Excited about Seed Pixels

[BigRedNole]

I received my partial order of seed pixels yesterday from Ray Wu. They were a custom 240 string at 5cm with XConnect. I ordered a total of 12. Its almost 3000 pixels and they would store in a shoebox. That is what got me into looking at restarting pixels on my house. These were bought to make 5 or 6 mini trees and storage will be very simple with relatively easy setup each year (storage was the main reason stopping).

Fastforward to today where I started just testing with them. Stripped out all the old outputs from the F16v3, make a nice clean input for just Channel 1, and run some tests. Well, Test fails from the webpage. Only the first 50 lights lit up. I know, you have to set the number of pixels, etc. I did that and still didn't work. I will need to flash to the latest firmware. So, I went into XLights, wiped out the old layout, and started testing there. Everything worked as expected. The entire set of 240 lit up without issue. Updated the Channel to 480 pixels, created a power injection expecting it not get all pixels, and all lit up without issue. Changed the setting to 720 pixels, tested 3 sets expecting an issue, and they all powered up. It stopped at 720 though. I could not get the 4th set going at 960 pixels without power injection.

All 12 sets lit up without issues testing to be sure they all worked. I was surprised at how many were able to be powered by 12V. Take into account, there was no real distance from the controller either. I plugged in right at the pigtail. But even if there was some voltage drop for distance it wouldn't be much and tapping in at the 3rd or forth set as necessary would not be a problem. I am very excited about getting this started and ready to put up in October.

 

[ScientificHobbyist]

That's great! I'm about to convert some of my show (roofline) to seeds. How were the brightness levels?

 

[BigRedNole]

That's great! I'm about to convert some of my show (roofline) to seeds. How were the brightness levels?

Purely guessing and nothing to compare to, but they are bright enough for my needs. In all honesty, I was planning on doing Projection Mapping last year. Wasted a lot of money on a pro projector that cannot work on my brick house. Had a very depressing decorated house last year and made the decision I am going to have a great house this year and get better. Storage has always been the concenrn. Bullet pixel just with my window outlines were bulky, a bit heavy, and a pain to store. Seed pixels will let me do it modular, break down the props, and just store PVC/EMT on a single rack out of the way in the garage. The seed pixels will literally be able to go in small storage contrainers. I will have ~6000 pixels this year and they will all store in one of those black storage boxes.

 

[Kartman]

That's great! I'm about to convert some of my show (roofline) to seeds. How were the brightness levels?

I ran seeds as my roof outline this year, not sure what the brightness setting was as it is via the Falcon F16 which is now packed up, but they fitted in perfectly with the bullets used on the gutter outline..
Mine were the 4 wire ones and I had two problems, wiring them up to three wire plugs correctly and then I bought 4 pin plugs and the evil electrical fairies kept stealing the plugs.

 

[Skymaster]

Stripped out all the old outputs from the F16v3, make a nice clean input for just Channel 1, and run some tests. Well, Test fails from the webpage. Only the first 50 lights lit up. I know, you have to set the number of pixels, etc. I did that and still didn't work.

The F16v3 test page can be a bit hit and miss when testing individual outputs. Either select "All outputs" or none.

 

[thewanderingpine]

@Kartman — don’t forget the 4 wire seeds (assuming dual data) generally switch every pixel.

So it might be
+/D1/D2/GND
But then after that pixel it will be:
+/D2/D1/GND
And will alternate back and forth for each.

You need to test before you attach the pigtail whether it’s 3 wire or 4

 

[BigRedNole]

The F16v3 test page can be a bit hit and miss when testing individual outputs. Either select "All outputs" or none.

I found it easier just to test in XLights. SInce I am only testing the actual strands, nothing too special needed. It was more to be sure the purchased pixels worked. Next weekend I will start to tackle cutting WS2815 led strip, soldering, sealing, and waterproofing the ends. Once that bit is done, I can start to build and test the props. From there, I can start to design in XLights

 

[Skymaster]

I found it easier just to test in XLights

Yep that definitely does help. However, for successful xLights testing, it means the entire chain needs to be set up correctly - xLights configuration, controller configuration, and appropriate DDP/E1.31 connections. If all those are good, then sweet - it's a valid test. However something wrong in the config chain could manifest itself as a problem with the attached pixels, so as long as those limitations are known, all good.

 

[BigRedNole]

That's great! I'm about to convert some of my show (roofline) to seeds. How were the brightness levels?

One other thing to mention. My neighbor has one of those store bought mega trees (maybe 8') with just its own programmed sequences. It is made with seed pixels and is extremely bright. I don't think brightness of seed pixels compared to bullet is going to be an issue.

 

[merryoncherry]

I don't think brightness of seed pixels compared to bullet is going to be an issue.

No, it isn't going to be an issue, as many others have found. The seeds are not (individually) as bright as the brightest bullets (5V, 12V regulated, GS8208, etc.) but people are(mostly) dimming those anyway. Depending on the model, they're almost as bright, or as bright, as 12V resistor nodes.

My 2c is that the things look brighter when the spacing is closer together, not just the brightness of individual nodes. Vast majority of the below is 12V resistor (yeah, yeah) at 100% with some exceptions noted... you can't really tell what it is by looking at it from the viewer's perspective... the only thing that may be letting the team down a bit is the strip inside the white PEX pipe.

 

[BigRedNole]

No, it isn't going to be an issue, as many others have found. The seeds are not (individually) as bright as the brightest bullets (5V, 12V regulated, GS8208, etc.) but people are(mostly) dimming those anyway. Depending on the model, they're almost as bright, or as bright, as 12V resistor nodes.

I actually viewed your webpage or at least I think it is yours on using seed pixels. It was part of the reason I chose to look back into it. Just the ease of storing is the biggest benefit.