well, apparently you're like the one stop place for all LED lighting!. thank you for making these videos. watched the whole video wealth of LED knowledge.
Very detailed and in depth video the internet really needed this, I really needed this with so many different types of leds, this was very helpful, could you also please make a video on power supplies how to choose an ultra slim power supply that suits your project and how to calculate amps required...
For sure, more content around that is coming but meanwhile take a look at this video, it'll teach you everything you need to know how to calculate your own setup: quinled.info/2020/09/26/power-injection-livestream/
Man, i was looking at led strips online for Halloween. Little did i know it could be so complex. A big thank you for your expert explanation. This video is a huge help. Great setup for the vid too, very nice. You must be the Led Guru ;). Top job !!
Thank you for reliably throwing cold water on my most fevered LED project dreams. Something you don't really state but perhaps it's obvious to most people: wiring, especially silicone, gets RIDICLOUSLY expensive at thick gauges when the lengths add up. It may not actually be the case, but my intuition tells me (from having recently bought a medium-sized spool of the stuff) that it _may_ be cheaper to segment a longer strip and drive the second half of the data with another microcontroller rather than run data and power out to the middle? Not with a quin-led, obviously, but just the bare $4 controller? At 5v? Just an idea I can't shake.
I normally don't like AND subscribe, but this had all the information I needed in one video. I'm making a cyberpunk jacket and needed to know what i was ordering. Thanks!
Thank you very much. A very comprehensive guide that explains the differences and where each strip is more suitable to an application. Today I learned. Thank you. Cheers 😊
Many thanks, I found this very interesting - sorry it took me 8 Months to find this video. Keep up the good work - just ordered a dig2go to play with. I'm also a big fan of LEDS for many many years - ever since I saw my first blue one to buy at £40.00 for a very dim pale blue 3mm LED.
I think the word you are forgetting to use a lot more when trying to explain how the effects look at different diatances is "resolution." Using a COB strip with many leds is going to completely alter your desired effect towards a negative result if you were to be viewing from a far distance (house eves..etc) simply because of that high resolution being produced. But at a distance we cant see to that detail to enjoy the effect being produced, so once the lesser number of led is used, the lower resolution accommodates our vision with the larger display..or to be said correctly...the lower resolution. The concept clicks much quicker with those that have dealt with diff size & number of pc monitors & the distances they are being viewed from. Luv your channel man, & have aquired a pile of knowledge in such a short time from your videos. Def support worthy. Just in time for my first real large-scale (but simple) outdoor led project. 196ft x 2 runs. A 3rd run would be the bomb..but mannnn...we be talking some serious ⚡️ Pi's⚡️ !!! Thanks for your time & knowledge.🐐
Brilliant overview, so much useful info packed into this video, can’t thank you enough for putting the time and effort into this. For those of us who make videos, 45 mins of a video can easily be 5 hours of planning, setting up scripting etc..
Yap! Thanks a lot! Really great! I would like to trigger the pixels with my edrums through MIDI DMX bouncing the light to a white wall. No, I got a 4 LED PAR and I need a view effects when hitting the cymbals. :-) Today morning I ordered a 5m 60LED/m WS2811 and I think that was the right choice. Together with the a SP201E DMX Decoder and a 12V 100W PS. It doesn't need to be that granular because I have only 512 DMX adresses available. I tried a 1m LED bar stage light with 8 segments and even that looked great already. Thanks a lot for your content, dude!
I'm definitely interested in a high CRI addressable white led strip if someone ever makes one, so I hope you'll make an update on the site or here if you find one you recommend. Thanks!
Always recommend *GS8208* over WS2815! It's the better than WS2815, WS2811, etc! It has Gamma Correction and the others do not. GS8208 dimming effects are much better and more gradual than WS2815. Each LED is addressable. However GS8208 is the same as WS2815 in regards to power consumption, as full intensity blue, red, or green will consume the same power as going full intensity white.
