Pixel Spacing

djgra79

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
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Thought I'd record a video showing the difference between pixel spacing and what different looks can be achieved.
In the below video I have 3 different types of pixel spacing when using something such as Boscoyo Chromatrim or mounting strip (this was my own home made coro strip, manually punched into 3mm coro)
* On the left is my existing (and soon to be replaced) 30/10 pixel strip. This strip has 3x LEDs per pixel and 10 pixels per meter.
* The top right section are nodes at 2inch spacing (~5cm) so this would end up being approx. 20 pixels per meter, essentially double the pixel resolution, but only 2/3 the number of visible LEDs.
* The bottom right section are nodes at 3in spacing (~7.6cm) so this would end up being approx. 13 pixel per meter. Only slightly better resolution than the strip but only 1/3 the number of visible LEDs.
When I'm at the bottom of the driveway the viewing distance is around 6-7m away. In reality my most common viewing distance would be parked across the road, so more likely 10-15m away.

Keen to hear people's thoughts on what they have used on their own displays and why. Its a topic that comes up a fair amount of times and I don't recall seeing a visual example of what the differences are, so thought I'd do this not only for my own benefit but for the wider community too.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v10dbAiWlIA
 
Personally, I do not like the strip lights. That's just me though. I am going with the pixel nodes and trying to determine spacing. My original thought was 3", but thinking 4 or 6" as well. I will do a similar test as you did and have them at varying spacing to see what I think looks good from my viewers distance.
 
Always an interesting conversation ;-)
I have found personally that I like the strip lights for the arches - just seems to be a better ambiance. My windows and gables are 2" spaced nodes in trunking which is suffice I suspect, as are my megatree strings. The new matrix this year is 1" spacing so will be the full 4k nodes. Whilst I would like to use square nodes, the bullets are so much cheaper...It really does boil down to how much $ you want to throw at it versus look and ease of production...
 
Thanks DJ, great timing, as I consider for my first year in pixels whether square, bullet or strip and what spacings would be appropriate, I was guessing at 2"/50mm but seeing your visual comparison has confirmed for me that 2' would be good, as I see it next to the strip which was my original idea, the 2' spacing of nodes equates to 20 nodes a meter or 1 string of 100 nodes per 5m strip, and essentially get a comparable effect.
 
Also thinking of changing to bullets from strip, reckon 2" is much better resolution and for gifs/video. miles in front.
thanks for the heads up , now i have to convince the finance officer ,cheers Boof63
 
I like the 2 inch (50mm) spacing personally. I was going to make a matrix with a 2 inch spacing but wasn’t sure how that would look at 14 metres away. I guess the more the better. Does anyone have photos of a matrix with 2 inch spacings?
 
I have a 1200 pixel matrix 50x24 spaced at 50mm. Looks good from a distance but if finances had have allowed I would have gone 25mm. But it all depends on viewing distance. 50mm gets me two matrixes compared to one of the 25mm for the same price.
 
I'm really liking the 3" spacing as it gives the more traditional look of a "bulb", that I like. I myself have been debating on the spacing for c9 bulbs. 4" or 6" spacing or just buying the 6" and space it at 4".
 
Very nice video, thanks for posting!
I am currently trying to work out what spacing I want for house outlines, window outlines and my mega-tree. My house is quite close to the road, 8 meters from kerb to the house. I might actually build a few examples and record a similar video to see how it looks at my property.

I will go 2" spacing for my mega tree, but for house & garden outlines I am considering 3" (with the main factor being the power requirements, and cost).
Do you think it would look weird if I were to make the window outlines 2" and the house & garden outlines 3"? See photo below for layout reference

Yellow lines below are the outlines:
Christmas Light Layout 19-04-11.png
 
Obviously 2in spacing uses more pixels & power, but would mean higher definition of effects. That said if you have plenty of meterage (that's a word now!) of outline to do, 3in spacing will still show it particularly on whole house type effects. If you dont plan on using whole house much, it may not show the effects as well.
If you're using something like Chromatrim to mount the nodes, you have the flexibility and time (currently) to push a few sections at 2in and 3in and do your own tests and see what YOU'RE happy with. This subject is a bit, erm, subjective based on what you think looks good. There's not really any right or wrong, all comes down to what you like the look of and what you can afford (number of pixels, PSUs and cabling)
 
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Thank you for the video. I am in the process of decideing what to use on my new display, I moved into a new house and am starting over. I really like the look of the strips but see a lot of people are getting rid of them. Does anyone have a video of their display with pixels as the outline instead of strips? Does anyone use both ?UGGG!!! I used the strips on my old house and had some problems with water getting into them but think a lot of it was me being new to it and not sealing them. This is such a hard deceision and I need to make it so I can purchase it and get started...
 
Hmm, thanks for the video! I like the 3" look for outlining the house, but I think if you do a Matrix then you need the pixels packed in as much as what you can afford, and then be happy with that as they all look amazingly awesome compared to the standard lights off the shelf.

I'm making my own matrix display as it looked like fun, from 20mm PVC pipe and working out how many pixels to order from Ray Wu now. Im planning a 1m x 1m matrix using 32x32 (1024) pixels therefore spaced 30mm apart (viewers will be approx 10-15 metres from the display). I'm not sure if this too far apart, but it will use up just about all my channels on the E682. If anyone has advice, I'm all ears....If this works, then I plan to do a 3m x 1m, 96 x 32 pixel display on part of my roof, but one step at a time.
 
This thread is very old. An answer might not be needed anymore.
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