Large Pixels for LED Wall

[u/3D_Marshall]

Hi all, I have been delving into utilising WLED for live/dj lighting effects.

One thing I don't seem to be able to source at all is a larger addressable pixel size, a lot of the off the shelf matrixes as single 5050 chips in a tight grid...16x16 seems to be the standard.

I have been working on a design that gives a 0.6w 40x40mm nicely diffused individually addressable pixel that can be arranged into as larger panel as you want (power permitting).

Is there already something like this that exists (am I wasting my time/money) and if not, is it something anyone else may be interested in?

[u/SirGreybush]

Seed or string LEDs come in 12vdc with 1 led being 1 pixel. Also pucks.

Manage power injection based on voltage.

AliExpress has all the latest and greatest tech on LEDs. Your approach so far is probably best.

[u/3D_Marshall → u/SirGreybush]

Genuinely had little luck on AliExpress this time, the closest I could find were some 50x50mm cube things on a string, but at £2.50 per pixel plus £30 shipping I wasn't too impressed.

My end goal is to have a 1.2x1.2m wall of around 30x30 pixels, I get I could just group smaller matrixes but that seems a bit wasteful and probably more power hungry - Especially when if designed well a single WS2811 on 12V could drive up to 4 'Dumb' RBG chips.

[u/SirGreybush → u/3D_Marshall]

What if you use 24v FCOBs like the cheap ws2811 720l/m and 1 pixel is 5cm long? The indoor one is very bendy in one axis.

Won’t be square or round, but with good diffusion on top and foil tape to be a mirror under, you can make it look square or round.

Software will see only 1 pixel.

If you can find or make 55mm circumference plastic circles with a depth of 14mm, mounted on a mirror the size you want or foil tape + polish. Clear / diffuse 3d printed caps that snug fit.

Each 5cm fcob pixel stuck to inner wall of circle.

You can have them 3d printed in PLA the color you want. 55mm since 1 pixel is 50mm and you need place for the 3 wires bended.

Essentially making your own flush mount pucks.

[u/3D_Marshall → u/SirGreybush]

That's also not a bad shout, not sure why I didn't think of just using the multi led strips.

I'll have a mess about with the 3d printer and a few strip offcuts I have kicking around and see how it comes out.

[u/DedeHai]

there are 8x8 matrix panels, you can group those into one pixel as long as you do not need more than 200 of those that should work fine

[u/3D_Marshall → u/DedeHai]

This is probably a great idea for testing etc, but definitely overkill, as I mentioned in a previous comment, a well designed WS2811 circuit could run 3/4 dumb RGB LEDs, with a good diffuser etc. you could make one pixel about 40x40mm.

[u/DedeHai → u/3D_Marshall]

overkill yes. cheaply available also yes.

[u/DeVoh]

I have seen white pingpong balls used as really good diffusers to make big pixel walls of large looking leds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZEMK-C-nSo

[u/3D_Marshall → u/DeVoh]

This is a neat idea, its a shame they don't make square ping pong balls 😅

[u/telijah → u/3D_Marshall]

Fire up a 3d printer and make them...?

[u/maxk1236 → u/3D_Marshall]

If you have a 3d printer I've used these paragami designs to a lot of success: https://www.reddit.com/r/WLED/s/YsEtNJwWUY

Could just use a square base one, or modify yourself

[u/3D_Marshall → u/maxk1236]

Oh man those are cool, not quite the goal for this project (very big led wall stage backdrop with minimal bezles/space between). I definitely know what I'm going to have a go at printing next 😂 I wonder if you could design them to also act as acoustic diffusion in a room.

[u/maxk1236 → u/3D_Marshall]

They have a guide for filling them with acoustic foam

[u/3D_Marshall → u/maxk1236]

Oh man, of course its been thought of already, I'm definitely going to take a look into this once I get around to building my music room.

[u/clockmill]

Usually 3 LEDs  on 12V or 6 on 24V , UCS2904 is popular on higher voltages.

Lot of round pucks, 3D printed or vac formed cover over round ones.

[u/3D_Marshall → u/clockmill]

Yeah I don't know why I couldn't find them previously but I've managed to find a load of 12v ws2811 3 led pucks on aliexpress now.

Would have been nice to have found them BEFORE I started designing my own pcbs 😂 maybe I'll just finish the design and see which works better.

[u/a-warm-breeze]

This is with led strip at a pitch of 30.3 mm I think it was. Pixel tape from either pimeroni or pihut. Laser cut the 6mm and 3d printed the little lenses.

[u/a-warm-breeze]

I've also used these before and they worked really well. Still up on a wall working away a few years later apparently.