mixing pixel makes/models

C

Cygnusyyc

New elf
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Jun 27, 2025
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Hey there,
If this is covered in 101 I obviously missed it. Can you run a show using 12mm WS2811's RGB's AND the 30mm UCS2904 RGBWW's without having it screw up whatever controller you may be using? To give it context I'm being asked by a buddy to help him with a show, his house has existing 30mm lights spaced @ 9" on a controller with limited phone app control.
That control would be toast, would switch to a Genius pro 16 or 32 most likely, adding props and so on. After all, pixels are pixels, same kind of wiring etc. If it is possible do you just have to keep the 2 kinds separate in different ports? My struggle comes when you compare 2811's having 3 nodes for each pixel (RGB) VS 3 led's per 30mm disk at RGBWW giving you 4 nodes per. Does that not screw up the brain? If I understand my own system correctly, mixing RGB with anything other and your going to have problems. Will do more reading but it would be nice to hear thoughts.
Thanks,
Cyg.
 
I'd imagine it will depend on the controller. As long as the controller supports UCS2904 all will be good. I don't believe you'll be able to run them off of the same port as WS281x though. You would need to check if the controller supports different protocols on different ports at the same time.

I'm oddly struggling to find proper info, but I'm not entirely sure the Genius pro supports UCS2904??

As an example, I used to run TLS8001 (just RGB though) and WS2811, but my controller at the time (Advatek) could only support 1 protocol at a time (not per port, only 1 protocol for all ports at a time), so I had to get a separate controller to manage the TLS8001.

Someone with a bit more experience than me might be able to shed more light for you though :)
 
Many controllers will only allow you to run 1x pixel type per bank as well, like the v4 Falcons, for example.
The V3 Falcons are a bit more universal and will let you do a different protocol per port.

As for the genius controllers, I can't comment there.
 
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