Does NeoPixel current usage scale linearly with RGB values?

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thebobster
 
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Does NeoPixel current usage scale linearly with RGB values?

Post by thebobster »

I have a long strand of NeoPixels and a power supply that can’t quite support a full 60 mA per NeoPixel. I was wondering if I could, in software, just ensure that I’m never using too much current.

I’m using the neopixel.mpy library, and I was wondering how the current scales for the RGB values I set. For example, if my power supply only nominally supplies 30 mA per NeoPixel, could I just cut all the RGB values in half and be confident that my current usage would never exceed 30 mA per NeoPixel?

(Actually in my head the code is more like “sum up all the R, G, and B values I’m about to send to the NeoPixel strand and if that sum is greater than 127*3*number_of_neopixels then scale down all RGB values proportionally.”)

Does this make sense? Am I overly optimistic if I hope that current scales linearly with RGB values?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Does NeoPixel current usage scale linearly with RGB valu

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

It should be pretty much linear. There is a baseline idle current draw of approximately 1mA per pixel. At full intensity, the draw is typically in the 55-60mA per pixel range.

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thebobster
 
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Re: Does NeoPixel current usage scale linearly with RGB valu

Post by thebobster »

Thank you!

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