ws2812 RGB led project

n1tromad · Nov 30, 2014

Hi
i have some what a good understanding of electronics and also love my music so been thinking of building a sound controlled led display (like the infamous xmas shows on utube) but for my living room.

reason i picking the WS2812b leds is because each led as it own coding address. the main problem for me is working out a good way to have audio input control the leds how i want too. there a few controllers from what i can see one is a standard led RGB controller (T1000-S RGB Pixel controller) and other is a type of DMX15 controller.

i either having a brain fart or got my info totally wrong but just can't work out the connections and interfacing.

thanks for advice
gavin

Harald Kapp · Dec 2, 2014

Welcome to electronicspoint.

The LEDs are digitally controlled. Sound is analog. Therefore your first step is digitizing the sound uisng an AD-converter. You now have a digital representation of the sound.

The next steps depend on what effect exactly you want to achieve. Let's asssume you want to create a VU-meter like effect. From the discrete samples you'd compute the envelope that represents the amplitude of the sound. From the envelope you'd compute which LEds are on and which LEDs are off. You'd then turn the LEDs on and off by addressing them and sending the respective commands.
If you were to create an effect like a light organ, you'd split the sound into freqeuncy bands. You can do this in the analog domain, which will require analog filters plus multiple AD-conversions (either using multiple ADCs or a multiplexed ADC) or you can do this in the digital domain using digital filters in software.

n1tromad · Dec 2, 2014

thank you for the reply

i planning to split the sound down using a software called lightjams for a light organ effect. the bit where i am stuck on is getting the signal from the pc to the lights ,the software output via the dmx protocol.

do i need an dmx interface connected to a led controller or can a dmx interface be used direct ? i know i need a usb to dmx not sure if i going make one or just buy one yet depends on what else i need

thank you again
Gavin

Harald Kapp · Dec 2, 2014

You will need a controller. DMX. as far as I know, is only a serial protocol to tzransmit data from a master controller to slave devices. The PC will be your master, a slave controller will have to translate thecommands into light setups.

n1tromad · Dec 2, 2014

Ok thank you very much now I know this is can finally start looking into hardware choices

Thanks
Gavin

BobK · Dec 2, 2014

Individually addressable is quite misleading. These devices act like a shift register with 24 bits per LED. To change any particular pixel, you have to transmit all the data for the entire string. So, for a string of 50, you would be sending 1200 bits of data.

Bob

ws2812 RGB led project

n1tromad

Harald Kapp Moderator Moderator

n1tromad

Harald Kapp Moderator Moderator

n1tromad

BobK

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