Voltages, Preferred IC's

[Hexagram]

Guys,

I'm planning my first display for next year and gathering a list of requirements from Ray's store. I'm checking out http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5m-DC5V-WS2812B-led-pixel-srip-IP68-in-silicon-tube-30pcs-WS2812B-M-with-30pixels-36W/701799_949715127.html and it lists the input voltage is DC5V which is fine, but then it also lists just "voltage" as 12v.... And the description says 5v. Turbulent times.

The other thing I was wondering is what's the IC of choice around these parts? Given LEDs are constant current devices it's 2801 or 2811 for me (not to mention 8-bit steps for DMX approval); There's talk of WS2812B at Ray's, from what I gather an improved version of 2811, but then 2801 has a clock wire which sounds like it would have better sync for comms, but I'm just talking out of my backside here as I can't find any information on it.

Thoughts from the pro's?

Joel

 

[fasteddy]

Personally for me i rather use 12vdc lighting due to the lower current requirmennts and less voltage drop issues to contend with. The pros and cons of this for strings can be seen in this thread http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,2595.0.html


Now as far as strip is concerned if using 12vdc 2811 strip then you will find that every 3 LEDs are controlled as apposed to 5vdc strip where every LED is individually controlled. For me using the 12vdc strip has been far easier to manage on a voltage drop consideration, the strip is used on the outline of the house and the pixel tree i have and from the street where the audience is viewing then the difference between using 12v 3LEDs and 5v 1 LED is virtually unoticed, but there is a big difference in how you need to manage them.

The other advanatge to doing this means less channels to manage and easier management because the difference in channel count seriously changes depending on if you are using 3 x pixels per section strip or single LED per section strip

In the end both options will give you graeat colourful blinky, what you will need to decide is the pros and cons for the choices

Now as far as the IC is concerned, people talk about the clock wire and the difference between 2801 and 2811 and 2812B, these are all 8 Bit dimming. In my opinion these lights are not being used for their original demanding use and that was for signage, we are using these for Christmas lights and in my opinion the 2811 or 2812B chip offers the best value, you will find that the 2811 is used for strings and and 12vdc strip, where as the 2812B is used in the 5vdc strip as the 2812B is a 2811 IC that is embedded into the 5050 LED as one package. But the 2811, 2812 and 2812B all work on the same protocol.
The 2811/2812b has a longer specification distance between controller and lights than what the 2801 does and the 2811/2812B is also much cheaper to purchase than the 2801.

You must also take into account that many of the chinese listings are just a copy and paste of lots of the info from other listings so sometimes these may be wrong or confusing. But if its a 2812B then it will be 5vdc, if its 12vdc strip it will be a 2811 and the strings will also use the 2811

Just my thoughts and resoning why i use 12vdc 2811 over 5vdc, I know many others have thier own reasons for using either 12vdc or 5 vdc

 

[Hexagram]

Thanks mate that' fantastic info; I found that thread you mention a little bit after I posted and was very helpful, but you have cleared things up especially with the 3 x led vs 1 led.

I'm going to get a couple of ECG-P12R's to control, as these are very feature packed and are good value, not to mention the level of support.

 

[lithgowlights]

I use 12V for modules where there is (normally) 3 LED's in series, and 5V for single LED's here.

I have some 2811's, and 2812's, and to be honest I had nothing but trouble with these in comparison to the 2801's, so I will be sticking with the 2801's unless I can not get the item I want in that chip. 2801's have simply worked, even with extremely long lead cables using 4 or 6 wire alarm cable, but the same setup in 2811's need null pixels, or special wiring, in many cases.