4/6/2023 0 Comments Rgb pixel tester![]() 32 levels * 32 levels * 32 levels = ~ 32K different shades of color available. The built-in driver chip has 5 bit resolution for each color. Mounting holes under the black bezel for making a wall-sized grid. Then, I grabbed a handful of ‘cubes.’ These are waterproof, discretely controlled and daisy-chainable. Except that all the environmental problems of wiring harnesses, waterproofing, etc, seem to have been completely solved. They are very, very similar in intensity and function to my Point Source design from last year. Again, I got a string of 50 on 10 cm spacing. I grabbed 10 with discrete LEDs and 10 with all-in-one SMD RGB emitters. They’re chained together on a four-wire bus (power, ground, clock and data). These bars are identical to the first (dumb) ones, except that they have an in-built PWM controller. Any node can be set to any color, regardless of what the neighboring node may be doing. Here’s where it gets more interesting… This next handful of goodies have a built-in brain and can be controlled discretely. ![]() Again, the entire chain can be set to any color. My sample string contained 50 emitters on 10 cm spacing. They contain an 8mm RGB LED inside an injection molded, waterproof (!) plastic blob. These point source dots are even more fun. The entire chain can be controlled simultaneously. These round assemblies are similar to the bars, but they only contain a single emitter of each color. Each string of bars can be controlled together via PWM / constant current / whatever to generate any needed color. Each bar contains R, G & B emitters, evenly spaced in groups of three. They come in strings of nearly any length and board spacing. So I immediately ordered a whole box of goodies as samples. Their net-to-me, out-the-door pricing for waterproof nodes – pre-wired and built to our specifications – was phenomenally good. Then, late one night I discovered a Source in Asia who specializes in this sort of thing. I’d finished the circuit board layouts and was about to send off for prototype boards. ![]() We researched potting compounds, waterproof dips, UV-cured clear resins (awesome, but $$) and more. We settled on two variants: one based on a six wire, ‘shift register’ PWM processor and a second based on a three wire ‘power ground data’ (similar to DMX) controller. The strings of 25-50 nodes were meant to hang vertically.Īfter much discussion, we decided to totally re-work the design. And we weren’t sure how reliable that junction would be if asked to bear weight. However, the RJ45 connectors were very expensive. After much testing, he determined that 2 Tripix, mounted back to back (if you’re counting, that’s 6 SMD RGB LEDs) would be bright enough for his purposes. So, I mailed out a short string of Tripix for him to evaluate. Plus, he needed something viewable (and evenly lit) over 360 degrees, and there didn’t appear to be an existing product on the market with that feature. He’d checked with several commercial vendors and received quotes as high as $110,000 for the nodes, controllers & cabling. The nodes needed to be very bright, very durable, and also waterproof. ![]() Next week we’ll be able to speak with these over regular DMX.Ībout a month ago, I was contacted by a lighting designer who wanted to use 7,000 Tripix as part of an outdoor installation. ![]()
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