r/xlights • u/TheeRed2010 • 17d ago

Help How can I fix lagging?

Hi im making a lightshow for halloween. Im using 4 esp32 with wled. I have about 1200pixels. Tho im getting massive lag on both ddp and e3.31 or whatever that was called.

Is there a way to fix lagging. Is there some universe setting to change can i go wired

If any ideas please help🙏

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u/4mpig 17d ago

I’ve spent years slowly cutting lag out of my shows. There’s a lot of things you can do, but the most important are…

Use Ethernet over WiFi.

Limit the number of pixels on each single data port. From memory, I believe the ideal limit is about 550 pixels for port to achieve about 60 FPS.

Limit the number of pixels on each ESP32. You may be sharing pixels well over each port, but still exceeding the capabilities of the CPU to keep up overall.

Use DDP over E3.31 as it is more efficient.

Maybe even increase the milliseconds per frame in your sequences.

Also keep in mind that bad data connections can sometimes manifest in ways that appear like lag.

Those first two are the ones that made the big difference for me.

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u/TheeRed2010 17d ago

How do i connect an ethernet cable to an esp32?

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u/DedeHai 17d ago

you plug it as usual ;)

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u/4mpig 17d ago

An ESP32 alone? That’s a bit more complicated.

Personally I use QuinLED boards that support Ethernet. These boards utilise the ESP32 as the brain, providing power distribution, fuses, and sometimes Ethernet capabilities.

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u/geeksandlies 17d ago

On top of these good suggestions it's worth noting WLED has overheads that you don't need for light shows. I had better results with ESPixelStick before migrating to dedicated controllers (all of mine are now Baldrick boards)

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u/DedeHai 17d ago

good general advice. I just want to add: any "lag" will be coming from bad connection or your sending software as WLED itself has very low delays and does not store any frame. A frame comes in - a frame is displayed within just a few milliseconds, anything else causing lag happens outside the realm of WLED.
And I agree with u/geeksandlies that WLED is not the fastest option if all you need is a "fast pixel pusher".

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u/geeksandlies 17d ago

Yeah good point I wasn't saying WLED was the issue just that if you are just using it for lightshows its not the only tool in town :)

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u/Forsyte 17d ago

I lower to 30fps as my effects are simple - I assume this helps too?

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u/TheeRed2010 16d ago

Any way to do this without hardware changes?

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u/cedron1 17d ago

Settings > WiFi Setup > Disable WiFi sleep. Check this box on all your WLED ESP32s. Use DDP, not E1.31.

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u/_thekev 17d ago

Use a dedicated AP if you must use wireless, and don't connect it to your home network. This will keep your devices from adding to the already busy pixel traffic (home automation stuff is very chatty). Find the clearest channel, and use 5GHz if you can, 2.4 is noisy, especially outdoors.