The NEW Kind of LED You Should Know About!

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[DavesGarage]

OK, OK... you're right. WS2812B is not "new" in that it's been around since 2013, but it's "new" to most hobbyists, as evidenced by the responses below. But a small and dedicated group of hobbyists has indeed been using them for a number of years, so they're not "new" in that sense.

[marcberm]

The best explanation of electroluminescence ever: "when an electron has to jump the gap from one semiconductor substrate to another, it gets so scared that it poops out a little photon of light."

[thinkbolt]

Honestly, the best intro to LED history and basic tech I've seen.

[theoldbigmoose]

Your videos got me started playing with fastLED.... now all my GrandChildren have a unique LED lamp from GrandPa! Thank you Dave!

[underourrock]

As a double "E" somewhere on the spectrum with a similar sense of humor, I enjoyed your video as it was well made, but especially because of the deadpan nods to the words that make just about any 12 year old chuckle. The photon poop is a visual that I think everyone trying to understand how LEDs works needs!

Good job. Lots of info, very thorough, and thank you for sharing!

[alexscarbro]

A friend of mine runs an EMC test lab. He’s analysed a number of large products that use lots of these addressable LEDs. He’s found them to generate a lot of EMI as each LED serial output has a very fast rising edge and when combined with the delay across each LED, this can create a cascade of noise at the serial data rate. (And harmonics there of). So, if anyone plans to design a product with these, you may wish to consider adding some circuit elements to reduce the edge rate.

[ClayCowgill]

Worth mentioning: LEDs aren’t linear in their output relative to the average input current. (e.g. 80% PWM duty cycle isn’t necessarily twice as bright as 40%— it’s more an exponential curve) Maybe some libraries include the correction now, but if you’re starting from scratch or just not using a library that includes it, read up on gamma correction for RGB LEDs!

[homersimpson]

I was in college getting a degree in Lasers in the late 1980s when CD players got cheap enough for college students to afford them. My friends asked me how the CDs worked. I told them how a laser was focused on to the disc and it had shinny and dull spots and blah blah blah. I then said a disc could hold more music if they used a blue laser. No one believed me, even after I explained my reasoning. I had no idea that blue would be such a big deal that it would earn a Nobel Prize.

[WildRapier]

Great explanation! I had no idea blue LEDs didn't come out until 1993! You can see the taillight flicker on some dashcams even today. I'll tell you, the best thing I was ever a part of was switching all the indicator lights at a water treatment plant to LEDs, every valve for every filter (3 filters) had 2 lights (incandescent). It seemed like we would change a few lights weekly. Swapped to LEDs, of course the cost upfront was more but we never changed a lightbulb again! Good stuff!

[theobserver]

I know next to nothing about electronics, I'm not involved in any related trade. I'm a carpenter handyman, but this was extremely fascinating!
(though I can wire up a whole house by myself, but you don't really have to understand electricity that much to do that.)  
I get really frustrated with the general dumbness in the world, so when I learn about really ingenious things, it's like a breath of fresh air! Humans can be really amazing! Thanks for spending the time putting this together! I really enjoyed it.

[tollutollu]

I've only ever coded very small, basic projects and have only done things with electronics a couple times, but just this video has made me feel like with a bit of confidence and the willingness to read some documentation, I could totally do some interesting things with LEDs. I'm on the train with the rest of the folks asking for a 101 series on this topic!

[chickywilly]

As a kid, I was always fascinated by indicator lights, especially blinking LEDs. Any device that contained an LED was practically like my pet. I still love LEDs even four decades later.

[mjouwbuis]

Nice explanation of electroluminescence! Also @4:50 while PWM is the easiest way in digital circuits, the traditional way of controlling LED brightness is through regulating the current through the LED. Current, not voltage as the actual voltage varies little and follows from the characteristic of the LED when varying current.

[ZedCactus]

Thanks, great video! As a synth guy I was very excited to hear that LED's are dimmed with PWM... as if I needed any more reasons to love LEDs!

[parrotraiser]

LEDs may be thermally efficient, but if you're generating a lot of light, they' still need a decent heat sink/dissipator,

[Richard_DS]

That is AMAZING, postage stamp size computer, and speck size led chip!
Takes me back half a century to memories of when I was excited to buy my own Tri Color LED, I thought that was amazing.

Thanks for sharing.

[sandrainthesky]

I remember my first red LED as a kid in the late 60's. I hooked it up to an old 9V battery and it went for months. When the greens came out I was jonesing for it until radio shack carried it (in Canada) that took a long time as I was pretty much an adult by then. LED's have come such a long way since then, it's impressive. Still love to use them whenever there's a good excuse. WS2812's rule when using them in a console for illumination, just waiting for them to come out inside of 6x6 pushbutton switches. ;)

[raymondpetrovits]

As a layman, I knew nothing of what you spoke about during your presentation. However your oratory skills and your being able to lay out perfectly the LED mysteries kept me glued. I’m still lost but feel I learned something today. Many thanks, I think?

[Liberallez]

Interesting info that I will likely never make use of...but...what really stands out in this video is... Dave speaks fast, clearly and imparts volumes of information without notes, teleprompters, etc. ... which shows he knows(!) the information!!! ... as opposed to damn near every politician who tries to convince us that he/she/it is highly knowledgeable!!!

[joelstyer]

Great video and good background info. I've been a huge fan of LEDs since the 1970s and also couldn't wait until someone came up with a blue LED. And the 528-ish nanometer green was also a great improvement over the 570-ish ones.. I thought I knew a lot about LEDs, but I never knew that the electrons got scared and pooped photons at the junction. You learn something new every day. Now I'll never be able to think of the LEDs without thinking an image of electrons pooping.. Genius explanation.