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WS2812B

WS2812B RGB Addressable led light strip

WS2812B RGB Addressable led light strip

WS2812 LEDs are particularly popular in Led panel  projects. It make a lot of sense. Your first project is “Blink LED”, so it only makes sense to blink LEDs in a more interesting way!

This is why I am really excited about this particular product.WS2812 LEDs, also known as Rainbow Bits or NeoPixels, are available in many places. You will find many variations across the board, but they all operate basically the exact same way.  You can get these either as stand-alone chips in different lengths, densities, or combinations. For example, you can get them 72 pixels to a strip, 60 pixels, or 30 pixels.

How do I know I have a WS281x LED?

Because there are so many versions out there in the wild, you will need to be able to identify the LEDs, even if they are marked differently.

Most of the time you will find these LEDs in strip form (attached to a flexible PCB). You can get these LED strips in black PCBs or white PCBs, with or without a waterproof coating.

Here show you our ws2812b led strip. We have 30led/60led/72led/84led/96led/144led per meter.

ws2812b

 

 

There are three ways for the LEDs to be waterproofed — either with a plastic sleeve or an epoxy coating you scrape off. Ours have a plastic sheath over the strip.

 

These LEDs look similar to the RGB LEDs (used in the Basic I/O Shield product highlight), which you can also use a controller to change to whatever color/ brightness/ intensity you wish. However, the entire strip changes together, as opposed to being able to have multiple colors on one strip (you can still achieve really neat effects this way, and oftentimes the RGB LEDs are a good deal cheaper than the WS281x ones). If you haven’t used the RGB strips before, I would recommend you to learn how to use those before moving to these LEDs.

How can I tell the difference?

You can tell the difference between these two types of LEDs in a few ways (just check that you bought the right ones!).

  1. WS281x LEDs will have break off points between every LED versus the RBG LED strip has break off points at every three LEDs.
  2. There are also three lines (power, data, ground) for the WS2812, whereas the RGB LED strip has four  (power, R, G, B, and ground)
  3. If you get close to the actual LED pixel, you will see that there is a small square dot in the center of the WS281x LED and not in the RGB one. This little square dot is the semiconductor chip that is wire-bonded to the individual LED segments. It’s this chip that makes the LED addressable.
  4. If you see a strip of LEDs where break off points are at every LED (instead of every three) and there are three input/ouput lines and looks to have a small chip in the center of the pixel… then you probably have a WS281x LED.

 

What makes these LEDs work?

Ws2812b Led

If you geek out on knowing how something works, then this section is for you. If you want just want to get to using the LEDs, skip ahead to the next section.

 

The best place to learn about these LEDs is to read the data sheet.

From the DataSheet- WS2812 internal circuitry

Each pixel is a small system .

There are lots of functions crammed onto one chip. Inside of the SMD (surface mount) 5050 package are several things:

Features

1、an internal oscillator for timing and changing states

a signal reshaping and amplification circuit to make sure the signal is passed to the next LED in the chain

2、a data latch — this holds the state of the particular LED

3、channel programmable constant output drives (constant current) to control each of the LEDs (red, blue, and green)

4、digital ports/serial in and serial out to receive and transmit information.

 

Learn more please contact us.

 

Witop Sk6812 vs Ws2812b vs Sk6812 Rgbw Addressable Led Strip

Let we see the clear ws2812b and sk6812 sk6812rgbw addresable led strip first!

 

sk6812 vs ws2812b vs sk6812 rgbw

SK6812 RGB VS SK6812 RGBW:

sk6812 5050 rgbw(RGBWW= RGB + Warm White (2800-3200k),RGBNW= RGB + Natural White (4000-4500k),RGBCW = RGB + Cold White (6000-6500K) ,we can see,it have one more white color than sk6812 5050 rgb led strip,When we do not need rgbw color,it can show white color,However,for,sk6812 5050 rgb,when it show the white color it is red green blue color mix together,so,it is not really white color!

SK6812 VS WS2812B addressable led strip,

The SK6812 is very similar to the WS2812B, and can be used as a drop-in replacement in most applications because it features the same interface and color order (so LED strips based on the SK6812 and WS2812B can be chained together). The main difference between the two drivers is that the SK6812 has voltage-independent color and brightness over a wide voltage range, which means that the colors of the LEDs should not be affected by a drop in the supply voltage as much as they are on the WS2812B.

Looks like sk6812 is a direct clone of ws2812b with some improvements made. LED is driven at higher PWM frequency and some variants have separate white die, instead of running RGB channels simultaneously. All existing ws2812 libraries are compatible (commonly refered as ‘NeoPixel’). Sk6812 and ws2812 are actually controler chips, and LEDs you are interested in have chip integrated.

Normally,we can not distinguish it well,but through the IC shape,we can see it is ws2812b or sk6812.

 

WS2812B Addressable RGB Led Strip Light

WS2812B Addressable RGB Led Strip Light 

WS2812B LED strip, which is an addressable RGB LED strip. The information in this post also works with other similar LED strips, such as strips of the WS28XX family, Neopixel strip and others.

In the following figure you can see my WS2812B LED strip. It is 5 meters long and the LEDs are enclosed in a weatherproof silicone. So, they can be left outside at the rain and dust without any problem.

Ws2812B addressable led strip

WS2812B 60led

In my opinion, this is the coolest type of LED strips. You can control the brightness and the color of each LED individually, which allows you to produce amazing and complex effects in a simple way.

This LED strip is made by WS2812B LEDs wired in series. These LEDs have a IC built right into the LED. This allows a communication via a one-wire interface. This means that you can control lots of LEDs using just one digital pin of your Arduino.

In the following figure you can see the chip inside the LED. The LED is an RGB LED and works like so

This kind of strips are very flexible and can be cut to any length you want. As you can see, the strip is divided into segments, and each segment contains one RGB LED

You can adjust its size by cutting the strip with a scissors in the right place (the proper places to cut the strip are marked).

These strips come with  connectors  at each end . I’ve decided to cut the connectors, and solder header pins. It’s more handy if you want to connect the strip to an Arduino or to a breadboard

The LED strip should be powered using a 5V power source. At 5V, each LED draws about 50mA, when set to its full brightness.  This means that for every 30 LEDs, the strip may draw as much as 1.5 A. Make sure you select a power source that matches the strip’s needs.

Connection

If you end up using an external supply, don’t forget to connect the power supply ground to the Arduino ground

 

In this example, the WS2812B LED strip will be powered using the 5V Arduino pin. In my case, I’m controlling 14 LEDs. Bear in mind that if you want to control many LEDs, you’ll need to use an external power supply.

At present. we have the 30led/60led/144led per meter. also can  do 72/84led, and you can cut your want.of course. if 12V DC. you will Cut by 50MM.

Cutting the strip