hey :slight_smile: just a quick question i hope. i'm thinking about a way to automatically adjust the brightness of a ws2812b ledstrip according to the light of the surroundings, so not just on / off but light intensity. to try things out i'll order some photosensors. but i found three types at b…

oke, thank you.. :slight_smile:

Any LDR, photodiode (even an LED!) or phototransistor can be made to work as an ambient light sensor. The details differ, but not by very much. Usually just an appropriate resistor is needed . But sometimes you don't even need the resistor. If you have an LED, use it in photovoltaic mode by connect…

https://playground.arduino.cc/Learning/LEDSensor Arduino Playground LED as light sensor. Requires 1 led, 1 100 ohm resistor and 2 pins. Solder resistor to led and stick the leads in the pin holes, wiring for test is done. Be aware that colored-bulb leds can act as colored light sensors well enoug…

jremington: But sometimes you don't even need the resistor. If you have an LED, use it in photovoltaic mode by connecting it between GND and an analog input (with the LED "arrow direction" or cathode connected to GND) and see what voltage you get. I found that if I read the analog pin often enou…

@ jremington and GoForSmoke thanks and indeed, i knew this too. the how has sunken away a bit, but i knew it. but i'm more or less looking for an / the ideal situation here, but a different question then, if all do the same job, what is the benefit of the different specs then? if there wasn't any,…

if there wasn't any, they wouldn't make so many different once. I said for YOUR application. Sometimes you want to match the sensor to some electronics other than a micro controller.

If there were no patents, they might be the same. You can get an LDR cheap. A led as light detector does not use resistance as explained in the link I left in reply #4.

Grumpy_Mike: I said for YOUR application. Sometimes you want to match the sensor to some electronics other than a micro controller. oke thanks.. that explain. much appreciated!

what light sensor to choose?

Projects General Guidance

Grumpy_Mike May 26, 2018, 6:36pm 2

Quite honestly any would do for what you want.

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what light sensor to choose?

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