Hello! I just received my first circuit playground and strand of neopixel and am very excited to use it in a costume!
I'm planning to use the full 4m strand of 60 led/m RGB neopixels (got the skinny one), and trying to figure power requirements. As it will be wearable I'm interested in not having to lug around huge batteries.
With my 4*60 = 240 LEDs, following the 20mA guideline that would be ~5A, which is quite a lot. As I don't need the full brightness (from my tests it seems like I could go as low as setBrightness(10-20)!), I'm wondering whether I could rely on setBrightness to cap power need.
Is there a linear correlation between the brightness set and power draw?
For instance if I do setBrightness(50) (i.e. 1/5 brightness) at the beginning of my sketch and leave it there, can I assume total power draw will be 1/5 and therefore plan for 1A of power use for my 240 LEDs?
Controlling neopixel power draw using setBrighness()
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- jolleon
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2022 12:39 pm
- adafruit_support_bill
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- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Controlling neopixel power draw using setBrighness()
All else being equal, the power requirements are roughly proportional to the brightness level you set.
I'd recommend starting with a read through this guide for tips on efficient use of power:
https://learn.adafruit.com/sipping-power-with-neopixels
I'd recommend starting with a read through this guide for tips on efficient use of power:
https://learn.adafruit.com/sipping-power-with-neopixels
- jolleon
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2022 12:39 pm
Re: Controlling neopixel power draw using setBrighness()
That's a great article, thank you!
Looks like power use is indeed directly correlated to brightness, and all the other tricks mentioned in the guide will be helpful too.
Looks like power use is indeed directly correlated to brightness, and all the other tricks mentioned in the guide will be helpful too.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.