Pixel strip compatibility?

Build threads
1

As per the thread
https://crucible.hubbe.net/t/new-blade-idea/862?u=driftrotor
started by @mcarcher, it has evolved into something slightly different but equaly cool.

however it got me thinking…
because of the size constraints i was looking at SK6812 mini strips.
i have found them in RGB and RGBW, so it leads me to this…

  1. is proffie OS compatible with RGBW pixel strips?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33022302220.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.625632eaSYNSOR&algo_pvid=87426fee-9bdb-470b-84c7-f09b54e587c3&algo_exp_id=87426fee-9bdb-470b-84c7-f09b54e587c3-19&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000021680075495"}

  1. what are the sacrifices with these strips? or are these maybe better than the regular strips we use?
    do we lose colour, colour brightness? because of the reduce diode size to account for the white diode?
    exuberant current draw?

has anyone has experience with using RGBW strips and what was your experience?

2

Step one
Edit the BladeConfig section:

BladeConfig blades[] = {
 { 0, WS281XBladePtr<131, bladePin, Color8::GRBw >()
    , CONFIGARRAY(presets) },
};

Note 1: the “w” in the Color8:: can be upper case or lower case:
W (upper case) will use white die in addition to the RGB dies - good for more brightness
w (lower case) will replace RGB if it mixes for white - good for power efficiency.
These are the options starting here, go to the link for the full list:

Note 2: the Color8:: byte order may be different per LED manufacturer, test it out with different combinations of RGBw until you get the correct color addressing

Step two
Update maxLedsPerStrip in your config file to 192, as the RGBW uses an additional 8 bits in the data.

1 Like
3

wow, didn’t know it would be that easy.
i take it you have played with these types of strips?

4

Edited above, and no I have not yet!
@MegtoothSith could give you some thoughts I’m sure though.

1 Like
5

yes

In theory, you don’t sacrifice anything. But you also don’t gain that much, because white is a boring color for a lightsaber. In practice, it turns out that RGBW dies sometimes have problems with color accuracy, because the blue LED will partially activate the white phosphor material, causing the blue to get washed out. Diffusing the LEDs makes this problem worse.

1 Like
6

thanx for the input, I will most likely go for the regular RGB strips but wanted to see if these were any better or worse.
I know what your saying about the blue. shame really as on paper they could be a good upgrade.

7

Ahsoka has entered the chat

1 Like
8

yes she has :rofl:
would be rather easy to build a blade for her as a total white pixel strip is all that would be needed.
I wonder if they make white only addressable pixel strips?

9

Pretty sure they do.
They usually have one WS2811 chip for every 4 LEDs.

1 Like
10

checked out the ws2811 chips and it looks like you can get them @ 144/m.
that would be very bright
but it looks like they run at 12vdc.
would require some voltage step up to run them…

11

voltage step up could be done with something like this…

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001841031689.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.1fca21f909NP3S&algo_pvid=9705fbae-8f24-42b7-b674-92590c895538&aem_p4p_detail=202112181631289983153350329640033002658&algo_exp_id=9705fbae-8f24-42b7-b674-92590c895538-24&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000017815193789"}

as the stips would only use about 3.6amps per strip you would only need 2 of these :rofl:

on the plus side it would be quite visible in the day… maybe use a coloured blade tube or a photon tube to give it a bit more pop?

12

Issue here is that her white blades have yellow/green clash/blocks/etc. Honestly, I’m a big fan of the ‘silver’ colour that Fernando came up with in his library. It’s actually only a bit more draining than a single die (Rgb<100,100,150>).

1 Like
13

What would be nice is more flexibility of coloured die, like with tri-cree. Having rB and dR LEDs would be great.

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14

I’m guessing variable color die may eventually happen. I use SK6812 strips primarily now in blades. They are slightly less bright than WS2812s, and I mean imperceptibly less bright. 144 pixels/meter still, but the narrower strips allow more light to get around. In my opinion, blades built with “skinny strips” 3535s/sk6812s, are the best blades. 5050s are way too wide. If you’re hand building blades, skinny strips or KR Pixel Sticks are the way to go. Proffieboard can run the skinny strips, no problems, no changes needed on the RGB strips. RGBW are a bit more finicky and require some config modifications.

I also use 3535 strips for accents in chassis, as well as cut off pieces to light up crystal chambers. They are very handy, and can fit easily in tight spots. I also use 2020 strips, but they are pretty difficult to solder, very small. But they too are handy. PS 2020s are a bit too dim to build blades with.

1 Like
15

thanx @MegtoothSith.
I think I will hold off from getting the RGBW strips for now.
will definitely be getting some of the sk6812 strips to play with as myself and @mcarcher have been bouncing idea around on another thread.