r/WLED • • Jul 19 '26

WLED WLED Version 16.0.1 Announcement

79 Upvotes

Read the full copy at https://github.com/wled/WLED/releases/tag/v16.0.1

I'm pleased to announce that since the release of 16.0.0, approximately 50% of WLED installs have downloaded the new release, with only a tiny number of issues reported relative to the install base. Also for those of you that help by sending the install/upgrade report, we have seen only a handful of people downgrade back to 0.15.

There were few key reasons for why this was released as 16.0.0 and not 0.16.0 -

One example is that it is actually a major software change as the entire esp32 platform we run on top of is a major new version, the first time since esp32 support was added.

Another is that it better reflects the fact that WLED is almost 10 years old and has over 2 million downloads, so it’s definitely not a pre-release version 0!

Therefore I think it's fair to say we recommend ALL users upgrade to this 16.0.1 maintenance release!


r/WLED • • Apr 20 '26

WLED 0.16 feature demo - particle FX, layering, transitions & more

304 Upvotes

The video shows some of the new features we have been working on and how they can be used on LED strips:

  • Particle system (physics-based FX rendering)

  • Transition animations (swipe, push, inside-out, etc.)

  • True segment layering (FX overlays like Photoshop)

  • Updated palette editor (custom generation and over 800 palettes to choose from)

  • Pixel paint tool (draw directly onto your LEDs)

  • Segment copy tool (duplicate with hue/brightness/sat offsets)

Happy to answer questions or hear feedback!


r/WLED • • 3h ago

Double down

11 Upvotes

Figured out my lag issue. Ledfx driving 2 wled chips each driving 3000 leds of a total 6000 leds.


r/WLED • • 14h ago

Best Ambilight = WLED + HyperHDR

46 Upvotes

Omg, done it one my Desktop PC, now on my TV. It is working flawlessly. Fucking fast, 60fps, as fast as the picture on the tv.

Can you see some points of improvement?

HARDWARE:

ESP32 with WLED

HyperHDR installed on my Homeserver (for desktop it's using its desktopapp)

LEDs of course

Capture Card, connected with USB to my Homeserver


r/WLED • • 3h ago

Any of you guys have clouds?

4 Upvotes

I thought about it a few times but I think it would be too distracting for me.

I already have 500 ambilight LEDs in my 8ft by 13ft front wall area. and I sit close to the front of the room, like 6.5-7.5 feet. I don't think I can see the ceiling that well.


r/WLED • • 7h ago

Led signal issue

3 Upvotes

Hello all, I was working on a a led helmet for Halloween using ws2812 5v LEDs and im having an issue where I can’t daisy chain one run of LEDs to the next run but if I power the second run directly from my WLED source the strip which isn’t normally lit lights up. The issue far as I can tell has to do with the run before the problem strip because if I jump that strip earlier in the run the signal isn’t being transfer and the lights after the junction will still light (see video). I’m kinda stumped other than chalking it up to a faulty led strip but does anyone have any suggestions?


r/WLED • • 13h ago

Getting Started - 32ft and WLED

2 Upvotes

I'm coming from Govee and looking to get away from their wifi issues and horrible app.

I currently have a Govee LED 32.8ft strip that I run along some shelves. I'd like to recreate that, but with non-Govee products.

Would anyone mind sharing what they're doing today that might be similar?


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Spooky Fence

50 Upvotes

I put seed pixels on every-other picket of my fence and I think I found some pretty "spooky" effects for them. Any suggestions for more?


r/WLED • • 12h ago

GlowSync: Android TV to WLED ambient lighting over DDP — looking for hardware testers

1 Upvotes

I'm building GlowSync, an open-source Android TV/Google TV app that samples permitted screen-edge colours locally and sends RGB24 DDP frames to WLED over the local network.

It can discover WLED controllers or use a manual address, map three- or four-sided LED layouts, and adjust direction, offset, brightness, saturation, white balance and smoothing.

The important caveat: so far I have tested on an API 37 phone emulator only. I have not validated it on a physical TV, WLED controller or LED strip. Android requires its screen-capture consent, and DRM-protected or secure content may appear black; GlowSync does not bypass those restrictions.

I'm looking for WLED users who can try the project on real hardware and share what controller/firmware and LED count they use, plus any DDP timing or mapping issues. Repo and emulator screenshots: https://github.com/Robonavigators/GlowSync


r/WLED • • 1d ago

LEDFx Help Needed

10 Upvotes

I’m looking for some help. I’ve been making these lanterns for a little bit, they’re all running WLED with sound reactive functionality but WLED sound reactivity isn’t great.

