rings in the store to check out!
12 ultra bright smart LED NeoPixels are arranged in a circle with 1.45" (37mm) outer diameter.
The rings are 'chainable' - connect the output pin of one to the input pin of another. Use only
one microcontroller pin to control as many as you can chain together! Each LED is addressable
as the driver chip is inside the LED. Each one has ~18mA constant current drive so the color will
be very consistent even if the voltage varies, and no external choke resistors are required
making the design slim. Power the whole thing with 5VDC and you're ready to rock.
The NeoPixel is 'split', one half is the RGB you know and love, the other half is a white LED with
a yellow phosphor. Unlit, it resembles an egg yolk. Lit up these are insanely bright (like ow my
eye hurts) and can be controlled with 8-bit PWM per channel (8 x 4 channels = 32-bit color
overall). Great for adding lots of colorful + white dots to your project!
NeoPixel LEDs use 800 KHz protocol so specific timing is required. On NeoPixels, the PWM rate
is ~400 Hz, which works well but is noticable if the LED is moving. In comparison, DotStars have
a 20 KHz PWM rate, so even when moving the LED around, you won't see the pixelation, the
blending is very smooth. (we recommend DotStars if you can use them)
NeoPixels are 5050-sized LEDs with an embedded microcontroller inside the LED. You can set
the brightness and color of each R/G/B/W with 8-bit PWM precision (so 32-bit color per pixel).
The LEDs are controlled by shift-registers and only 1 digital output pin are required to send
data down. The PWM is built into each LED-chip so once you set the color you can stop talking
to the ring and it will continue to PWM all the LEDs for you.
We have a tutorial showing wiring, power usage calculations, example code for usage, etc.
for NeoPixel Please check it out! Please note you will need a NeoPixel library with RGBW
support which is not always available. If you try to control these with a plain 'RGB' NeoPixel
library, you'll get very weird results. Our Adafruit NeoPixel library does support RGBW but if
you're using something else, just be aware that it might require some hacking.
Our detailed NeoPixel Uberguide has everything you need to use NeoPixels in any shape and
size. Including ready-to-go library & example code for the Arduino UNO/Duemilanove/Diecimila,
Flora/Micro/Leonardo, Trinket/Gemma, Arduino Due & Arduino Mega/ADK (all versions)
Comes as a single ring with 12 individually addressable RGB LEDs assembled and tested.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
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