Addressable LED strips

What is an addressable LED strip?

Addressable LED strip is a digital strip containing LEDs and driver chips that allow each LED to be controlled independently. This means that each LED can be autonomous and intelligent in its own way. In other words, each light can have its own shade and brightness. Each chip supports 1 to several diodes depending on the connection in terms of controlling the power of their channels. Therefore, each individual diode can be turned on, dimmed, brightened or obtain a different color of light. This gives amazing effects such as imitation of movement or the ability to display animations or even an image.

How do addressable LED strips work?

The microcontroller IC receives digital signal data from the addressable LED controller, then cuts off the beginning of the signal and delivers the control command on to the next LED. In this way, all LEDs receive a signal from the LED controller. 1 integrated circuit on the tape can support 1 to 6 diodes depending on their connection.

What voltage should addressable diodes be powered by? 5V 12V or maybe 24V?

Digital diodes can be powered with voltage from 3.3V to 24V. It depends on how the diodes are placed and how they are connected in sequence. Because 1 digital chip is one set of settings for a diode, all diodes assigned to the chip glow with the same light. The number of LEDs assigned to the signal decoding chip is related to the supply voltage of the digital LED strip. Digital diodes can be powered with voltage from 3.3V to 24V. Since the supply voltage determines the number of LEDs that will have the same color, when creating a single-color set, it is worth considering how much resolution we need. In the case of projects viewed closely, a much better solution is to use individually controlled diodes. In the case of projects viewed from a distance where animations are fast, a better solution due to the lack of high resolution requirements and the ease of power supply will be to use 12V or 24V diodes

Supply voltages of addressable LEDs:

• 3.3V to 5V -  Each module supports exactly 1 LED. Cutting place every 1 LED. Precise designs. Animations seen up close
•  12V -  Each module supports exactly 3 LEDs sharing a voltage of 12V. Cutting place every 3 LEDs. Diodes viewed at a considerable distance of several meters
•  24V  -  Each module supports exactly 3 LEDs sharing 12V. Cutting place every 6 LEDs. Projects viewed from a distance of more than 5 meters
  
  

Types of addressable LED strips

The connection point of the addressable LED strip is different from a regular 12V or 24V LED strip. You can judge whether your strip The light is an addressable LED strip, based on the connection point.

Addressable LED strips can be divided into single signal LED strips, dual signal LED strips, breakpoint resume series and DMX512 LED strips according to the signal. And these four types are different.

1. Addressable single-signal LED strips - 3pin

The name implies that a single-signal addressable LED strip can only pass one type of signal. The control area of the integrated circuit is called is a pixel. When one of the pixels gets damaged, the remaining pixels stop working. So its point connections are positive wire, negative wire and signal wire. Take the figure below as an example.

• 12V represents the positive line.
• Din represents the data signal line.
• GND represents the negative line.

 
 Addressable diodes controlled classically - using 1 signal line  is:

Chip Type	color	power	number of diodes
WS2811	White/RGB/RGB+W/RGB+CCT	12V / 24V	3 / 6
WS2812	RGB	5V	1 /3
WS2814	RGBW	12V / 24V	3 /6
WS2812B	RGB	5V	1 / 3
SK1612	White/RGB/RGBW
TM1812	White/RGB/RGBCCT	12V / 24V	3 / 6
TM1814	RGBW	12V / 24V	3 / 6
TM1936	RGBCCT	24V	6

 
 

2. Addressable two-signal LED strips

In addition to the data signal passing through the addressable dual-signal LED strip, it adds a clock function. You can set the time to turn on the LED light.

5V — positive line
CKL/CKO — clock line
SDI/SDO — digital signal line
GND — negative line

Classically controlled addressable diodes - using 2 signal lines:

Chip type	color	tension	number of diodes
SK9822	RGB	5V / 12V / 24V	1
WS2801	RGB	5V / 12V / 24V	1 / 3
APA102	White / RGB	5V	1 /3
LPD6803	RGB	12V 24V	2
LPD6806	RGB	12V 24V	3

 

3 Addressable LED strips with double signal line

This is an improved version of the single signal addressable LED strip with a double data line.In the event of a single data line failure, a backup data line will automatically be activated, which ;ra will ensure that the signal is not interrupted.

• 12 May — positive line
• DO1 — digital signal line
• DO2 — backup line
• GND — negative line

Classically controlled addressable diodes - using a double signal line:

Chip type	color	Tension	Number of diodes
WS2813	RGB / RGBW	5V	1
WS2814	RGBW	12V	3
WS2815	RGB	12V	1
WS2818	RGB / RGBW	12V	3 / 6
TM1914	White / RGB	12V / 24V	3 / 6
GS8206	RGB	12V / 24V	3 / 6
GS8208

 
 

How to cut and connect addressable LED strips?

LED diodes should always be cut in the place marked with soldering pads - i.e. in places where exposed copper channels are visible. Cutting elsewhere will cause dysfunction of the damaged section. We always cut digital LEDs in the place designated for this purpose, marked with copper. This place is for a diode with voltage:

• 5V - cutting every diode
• 12V - cutting every 3 diodes
• 24V - cutting every 6 diodes