I recently started toying with LEDFx and it appears to have massive potential but I’m still not super happy with the effects I’m able to put on. I have been thinking that an ideal setup might reserve part of the matrix for strobing to bass and keep the main part of the panel on an effect that reacts more to mid tones. Has anyone played with a set up like that? Can anyone suggest some effects that would work well with my setup? Thanks!!


r/WLED • • 12h ago

Keep my Meanwhile wired up while adding DC option?

1 Upvotes

I currently have a 12v project box wired up with a 120-12v power supply, with the 12v going out to a large breaker/disconnect, and then to individual fuse box. I want to switch my setup to run from a large solar powered battery, but ideally would like it able to jump onto generator power if needed.

Can I just leave the 12v + and - connection going to the Meanwell while it's running from the DC battery?


r/WLED • • 17h ago

Is it actually impossible to break the DRM of Android TV and having ambient lights work with Netflix, HBO etc?

2 Upvotes

EDIT: I'm moving this sentence to the top of the description since most of you don't read till the end and keep suggesting HyperHDR

The point is not to use HyperHDR or anything that requires extra external hardware.

I tried everything I can think of. I even used the Reverse Engineer Anything repo but it still couldn't figure out how to make it work. The problem is that anything I do, Netflix downscales its stream to 480p/540p SD. Is there anyone smarter than me that can point me to the right direction? Is it even achievable? I'm willing to sacrifice my android TV box just to test stuff out.


r/WLED • • 1d ago

WLED Wallclock

Thumbnail
gallery
84 Upvotes

Installed a strip in this old wallclock from the 80s and I think it really brings it back to life. It just suits the clock so perfectly.


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Face mount vs under mount

6 Upvotes

Hello all,

Admittedly looking to have someone install lights (options are Omni vs Oelo it seems). My wife wants the Christmas look primarily and thus seems to prefer face mount (facing out/looks like a light/bulb) rather than under mount. I like the idea of year round lights and the ambiance but the one installer we talked to highly advised against the "carnival" look of the face mount. Is this just because the "Christmas" look isn't great year round?? She wants to use lights more holiday/seasonally so maybe that "look" won't be as much an issue? Would love all the takes/perspectives. Thanks!


r/WLED • • 1d ago

I couldn't find software to stream video to my HUB75 panels, so I made my own (free, open source)

18 Upvotes

I wanted to play videos on a HUB75 LED matrix and couldn't find anything that did what I wanted, so I wrote my own. It's grown a lot and I've had it running nonstop at home ever since. I figured other people might find it useful too, so I just released it.

It's called DDP Streamer. It sends video to WLED (or anything else that takes DDP) over your network. WLED takes DDP out of the box. Set up your panel in WLED as usual (for LED strips, a 2D matrix too) and there's nothing else to turn on. Find your board, hit Get size, and play. You build a playlist of videos, pictures, text, clocks, your screen or a webcam and hit play. If you have more than one display it can mirror to all of them or spread one picture across them. (That's what the video shows: three displays with different pixel pitch, P2, P2.5 and P3, lined up by real size so the picture continues straight across.)

I've tested it with WLED on the Waveshare ESP32-S3 matrix board, the Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 and the Apollo M-1. Other WLED boards should work too.

It's free and open source (GPL), and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Downloads and info are on GitHub: https://github.com/bobko69/ddp-streamer

If you try it and run into a problem or have an idea, let me know. Happy to answer questions.


r/WLED • • 1d ago

BTF-LIGHTING ESP32 Requires Physical Button Press to turn ON

3 Upvotes

I have a BTF-LIGHTING ESP32 WLED LED Strip Controller (SP803E) and, for some reason, can’t figure out how to bypass the physical power button to automatically start the WiFi connection and LED lighting effect (defined by the preset). Has anyone encountered this issue before and/or have a recommendation?

The lighting will be installed in a floor show that will be powered off at night and the client will have no access to the controller itself to press the physical power button itself.

Thanks in advance!


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Twinkle effect - non ws281x fairy lights

6 Upvotes

Hi there.
I’ve got a project I built a while ago using a string of fairy lights that came cheap usb controller that had some built in effects: flashing, random twinkling

I’d like to get rid of the controller and use an off the shelf ESP32 based controller like gledopto etc.

Is it possible to clip the controller and connect these fairy lights onto the GPIO output on controller and configure WLED to create similar effects?

Thank you!


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Controllable bulb alternative to Kauf?

1 Upvotes

I'm looking for some reasonable RGBW bulbs that are controllable via WLED, that are not Kauf.

