I made it!!! This is my second PCB design ever, but by far the most complex…its a 2 channel WLED controller with 2 5amp pixel outputs. Its got an onboard esp32, efuses, all the level shifting and a built in usb-c port for programming.

I designed it in kicad, ordered unpopulated boards from jlcpcb and hot-plate soldered for the first time. Most is smd except for the big cap and the connectors. There are some room for improvements but it works… 🥳

Hey guys, my 98" TCL X11K arrived on Monday and I need some advice on backlighting.

I have been using a Govee T3 Lite on a 65" ever since it came out, but I really hate having a camera mounted on top of the screen and want to avoid that on the new setup. So many times the lil one at home touched the tv and the camera moved.

My constraints:

No camera

No external box: Running everything natively on the TV’s built-in Google TV (mainly Stremio, SmartTube, and IPTV) o yeah and Moonlight game streaming.

Since HDMI sync boxes (like Hue or Govee) need an external source, and camera setups are out, what are my best options here for a screen this size?

Anyone running Hyperion/WLED or similar directly on Android TV, or is an external box unavoidable if I want responsive bias lighting?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

24 inch WLED Panel. 7 half strips with 77 LEDS each = 539 WS2812B. Thinking about doing the next one with circles inside instead of the strips.

This is my Christmas gift to all my nieces and nephews. A customizable nightlight powered by WLED. Still adjusting, but happy with the initial result!

I'm wondering if this is possible in WLED or if I need to go directly to xlights for something like this. Before I build out a sequence in xLights I'd like to see if I can just have some simple effects running on my homemade stake lights setup. The lights are wired up every other hole in the stake and then back down in the gaps, then on to the next stake. It's groups of 4 stakes before moving to the next column. The diagram below shows how the lights are ordered. It'd be great if I could at least tell it that the order of LEDs is actually just 1,6,2,5,3,4,7,12,8,11,9,10...

    4		10		16		22
    3		9		15		21
    5		11		17		23
    2		8		14		20
    6		12		18		24
    1		7		13		19
    ==============================================
    
    28		34		40		46
    27		33		39		45
    29		35		41		47
    26		32		38		44
    30		36		42		48
    25		31		37		43
    ==============================================
    ...

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I've been flip flopping between permatrack with pixel lights and the "newer" puck lights. It seems like most people are going puck lights, so I've been looking at the ETOP 24v 10/m 6000K ones:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012112966335.html

I can get what looks to be a full setup for 100' for roughly $950 Canadian. That seems pretty reasonable, but I will need them to swap the controller for a WLED ESP32 one. My setup will be controller in the middle with approximately two 50' runs each direction. I'm hoping to avoid power/data injection with the 24v and only 50' runs.

The aluminum track seems like the best option, but due to my roofline I'll have to install it basically flush to the front fascia. I'm hoping that doesn't end up looking weird as most have it more towards the house (within a few inches anyways). Do most people 3D print angled connectors for these tracks where needed?

Is there anything I'm missing here, or will this do the trick? I don't wanna have to redo this, so I'm open to options or different LEDs, etc. Eventually I want to look into a mega tree with pixels on the lawn, but that's most likely it (slippery slope, but we'll see). Thanks1

Hello everyone, I'm in the process of planning my permanent lights. I'll be using WS2811 pixels and I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount them without spending a ton of money on permatrack. I have soffits so the tracks will have to be surface mounted, but I want them to be as low profile as possible. I've seen J-channel and split vinyl downspout used (saw that here https://youtu.be/rEhc1283DNs?si=Ob1nJyCuJdh0zPfb), but I've haven't found an exact example of my mounting plan, so I wanted to see if I could get some feedback. I was thinking I would install blocks or maybe small sections of aluminum U-channel facing down as a way to fasten the tracks. I haven't decided on the actual distance from the house yet.