Great explanation, I want to add the THX blue light behind the tv 📺…… I want a deep blue….. from your video 🤔 I’m gathering RGB Because the white will make it bland 🤔🤔🤔🤔
So much to take in on this video. Your whole channel has been a great help. I'm deciding to try and tackle my outdoor patio / deck lighting with led's and its been such a daunting task. I'm gonna start with the DIG-OCTA system to try and tackle it all. I'm slightly confused on what to be using in longer runs either the 5m 96LEDs/m, 12v, ws2811 RGB vs. 5m, 720LEDs/m, 24v, ws2811, COB My question being, is the COB strip coated enough for outdoor use?
This would be great. I'd be interested in an high CRI warm white strip too. Also i'd love to know your thoughts on the narrow strips the 4mm and 5mm strips that are available. I'm considering using one for ambilight on my TV as I only have a 15mm gap behind it as it's flush mount and some of that is venting I shouldn't really block.
And then there are fairy lights.... I am working on a project that cant use strips but fairy lights would be perfect excpet there is not a lot of variety as far as I know.. The ones I bught from Dr. Zss's are not very dense. Is there a source of addressable fairy lights that are an inch or less apart? Would be great to do a program on fairy lights abd their issues. Enjoy your work and I am learning a lot fom you.
What is the best led strip to produce video or even still pictures in a 24"x 24" or less space located outdoors? Your videos are awesome and there is soo much information to digest! Thanks, Jeff
@IntermitTech actually use to display video as in making a video wall, not for atmosphere lighting to help with recording a video. I'm wanting to make a small 2' diameter LED screen to display video and/or videos at an outdoor event. My apologies for not being clear! I've subscribed and have watched most of you videos...but man is there a lot to consider when it comes down to it! I'll be buying my parts from you to support your channel. You do an awesome job!
Aah, well some generic ws2812b can do fine for that. Make sure to lay it out on a board so you can do lots of power injection and then running 5v is no issue really. Resolution will be mega low or it had to be big, but yeah.
@IntermitTech in addition to your above recommendation...can you grade me on what I think I've learned from your videos? This is what I came up with bad off?: 1. Digihud quad 12v 2. Ws2815 rgbw 12v ip65 144p/m 3 Eps 35...not sure if it will allow me to show pictures though? 4 possibly a data booster 5. Run data separately.
Bookmarks: controllers 1:04; voltage drop Calculator for cable thickness 10:00; 12V LED 5V esp circuit required, Driver requirements mention 11:37; addressable Led power sheet ( pw actually used ) 13:13; ways around 5v vs 12V 20:48; mentioning better LED options 31:30; mentioning number of data channels/nr of LEDs/meter 33:05; mention&explanation of better LEDs on bright variant 35:35; controller used in this video 39:28;
I just recently started looking at these. I'd figured out the voltage differences, but not how all the IP ratings affected the diffusion of the light. I know I'll look it up, but on the 12 volt models, does the data line need to be @ 12 volts also, can you just use a common ground? (edit:) Subscribed, I like you no BS approach!
Really looking forward to your analog controller. Also why have all of my rgbw strips started flickering? It’s almost like the data is bad even though they worked for a few months with no problems.
What an awesome informative video. What would you recommend to use for under cabinet light in a kitchen? We have had the contract supply LED lights there before but I have replaced them twice now...crazy expensive. I know you mentioned that the SK6812 would not be a good option in a living area as a primary lighting. When ours did work we had them on all the time and mostly turning off everything else. With WLED I would use them 85% of the time in just white while the other 15% used for the holiday & birthday effects. I've only started researching the WLED stuff over the past couple of days but I'm not gone down the rabbit hole. Originally I was researching how to do outdoor permanent holiday lighting. I'll get to that later. The inside will be my training point. Any advise here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yeah so it's mostly about the CRI value of sk6812 RGBW it's just not great quality white light at about CRI70, it'll be horrible for food and such under that light too since it's missing a bunch of spectrum and it has a bad spectrum balance. Currently the best way to go with analog LED strip for those things, but I currently don't have a pre-assembled board for that, only DIY.
Do you know if it's possible to control an RGB-IC strip and a White (warm/cool) strip from a single WLED controller please? Having watched your video, I'm thinking about using 5V in a custom light for my kitchen that has RGB for uplighting and White for downlighting. Or maybe this is false economy and I should just opt for an RGBW strip and use WLED's features to control the relevant individual lights as required.