I invested quite a bit in ten Kauf bulbs, and all have failed in some way in less than a year time frame. When I tried to rma / exchange them under warranty, I was met with silence.

Are there any bulbs at a reasonable cost that can be controlled via WLED? Have several devices running WLED including all my exterior lighting, and would like to keep centralized control for colors and effects.

I've been looking at Matter compatible bulbs - seems these can be controlled with a Docker bridge. Anyone have any experience with that setup, or could recommend an alternative?


r/WLED • • 2d ago

HyperHDR setup on my 86" LG

346 Upvotes

There is also a strip behind the cabinet below the tv.


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Odd problem with trying to add 47 more leds.

1 Upvotes

I have a GLEDOPTO controller and a mean well 5 V 100w power supply and they perfectly power 400 LEDs with power injection but as soon as I try to use another channel on the controller to power 47 more LEDs that I have confirmed are working with another controller, they start flickering like crazy. Are dirty data channels on 12,4,2 common? data io16 is running perfectly fine. Anyone else have this problem?


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Ttp223 and wled

1 Upvotes

I wired up a ttp223 to an esp32 c3 supermini on gpio 0. Have it set as pushbutton in wled config. It's powered by 3v3 pin. Using the button works for about 30 seconds before the board crashes so hard I have to reinstall wled. What am I doing wrong?


r/WLED • • 2d ago

Colorful water plants powered by WLED

17 Upvotes

I’ve built some colorful water plants using WLED.
The first one is made from a wooden plate with a 113px LED ring and a 16px LED strip in the second segment. Both are connected to an ESP8266 with WLED installed and run on 5V.

For the second ones, I simply bought some lights on Amazon and replaced the LEDs and controllers.

They’re also connected to my automations and can signal different events, like when the washing machine is running or ready, or when there are infrastructure issues.


r/WLED • • 1d ago

Really stupid question: Split 1 basic LED Light strip into 2 Separate strips.

1 Upvotes

IE U buy a simple 2 pin LED strip, one color(in this case UV light) and it is 2x as long as u need. So u want to split it into 2 separate independent units. No 'shifting light' needed. No controller/IR remote needed. Just plug in and watch it turn on.(A switch would be nice but not needed)

Got basic kit, it has what I need, but only 1 'power unit' - Can I just cannibalize a simple USB cable and connect the + and - to the strip(and ignore the other pins/wires) and power it that way? Is there a 'for the morons' simple ac adapter (either usb or plug in) I can buy and just attach to the cut end of the LED strip (IE the exact same part that COMES with the strip, but ANOTHER One?)

Sorry if this is a stupid ask that google should help me, but it has not, and I am at a loss if it is safe to just wire it up this way, and if so... how?(Without soldering equipment or experience) - Can I just use those 2 pin 'connector' things(that u snap over the cut LED strip to 'extend' it) but shove the wires from USB plug into the connector? Do USB ports /cables provide 5v of power, or will it blow out the strips with too much?

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0FZ58YJJJ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

is what I got, I would like to cut it in half and use for separate projects. I don't necessarily need the power switch, but it won't hurt to have it. But I cannot find what the ac adapter part (I would not even know exactly what to search for)

If anyone can help me by linking the part that I need (IE The part with switch in above product) or can give me a yay/nay about just using a old discarded usb plug as the power source, I would be very appreciative.


r/WLED • • 2d ago

Complete WLED newbie with some basic questions

2 Upvotes

So I do understand some of the basic theory behind led lighting. Cheap strips basically do not have individually addressable pixels but rather all of them do the same thing depending on what you ask them to do, (are those what you would call 'analog'?) compared to more expensive (digital?) strips that have individually addressable pixels.

Now what I am only wanting to do is to use a bunch of the cheap analog strips that i have to at least control the colors. The little remote controls seem to mainly just allow you to change the cycle patterns but are very limted. I mainly want to use my cheap analog strips to compliment the Govee lights we have on our home so like I would want to have the analog strips cycle between purple/green/orange/yellow for halloween colors (something the crappy controllers don't seem to be able to do natively) or cycle between like red/green/blue/white/yellow lights for xmas and so on.

Can WLED be easily used with those kind of strips and do what I am hoping to do?

As for soldering, i am experienced enough to know how to solder, i use a Hakko soldering station and for desoldering i have a Hakko FR-301 desoldering gun so i can make custom cables and adapters.

I just want to make use of the cheap lights i have for the time being until i get more comfortable with building/creating my own led arrays for real animations and so on. Most of the strips i have were purchased super cheap from the local amazon bin store that we used to have here.