GS8208 12V pixel strings - A wildcard third option for the 5V vs 12V WS2811 question?

AussiePhil

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Permalights responded to my email. Pixel spacing is 4 inch center to center.
Normal
Wire AWG is 20.
20awg, if copper then effectively the same as the 18g CCA currently coming from china vendors.
Lead-in and lead-out wire length is 5 inch.
seems shorter than normal, the last lot of RaY ones i got had 6" or 8"
They also added these specs to their product's web page. Researching their website in more detail, it's mentioned that they use WLED and have a WiFi controller that will drive 1200 pixels.
people report these working on standard 2811 protocol as input.
 

Martin Mueller

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Looking at adding 1Mhz GS2808 support to ESPixelStick V4. Would anyone be able to test it?
 

TerryK

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That is the max spec for the IC. Over the normal 800KHz that would be a 25% improvement but would I think eliminate most controllers on the market being able to drive the pixels. I'm not familiar with the ESPixelSticks. Can they support the higher frequency?

Another possible concern is that at the higher frequency, the wires are going to radiate more, that is additional electrical noise problems.
 

Martin Mueller

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I have it working on the ESPixelStick V4 software as an optional output type. You have to turn it on in the build process to make it available. Yes the ESP can handle the higher speed, Also not sure if the difference between 800Khz and 1Mhz is going to change the environmental noise all that much, but that is why a test on someone's real world setup is needed. 25% increase in pixel count for a given refresh rate is pretty good.

You can get the code on my github https://github.com/MartinMueller2003/ESPixelStick/tree/main

Shelbys branch is up-to-date with my latest code up to, but not including, the support for the GS8208 pixels. I wont submit this code to Shelby until it gets more testing.
 

TerryK

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Won't know about the noise until you run into it. I would suggest if you can drive them at 1MHz, do the calculation for the max number of pixels in a string and then purchase enough pixels to make a string that long. Throw them all in a big messy pile and see what happens.
 

Martin Mueller

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I personally will not be able to purchase any of them at this time (out of xmass budget at the moment). Hence my request for someone to test them. My logic analyzer tells me I am sending the correct data but there is nothing like a test with real pixels.
 

AussiePhil

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Specs can be found: https://www.permalights.co/store/p4/bullet-led-pixel.html#/
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Nice to see these being available to buy.

The wire size spec of 20awg is meaningless as we have proved many times now that the 18/20 sizes used on pixels bear no relation to AWG standards sizing.

Can you provide the strand numbers - the strand size and the wire type -- Ie 21 x 0.12, Pure copper

Thanks Phil
 

TerryK

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Emailed PermaLights again, 3 times now I think. Topics: 18 AWG and what is in my opinion, a rather high shipping cost. Also mentioned their ACL Forum thread post.
 

TerryK

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Email response: Only available with 20 AWG and shipping has been changed to a flat rate of $12. With the lowered shipping, I ordered 4 strings and will determine how they compare with the previous purchased single string from the eBay vendor.
 

ryanschristmaslights

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While this thread is predominately about GS8208 pixel strings, just as an addendum recently I came across an AliExpress listing for GS8208 IC RGB strip that was priced lower than others and with free shipping. You might be thinking of the saying 'too good to be true', well that indeed was the case here. Despite being advertised as GS8208 what I received was something different, lacking in gamma correction abilities. The PCB says it is 12V, and with it cuttable every LED I suspect it might be WS2815, but not sure.

Here's a PCB comparison with actual GS8208 strip from Rita Lighting in 2018 (the white PCB) and this new strip from a different seller (the black PCB):
gs8208-ray-vs-ws2815-other-seller-strip-images.jpg

GS8208's gamma correction aids in better colour mixing particularly at lower brightness. I've thrown up a quick side-by-side video showing low brightness dimming steps from 0 to a comparable brightness (to my eyes, at least), the differences in dimming curve and finally some colour cycling. Comparatively, I think oranges and yellows looked nicer with the GS8208. Apologies for the shakiness, should've used a tripod.

 

Kent

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I'm quite keen on buying GS8208 this year. Is anyone aware of any vendors currently able to supply them in bullet style?
 

TerryK

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ryanschristmaslights

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Good news regarding better pricing at the supplier I used last year (Shiji Lighting). I have received a new quote from this supplier for additional GS8208 DC12V bullet strings with same spec as what I bought last time (waterproof connectors, black insulation, 10cm spacing) and current 2022 pricing has dropped to US$0.22 per pixel in a 50 pixel string. This is less than what was quoted last year at US$0.35-0.40 per pixel for the same length string. 😁👍

Quoted manufacturing time is 15 days and delivery a further 7 days.

@Kent Shiji can do bullet pixels but this is through Alibaba and not AliExpress.
 

Kent

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That's great - I picked up 100 of these for testing two months ago and paid $0.25 each. Was quoted $0.22 for larger quantities. Now I just need to get around to testing them!
 
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