New Ambient Lighting system - no knowledge (3 Viewers)

[azzuro]

- Would 120 LEDs per meter be better in terms of visibility/quality?

yes, better . but the PSU will bE BIGGGGGGGGGG. and Voltage drop will be very big too, and you need to add power connector every 50 leds at least !

 

[azzuro]

Easier to handle and connect everything as you can detach / attach zones like this:

yes, or built your own !
i have buy on Farnel all needed, but waiting in the box up to buy my leds lol .
the problem for me, is the wire size ! if you need lot of metter, you must have bigger wire size.
but this corner connector must be done only for Leds data so :

----- 5V ( only for continuity; but not for power )
----- Clock
----- Data
----- GND

and add an other only for power every 50/60 leds

----- 5V
----- GND

Drop Voltage = Different colors on each LEDS.

 

[Rick164]

So you're cutting the cable there and connect 2 of the 4 LEDs-pins with them? The other 2 are going to the Pi?

+ / GND wires of led strip go directly to this connector:

https://www.adafruit.com/products/368

Where after you can just plug in the PSU connector without soldering, only the GND is also connected to the rPI (replace arduino with rPI in the picture):

So this micro usb adapter is the power supply for the Pi?

Yeah separate micro usb power supply for the rPI.

yes, better . but the PSU will bE BIGGGGGGGGGG. and Voltage drop will be very big too, and you need to add power connector every 50 leds at least !

With 218 leds I only had to add power to the beginning and end of the led strip for the WS2812, pure white worked on all leds that way.

 

[The_Stig]

Getting closer now that I understand the things. Thanks.

With 218 leds I only had to add power to the beginning and end of the led strip for the WS2812, pure white worked on all leds that way.

How to do this? Simply add another cable to PSU or do I need an additional PSU then? And I guess I will go the 60LED/Meter way...sounds reasonable.

 

[azzuro]

With 218 leds I only had to add power to the beginning and end of the led strip for the WS2812, pure white worked on all leds that way.

are you sure ?
have you tested in full white ? how the voltage drop at middle of your leds ?

 

[Rick164]

How to do this? Simply add another cable to PSU or do I need an additional PSU then? And I guess I will go the 60LED/Meter way...sounds reasonable.

You would connect the + / GND the same way as you would in the beginning at the very end of the led strip, same PSU only you split the power connectors so that you connect the end as well.
It really depends on the amount of leds and length as basically you lose a bit of voltage along the way.

are you sure ?
have you tested in full white ? how the voltage drop at middle of your leds ?

Yeah full white with no voltage drops , before connecting the end as well it would turn warm white about 1 / 3 of the leds when sending full white.

 

[Lightning303]

- @Lightning303, you said you're planning a new system too. What are your plans currently?

Still testing different types of leds. Just ordered another meter of RGBW leds to test them against the ones i have now. After that i will make a decission.
Then i will go and buy an Arduino Micro Pro clone, buy the leds i want and see if i still have a psu that is powerfull enough for the load.

In regards to voltage drops. I am planing to add power to all the sides individually. However not at the start or the end, but rather in the middle of a strip. This way you half the distance for the power again. I could see the difference in connecting power very well on my 1m test strip. Adding it from the front with thin wires would give me quite a drop and a lot of flickering. While adding it in the middle with thicker wires would result in no flicker and very low voltage drop.

Also, i have not seen this mentioned. But it is recommended to use an extra capacity to protect against high currents aswell as provide a small power buffer. And it is recommended to use a resistor in series with the data line to protect the leds.
Lots of informations on this and more here: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/overview

 

[The_Stig]

Soo..(hopefully) complete shopping list. Any ideas/comments?

• Pi: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00T2U7R7I...colid=INSYY4Y08I7O&coliid=IDGKJSTPH73DQ&psc=1 38,50 Euro
• Case for Pi: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00MQLB1N6...UTF8&colid=INSYY4Y08I7O&coliid=I38FJN0290Q490 6,75 Euro
• Micro-SDHC-Card: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00MWXUKDK...olid=INSYY4Y08I7O&coliid=I2M5E7VYB1LEQA&psc=1 6,99 Euro
• Wire for Soldering: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B009UT102Y...UTF8&colid=INSYY4Y08I7O&coliid=I2CBXJCKXLZ8WE 5,22 Euro
• LED 5m 60LED/meter IP30: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1m-5...-PCB-24-36-60-96-leds-pixels/32322326979.html 54,91 Euro (wasn't sure if 3m is enough and 4m wasn't much cheaper then 5m)
  
• PSU for LED: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-...PD8806-WS2801-LED-Strip-Light/1844326418.html 14,82 Euro
• PSU for Pi: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5V-2...ro-USB-charging-power-supply/32330713261.html 3,03 Euro
• Jumper Cable: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/120p...-jumper-wire-connector-Dupont/1746697391.html 2,80 Euro
• DC Adapter: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-...-Plug-Jack-Adapter-Connector/32298449844.html 1,84
• Cable Adapter for Corners: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/whol...r-SMD-5050-3528-RGB-color-LED/2046119929.html 2,46 Euro

Total: 137,32 Euro...sounds reasonable for me. Have I forgotten something? Do I have to change something?

 

[The_Stig]

Just ordered another meter of RGBW leds to test them against the ones i have now.

Why don't you go the APA102 way?

 

[Lightning303]

DC Adapter: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-...-Plug-Jack-Adapter-Connector/32298449844.html 1,84

This one isnt going to do anything for you. You would need a socket to connect the psu, but this is a jack.

Why don't you go the APA102 way?

I probably will if i decide against one of the RGBW leds. But as it stands the RGBW have the potential to give me a better result. It can be quite hard to calibrate your RGB leds to give you a perfect white (same as shown on tv), and its even harder to have it show the perfect colors at the same time. My hope with RGBW is that i can use the W led to give me my perfect white and then i can calibrate the colors for perfect color matching without having to think about white anymore.
I havent seen anybody using RGBW for ambilight yet. So i will have to test for myself.