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LED Pixel tape (RGB)


laseranger

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Good Morning All

 

We have a project in early planning and are considering using RGB pixel tape as part of the design.

 

We would want to map it so need artnet capability.

 

We have the info on the ENTEC stuff but wondered if anyone had used any other manufacturers product and if so any recommendations!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

(edit) Sorry should have said purchase rather than hire

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I've done a lot of work recently with AbstractAVR Digital on pixel tape, would be worth giving them a call.

http://digitaltape.com/

 

It's been out on tour in the last couple of months with Prodigy and Lana del Ray. The drivers can be pixel mapped by DMX or have a built in macro pattern generator using 24 parameter channels which can be a lot easier than pixel map in many situations. The drivers do not take artnet directly, you'd need to use a breakout box.

 

(Bias alert, I designed this but I don't benefit from any sales of it)

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Look at WS2811 LED strip - individually addressable LED's within a tape. There are off the shelf DMX controllers (and I think I remember seeing an artnet one) available. Think they'll be cheaper than "off the shelf" solutions and it wouldn't take a degree in electronics to get one working. You just need a 5V supply (I actually buy dirt cheap buck converters from ebay and have one per strip, then feed 24V around the stage to assist with voltage drop and to lower the currents involved) and the control board.
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On Aliexpress etc there are some Artnet ones but I can't find any in general circulation. There are a few Arduino projects doing it but that's quite electronically involved.

 

My experience with the chinese WS2811 DMX controllers hasn't been great, they have all been quite steppy, and cheap Artnet controllers in general tend to do weird stuff. Have you found a good one?

The enttec box looks just the ticket but it's quite expensive.

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I've never bought an Artnet one, but when using DMX I use these ones from an ebay seller in Israel;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DMX-to-SPI-decoder-for-WS2801-WS2803-WS2811-WS2812-UCS1903-/221548869762?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3395577882

 

They've been great. I think WS2811 by its' nature is a little steppy towards the bottom end, so it's not perfect I know.

He builds some Artnet controllers too, though I've no idea how they perform. Seems a very helpful, clued up guy, so it might be worth asking a few questions.

 

 

 

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I seen this yesterday and forgot about the guy from Israel selling the boards for DMX.

 

I have bought a good few of his boards and have no problem with them at all. I have a matrix curtain and the controller went and I am in the process of converting the curtain to full DMX control. The leds I have are WS2801 and are fine at the bottom end. I also have some 10 mm WS2801 and they are steppy at the bottom end. It seem to be down to how the LED and chip are setup. I hope to get the art-net interface of him for WS2801 in a week or 2 and a few more WS2801 boards as well.

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Thanks for the input.

 

It will now be down to which way the client decides to jump!

 

Subtle & sophisticated then it will be the Pixie route and mapped

 

More in your face then the macro/DMX route!

 

No time for the DIY route on this occasion but very useful link all the same.

 

Thanks again for the input.

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Bit late on this one, but worth baring in mind for next time.

 

The guys over at Light Initiative (http://lightinitiative.co.uk) have some great products - including intelliFlex - which is individual pixel RGB tape. However, they have a couple of versions. One of them you basically get a video input and can use it like normal mappable tape. However, they also do a 22 channel DMX personality version which gives you a media layer and background colour with a load of effects which you can manipulate/offset etc. You can do some really clever stuff with it! So it's like you've pixel mapped it with 1000's of DMX channels - but with only 22!

 

Some of their products also allow you to have 2 media layers, 2 background colours and then a third RGB layer, allowing you to crossfade between effects.

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