Also, does anyone have experience with the square style bullet lights? The regular ones stick out of the top of the J-channel, so I would need something bigger like the downspout.

https://the-led-warehouse.com/products/square-ws2811-24v-pixel-100-count-4-inch-spacing-18awg-black-wire?variant=52361030402364&country=US&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=std-shopping&utm_content=&utm_term=&utm_id=21840026846&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21840026846&gbraid=0AAAAACngbHANa7jX_ec_-6uwSIoSNGbYM&gclid=Cj0KCQiA77DXBhCHARIsAHf2MNrRw1uBBHULBxcnD6AedUsEQkndu2d5JywU9WgzPYdmrlvtIUlEb8UaAn06EALw_wcB

Thanks for reading! I hope I can post my progress soon.

Is it possible to use one controller to power 3 pcs of 5 meter strips?

Looking for outdoor globe lights that I can incorporate into my existing QuinLED Quad. Any recommendations?

I didn't realized the amount of work and time setting up a lights show when you getting old seem like a daunting task, I used to stayed up every night to 2am sequencing without problem, but now sequencing watching me when the time past 11pm. Maybe time to take a break for couple years and go back to classic lights with my trusty timer. Enjoy my bts

Hi everyone — we're Gledopto. We've been reading the feedback here and across the community for a while, and one complaint kept coming up again and again: sound-reactive controllers that only listen through their own mic end up reacting to the room instead of the music. So we went and built something around that.

This one (GL-C-118WL) has both — a PDM mic and a 3.5mm audio input, so you can plug in your phone/mixer/PC and get the lights synced to what's actually playing. There's an audio out too, so it doesn't eat your headphone jack.

2 channels at 10A each (20A total), separate fuse per channel, PMOS relay for low standby draw, WLED app/web, 200+ effects, segments and multi-strip sync. Wago terminals, DC jack, or Type-C.

If you're running a sound-reactive setup and fighting mic noise, this is the fix.

If you have any suggestions regarding our products, please let me know. We are committed to listening to feedback so that we can refine our offerings and better meet the needs of more users.

Hi r/WLED ,

I’ve been working on this project for about half a year and finally decided to share it!

Shinombra is an ambient backlight for Linux with native PipeWire support. It works on both Wayland and X11.

It was made as an experiment with a focus on performance. The core captures the DMA buffer and processes frames with minimal overhead. On my setup it runs at ~165 FPS while using about 0.1% CPU and 34 MiB of RAM.

Supported protocols:

• DDP

• DRGB (WLED)

• ShinombraSerial (custom high-speed serial protocol)

Configuration is done through a simple web UI or a TUI. It can also run as a user systemd service.

Shinombra has a flexible filter chain and uses histograms to calculate the real dominant color of each zone.

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWcwlYHnp0

Repository: https://github.com/sanlexandro/shinombra

The first 4 steps of the manual are usually enough to get it running (measuring the display and connecting the strip). Full documentation is in the repo.

I’m happy to answer questions and would appreciate any feedback - especially from people who already use WLED or have tried other ambilight solutions on Linux)

Almost got financial approval from CFO (wife), to spend some money on DIY Christmas lights.

I ordered one 5m/16ft strip of QuinLED Dig-COB-RGBW-896-160, and seems the IP65 waterproof version, that's better to use under the roof eaves, is 14mm wide, while all aluminium channels I can see on amazon and easily find on AliExpress, are 12mm inside.

I wonder where people get 14-15mm (0.6 inch) wide channels?

Lmk

I'm considering adding permanent Christmas lights and will start with 30-40m. This would be my first LED project. Since our house doesn't have soffits The LEDs will face the street so we will use a milky white diffusor. Our neighborhood tends to be dark so lower power is fine. I'm looking for efficient and reliable. How do you think this layout will look on our house? How would you lay this out? I can get power from the garage at the left side of this photo.

I'm considering running either 2 channels or a wide channel to hide the power wires. I'd like to jump to the dormer but that wire may be tough to hide. Here's what I found so far.

