DMX lights using E1.31?

sti1471

New elf
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Messages
2
Hey all, new user here. So over a year ago, I installed WS2812B lights on my house for permanent lighting. I have been using them over the last year, and they are running great. This year I am adding some holiday lighting items to the yard for a Christmas lighting show. I do not have any DMX, ARTNET, E1.11 or any other controllers to use, all I am using is a few ESP8266 devices and Xlights to control the ESP8266(s) I have 1 ESP8266 that controls the 622 ws2812b LEDs on the main house that I installed a year ago. I also configured another ESP8266 to control the leaping arches in the yard and everything so far is running great.

What I want to do is add some Spot / flood / Stage lights to the show, but I am getting confused when it gets to this level. Reading up on E1.31, it says that E1.31 is basically DMX. I can't find any specific flood / stage lights that say E1.31, so I am wondering if any DMX light can be controlled with WLED / Xlights using E1.31 as long as I provide external power to the light? I see DMX lights use either a 3 pin, or 5 pin connection, so I am not sure how that would wire up to an ESP8266.

So for example, if I want to use this DMX Light, can this be used with an esp8266 running WLED, or would I need some other hardware or shield in between the light and the ESP8266?

I am not sure if any of this makes sense, but if someone can help me understand this that would be great.
 

David_AVD

Grandpa Elf
Community project designer
Generous elf
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
4,681
Location
Victoria Point (Brisbane)
You can use the DMX version of the ESPixelStick firmware with an RS485 driver chip to output "conventional" DMX.

I haven't looked to see if WLED supports DMX output instead of WS2811 output.
 

OzAz

Senior elf
Global moderator
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
997
Location
Newcastle
E1.31 is similar but different to DMX. You need to convert the E1.31 signal to DMX and have a physical DMX "connector".
One option, if WLED and ESP sticks don't work, is to use an E1.31 to DMX bridge.
 

sti1471

New elf
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Messages
2
Thanks for the replies..

Within WLED, there is a drop down menu under Sync interface. On that drop down is says;
E1.31 (sACN)
Art-Net
DDP
Custom Port.

So will an ESP8266 and a Max485 chip be what I need to use. WS2812B uses a single data wire, since DMX has 3 pin and 5 pin, I saw that the 3 pin connection is R,G,B pins. So if I am understanding this correctly, The ESP8266 will send the instructions on the data pin to the 485 board. The 485 board then takes the instructions from the ESP8266, and converts them into a language that the DMX flood Light will understand before sending it to the floodlight?

Are there any flood lights / spot lights that use E1.31 the same way the WS2811 LEDs do?
 

David_AVD

Grandpa Elf
Community project designer
Generous elf
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
4,681
Location
Victoria Point (Brisbane)
E1.31 is DMX, but send over Ethernet. It's a data protocol, not a physical interface.

Plain DMX is sent as an RS485 differential signal and is what your "DMX lights" accept.

Instead of WLED, try ESPixelStick as that is available in a version that supports DMX protocol (timing) on the output. You'll still need the RS485 chip too.
 

i13

Dedicated elf
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
1,172
I know this is an old thread but most pixel controllers can output DMX as well as running pixels. They have an E1.31 to DMX bridge built in.
 
Top