Most Interesting Addressable LEDs that I've Ever Seen

They are pretty cool - what's really interesting is that they operate with the data line in a bus mode - all the LEDs get the serial data and each one has an address burned into it at manufacture time so they know which part of the data stream is for them.

Very clever stuff.

But we're not here to praise this product - we're here to take it apart and see if we can hack around with it. In this case the answer is a definite yes!

"New Generation DIY LED Curtain Lights Steady Lit APP Remote Control Pattern Cartoon Text For Window Festival Wedding Decoration" - Is how they describe it...

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[atomic]

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[andycrask]

Ive always wondered about the return data line on these, thanks for taking a look.

[AzaBC]

Really neat! I have to drop everything and learn more about these right NOW! Cheers Chris!

[veghelcam]

Thank you for sharing this vid.
#question:
1 Did you flash the standard WLED?
2.Please share the settings of the led strip in WLED (led type)?

[NorthparkLights]

Ah, so another variation on these!
I got a version of these 'seed pixel' curtain lights in 2021, it used like a shift register T-connector at the top. The ws2812b seed pixels per drop were just like normal seed pixels (data in, data out).
Going forward, I'm interested to see how these seed pixels hold up. I built a 2, 400 pixel tree with them last year but the quality has changed a lot. Even in the video I did on the tree you can see slight yellowing on the strings.

[MarkLloyd-ohmu]

What WLED settings did you need to use? Would be nice to cover that off in the vid. Unless I missed that part?

[mikeselectricstuff]

I know from someone who has been to the factory that the process of programming the addresses of these LED involves shining light at the LED, using it as a photocell, to tell them which device is being programmed via commands over the wire. Don't recall if they use a projector or a laser. I would expect the protocol is something along the lines of "If you can see light now, you are row x", and similar for Y to program a large array quickly. It may be that higher than normal voltages are involved to do the write operation.

[TheTweakerTweaks]

Thank you for sharing this vid.
#question:
1 Did you flash the standard WLED
2.Please share the settings of the led strip
(As a hint, its better to share the setup in a the vid for DIY geeks ;-) #WeAreLazy

[rklauco]

This looks great! Should it be live 2 weeks ago, I would have bought it for Christmas house decoration :) So, until next year... ;)

[SidM-dh]

great video makes sence once you take it apart and having a scope really helps... is it possible to connect mechanical switches to the esp32 directly and have it change to different effects , i looked on the wled manual and there is a spot for them but im not sure how to program the pins ...

[dewbiedew]

This might be the first time I saw what the patterns are supposed to look like. I had WLED on an ESP32 board and I just left the single strand of LEDs as is, wondering how to see all these effects. I feel silly now.

[AminShahsavar]

Interesting! But what matrix settings did you have in WLED for this to work? It's not a normal serpentine style string that WLED is "used to", so I'm guessing you need to set it up differently too?

[stormbreaker]

What happens if you append a normal LED strip to a column? Does it display starting at index 0 or does it display the next columns data?
It would be cool if we could chop off the 2nd row of LEDs to replace them with higher density strips.

[MikeDX]

Can you share your config for this curtain please? I've got some on order and would love to get them going

[BRUXXUS]

Cool! I only very recently learned about these pre-addressed LEDs and found it pretty fascinating. It would be really neat if there was a way to re-write the address for them, , though.
Edit: WLED is THE BEST! Aircookie an the other developers, and the whole community are just wonderful. :D

[padraigflood]

Would WLED need a pretty rigid amperage limit set when running off the board's 3.3V pin?

I usually use WS2812B 5V leds powered separately from the board. I take it the LEDs won't run at 5V?

[TylerBolick-iyji]

What wled settings are you using to get these to work. I have a set and it just flashes awful colors connected to WLED

[dcallan]

Really interesting strings of lights. That have improved so much in the last couple of years and its nice to have the remote control. I hate modern phones (I dont have one) so all the app controlled stuff is no se to me. . 👍👍

[TheSleepyCraftsman]

Have you looked at the 2-wire LED strings that are addressable? Same manufacturer as the ones in this video.

[ChunkySteveo]

Amazing. I still don't get how they are preprogrammed on the string. Reading that thread, it seems the ICs are built in order on the string with known pixel locations upto n+X, then repeat. You must be able to request string lengths of x-strings in a continuous reel from the factory...??