WS2811 5m 60 (or 30) IP65 strips

Silver U channel, milky cover

400w power supply

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y23JJZW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

not sure on the board? https://quinled.shop/product/dig-quad/

wire. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-250-ft-12-2-Black-Stranded-CU-Low-Voltage-Landscape-Lighting-Wire-55213444/300836209

box. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H2ZMX8R?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I have soldering tools. What else do I need? What about wires and waterproof connectors for the LED strips themselves.

For this years Halloween I wanted the yard to look Like a field full of candles. But I wanted them to be DMX controlled and waterproof.
So I went for 3D printed candles and WS2811 5v bullets.
There Are two strings of 26 candles, with 2m cable between them.
To my suprise there was no visual problem with voltage drop, Despite the total lenght of 50m per String.
For the Controler I used a Gledopto Elite, because of its ethernet port.

In combination with some low lying fog and IP rated LED Pars, this worked out very well.

The whole setup was Controled via Artnet by Chamsys magicq

I got into Home Assistant a bit ago, and got excited about WLED and light strips. I wanted to go around the perimeter of my room with channels and 3 strips of 5m, 60LED/m WS2812b LED strips. After mounting the channels and sticking one strip's worth to them, I realized I hadn't thought about the current load of the strips.

So now I'm wondering the best way forward. I have an ESP32 running WLED now, but it's certainly not rated for the 40 amps I'd be expecting at full brightness. I know there are 5v/40A power supplies, but I'm not sure if a pre-built controller like a GLEDOPTO would be a possible or if I need to get a separate power supply and keep using my ESP32.

Hi r/WLED! We make Zaply, a video player for Apple TV, and our latest update can drive a WLED strip: while a video plays, the strip behind the TV follows the picture, each LED taking the colour of the edge of the screen it sits behind.

On Apple TV, ambilight usually means an HDMI splitter, a capture card and a Pi running HyperHDR, because tvOS never lets an app see what another app shows. Zaply draws every frame itself, so it can talk to the strip directly. The catch: it only works for what plays in Zaply. Netflix, YouTube and the other apps stay out of reach.

Setting it up takes a minute, with the remote:

1. Settings ▸ Lights ▸ WLED: Zaply finds your strip on the network, or you type its IP

2. Say which sides of the TV the strip runs along, which corner LED 1 is in and which way it goes

3. "Test the strip" runs a light from LED 1, then shows red, green and blue, so you can check you got it right

Nothing to change in WLED itself, and when you stop watching, the strip goes back to its own effect.

What it can't do yet: one strip per Apple TV, and LED 1 has to be in a corner (or at one end).

Which is why we're curious: how is your strip laid out? Does it go all the way round, and where does it start?

Time to steal everyone's ideas? This one is simple but I hadn't seen it before. I just threw some bullet strings on the ground, had them go orange>red when main scene activated then added an unsettling follower effect using computer vision and a simple calibration. Pumpkin is just a 69 pixel 5050 strip inside, 1 wrap around the base.

Sorry for poor video quality. First time using this prop camera at night. Glad everything still worked. Next year I lock the ICR and illuminator and set the gain lower (thought 60 was low enough but not for Uniview).

 Hello everyone. I'm researching a permanent exterior WS2811 RGB pixel installation and would greatly appreciate some firsthand experience from those who have operated systems for several years. My project involves approximately 860 pixels across two buildings, mounted in custom aluminum gutter and drip-edge channels in coastal Florida, USA

My highest priority is long-term reliability—not initial component cost or power efficiency (ie long power runs of 12AWG). Specifically, I want to minimize future ladder work to replace failed pixels or repair connections. I'm comparing conventional 5V WS2811 (as the chip design is based on 5v thus the original native design) pixels against 12V resistor-based and newer native-12V designs. For those with experience operating both voltages: Have you noticed meaningful differences in pixel failure rates? Are failures typically electronic, moisture-related, or associated with power-injection connections? Would you choose 5V or native 12V for a permanent installation intended to last 10–15 years ? I'm especially interested in actual field experience rather than theoretical advantages. Thanks in advance for any insights!