately, is supplying good power at both ends of a 5m strip sufficient to provide a good even white light through the length of the string or does it need a tap or two in the middle like the strip LEDs?.

Thanks.

Steve

This will depend on which strips you have in mind.

If you have strips with RGB LEDs with separate connections to R, G and B, then voltage loss over several metres would cause colour distortion, but the strips I have here are actually 12 V ones with three LEDs in series for each colour and a dropping resistor, so they are less (one third as) sensitive to voltage drop than 5 V strips. And yes, the 12 V addressable LED strips are also less sensitive to this problem than the 5 V ones but those with only one LED per "pixel" are very inefficient.

White LEDs of course, do not change colour significantly depending on current supplied. This is (just one reason) why they are so much better than incandescent lights. Much the same is true for fluorescent lights and indeed, white LEDs are actually fluorescent lights. :grinning:

So what LED strips are you using?