The only reason I use WS2815 is the backup channel, but recently I've started to question how worried we should be about an IC dying? It's never really happened to me. Is it a real concern when doing installs that you can't repair?
Do you have any info related to product selection for cold weather climates? Strings Vs Strips? I'm located near Ottawa Canada and we see big temperature swings. In the winter as cold as -35 and in summer as hit as +35 celsius???? Thanks in advance 😁
What an epic comparison Quindor! I've never seen such a broad and accurate comparion of led strips, well done. Perhaps another interesting thing to check in one of your future videos: ambilight, and more specifically: 12 volt ws2811 RGB Bright versus 5 volt SK6812 RGBW. That would be interesting because of two competing thoughts: ws2811 has super bright colors while SK6812 has the white subpixel for awesome nuances in color reproduction. I'm really curious how those two unique features would compete to each other for ambilight.
Interesting idea, also compared to APA102 because of how it works differently on protocol level and has less limitations on total amount of LEDs and color mixing and such. I'll try to do more about that in the future too!
How do we deal with an individual LED that goes out? Or do we? Thanks. A short video on what to do with a non-working LED or short strip - especially with the addressable ones.
Generally you'd have to cut them out and the splice it together or replace the section you cut out, but it can be a real bother if it's mounted somewhere or there is weatherproofing...
@@IntermitTech The WS2815 has two data lines for that reason. Only if two leds next to each other die, the whole strip won't work, otherwise it's fine expect for the broken led
Can the digquad be used for things other than LED control? If so, have you made any video discussing other possible uses? I'm going on my second season using the dig-quad and it's been rock solid. Thank you.
The board is pretty purpose built to control digital LEDs, but in theory the hardware is an ESP32 with power management (5v-24v), power distribution and fusing, level-shifters and some other features all on a single board, combined with Ethernet if you want, etc. So if you have any application for any of those features maybe? Glad to hear it's been going strong for you!
@@IntermitTech Thanks for the prompt reply. I didnt really have any thing in mind, just curious. Are you familiar with Proffie boards? They are used to build/ run the sound and LEDs for high end, neopixel light sabers.
I might be missing something but I cant see a link on the comparison page for the 322/m strip? How would you rate the whites produces on this strip? Im looking for a COB strip for under-counter (kitchen) lighting. Thanks!
I’m building a poker table with a raised arm rest/rail. Under that rail will be a 1.5 inch tall acrylic diffuser. I’m probably going to go with an rgbic strip even tho we will mainly use white(easiest to peek at hole cards). The poker table is going to be 84”x42”, should I go with a smd style strip a COB strip? I’m leaning COB but I am a little concerned that it’ll be over diffused since they’re already diffused right on the strip. I guess I could always crank the brightness? They will be sitting very close to the diffuser, maybe half inch away at most.
Hmm, few things to digest here. If white is a goal, don't use anyrhing RGB only, that's a horrible "white" (it's not actually white light, it's white colored light, which isn't the same thing). Get something at least RGBW and while a lot better it still isn't great (still low CRI). In regards to diffusion, you either want diffusion or not, I don't feel like the COB will make the real difference there since it's zones they light up, they just blend better. I guess there is such a thing as too much diffusion because then everything will blend together too much and always become washed out, but no clue when that happens, I feel it's more dependant on spacing then amount of LEDs though.
Hello, i question about power injection. If i use a led strip ws2815 12v, 10m 60w/m connection in serie , i need to inject power on second led strip? Thanks
Is there a way I could email an in depth question to you? I have a project in my head and I’m brand new to addressable LEDs and I have questions before I spend my hard earned money.
Nearly completed wiring up my under bed and desk 12v addressable leds and now realise they're going to be 3 leds per pixel. Also great to know they can be in sync with WLED. No overheating issues with coated white leds as garage lights that may be on for hours?
Depends how much wattage they are if high watts per meter make sure to put them in a profile to keep them a bit cooler otherwise lifetime goes down quickly.
What's the best way to find out what IC a particular strip is using? For instance, I picked up a strip with a Gledopto Zigbee controller, but considering switching to DIY/Quinled. How can I reverse engineer the chip being used (if there is indeed an addressable chip being used at all.)
