Looking at the SK6812MINI-E - A hand solderable Neopixel compatible LED 

Yes, very different beasts. I would definitely recommend triple checking with physical devices before committing to a footprint for a PCB design.

Damn, why would they make the pinout different? I was really hoping for something for these SK6812MINI mid mount leds on a keyboard kit I'm working on. So frustrating

Hi Adam. In general with a stable 5 volt supply you wont need any resistors. A small value resistor (50-150 ohm) on the VDD pin can be used to improve the protection of the LED from voltage spikes. Also having extra capacitors right beside the LED can help to reduce flicker.

@@PartFusion Perfect timing, I am starting this project today. Thank you for the tip!

@@PartFusion Really good video, and nice craftmanship for this tiny parts. Thank you! A Question. You say "having extra capacitors beside the LED", but I haven't found any information which capacity they should have. In the datasheets I've seen, the values are unreadable. I would greatly appreciate a recommendation.

@@obertan_1 A surface mount 0.1uF (0.1 microfarad = 100 nanofarad) decoupling capacitor is recommended beside each LED. I don't believe the the physical size of the decoupling capacitor or the capacitance value really matters. I've had circuits that didn't need any capacitors and others where I needed to add multiple capacitors per LED to get stable operation. Probably the type of power supply/length of power connections had a bearing. In your circuit design leave some space for adding capacitors every 5 to 10 LEDs and see how it goes.

The AdaFruit NeoPixel library on Arduino, but any NeoPixel library should work. You'll get some functionality with a couple of LEDs on 3.3v. Blue LEDs need more then 3.3v to light up correctly, and voltage drop will be a big issue.

@@PartFusion Thanks

Decoupling capacitors aren't always required (probably a factor on power supply quality, length of cables). A starting capacitance value of 0.1 uF (microfarad), physical size can be any practical size. In your circuit design in for some decoupling capacitors every 5 to 10 LEDs, and see how it goes.

The 12 in the SK6812 means 12mA per LED color. So with all three LEDs at full brightness each pixel will need about 36mA. I also just tested this with a multimeter and got 12mA for one LED on, 35mA for all three LEDs on, and 0.5mA for no LEDs on.

@@PartFusion thank you!!

@@PartFusion Thanks!

I think you would want to use USB-C on your keyboard and negotiate for high current draw. The datasheet I found was vague on some of the current values, but it looked like with the LED off, it would draw 1mA and all on it could draw 12mA. I wouldn't want to design a keyboard around the hopes that my code would need put the LEDs in a configuration that could draw too much power.

@@neltzroth5744 that's a good idea, I would have to use some sort of control board to do that since i doubt my microcontroller supports something like that.

The WS2812 and WS2813 have the same physical package, but have a very different pinout configuration. These are WS2812's.

PartFusion WS2812 only have 4 pins, WS2813 have 6 pins. Both are in a 5050 package

I've been using these addressable LEDs in my projects and products since about November 2012. At the time I bought them they were referred to as the WS2812 and came in a 6 pin package. A while later the WS2812B became available and was in a 4 pin package. A number of years later (I'm not sure when) the WS2813 became available which was also in a 6 pin package.

PartFusion my fault ws2812 have 6 pin but new ws2812b have 4 pins

I used stripboard for prototyping the circuit, which consists of a 2.54mm grid of holes and copper strips. I was able to carefully cut between four of the holes and then used a small file to clean up the edges.

@@PartFusion Thanks!