Well that would be the first step, determining if it's an analog or digital LED strip. If digital and using external chips you can try to look up which type. If not, things get a lot more difficult and it comes down to just trying if it works
I have a question?, I have a LED strip ws 2812 B 100 meters, a strip of two meters is attached to the wall, total 50 strips are attached, total LED is 6000, which controller will be used for this? That works with audio
Yes if you want anything near decent white RGBW is best. Generally it's still not great for primary lighting because of low CRI quality, but for under stair lighting something like ws2814 or sk6812 RGBW would be fine I'd think.
Thanks for the video. Super informative. Wondering, with the comments about the SK6812 (relatively) bad CRI, did anyone consider running two strips next to each other for indirect light (e.g. recessed ceiling)? One for effects (either RGB or RGBW) and one for high(er) quality scene light (SK6812 WWA). If the environment allows to run both next to each other, wouldnt that give the best of two worlds?
Actually... That triggered an interesting thought: 1. SK6812 for effects 2. Analog WCW (or WW/CW combined) with high CRI Thanks. Will test that out :-)
Got the sk6812 332/ per meter at 5m being impossible , I tore my car apart installed and now they’re all off and wonky. Looks great here but It uses to much injection for me to even try to fix it. Thinking of redoing with 12v because it’s an insane amount of light for the price practically unusable. Not sure if they have an arrow to follow like the other pair of ws2812 same issue.
I'm in the same boat, I used sk6812 5v on my slingshot. I agree too much power injection is needed. I'm gonna rip it all out and go with 12v. I really want the white channel. I see there's 12v sk6812 a little pricey, but it's probably worth it.
Depends, if it's for a bit of accent lighting and fun, digital RGB or RGBW. If it has any primary lighting function whatsoever, especially in the kitchen, CRI90 or CRI95 analog white LED strip. Otherwise you're really going to have a bad time. Sadly digital sk6812 RGBW even with it's dedicated white is still only around CRI70 so not suited as the primary lighting source.
Hi, i love LED strips, been working with them for years in my house now. Unfortunately they need to replaced and im thinking about adressable lightstrips. One question keeps buzzing my mind; when you extend a strip, how does the controller know the adresses of the extended part? (eg: i need 6 meters, buy many 5m strips, and cut one meter to extend a 5M to 6M. How will it react as one large strip?
Every LED strips off one LED worth of data and passes the rest on to the next one, this way they don't really need to be aware of the others and how many. In the controller you just enter the correct amount, done!
Sk6812 seems to be pretty dim in this example, is that just how it’s configured or does having the extra white led decrease the usual output of the rub leds?
The individual diodes are slightly smaller and a little less reflection area inside the package. But also it wasn't in IP65 which some others where which would spread out the glow a bit more. If you take the power sheet and compare power used that would give slightly less light also (in theory, if both are the same lm/w). So yes, I'd say for pure colors and such sk6812 is slightly less bright.
7x 10m is quite long, I'd look at 24v COB RGBW for instance, otherwise you are going to have a hell of wiring such setups. Take a look at some of my more recent LED strip test videos. :)
@@dansantoso48 Sure ws2815 can be a good choice too if you can have a one or two power runs! And individually addressable 60LEDs/m can look great for sure!
@@dansantoso48 Yes although you will have to spread them over multiple data connections, as long as those are coming from the same board and you stay under about 2000 LEDs in total they can act as one giant LED strip.
Sure I think the 12v ws2811 bright would be ideal for that, because of the layout and diffusion per 3 addressable is no issue and then you get really bright vibrant colors and 12v which makes voltage drop a bit less!
Oh no, certainly not do that. It's great for colors and such but that's it. Get at least RGBW but even that isn't suited for primary lighting you'll need high CRI analog for that.
Constant current analog strips actually do exist, digitally per 3 for 12v and per 6 for 24v kind of does that, but each color LED needs a certain vokgage so in series with changing colors and intensities it becomes very very tricky and basically not possible. Also ws2815 kind of uses a constant current sort of construction, but that's also what makes it much less efficient (100%red burns of 200% other power basically).
@@IntermitTech thanks for the reply. I guess that makes sense what you are saying about the addressable LED strips being harder to do constant current operation.
