light strip

so this question isn't really vehicle related, but it will be installed on a vehicle eventually...

i'm looking at RGB LED strips, I have bought a couple strips off of ebay, one is pure white, which is exactly what I was expecting. the other is rainbow colored, with a controller, and when you point it at something, the rainbow color combines to be whatever color you make it, like it's a repeating pattern of red green blue red green blue, and by modifying the intensity while it's pointed at something, it mixes and makes the colors in between... but each individual LED only emits one color.

the one I have is the 3528 version, and i've been seeing sets that use RGB smd chips, instead of using a bunch of single color lights. is this a feature that is only found with the 5050 leds or what?

basically I want to know how I can make sure I get what I want, and not another set of these rainbow lights...

also, power supply, i'm buying these in 10 meter rolls, the controller I have says it's good for 3x2amps obviously 2a each R G B, so 6a total, this should be fine for using on the larger 5050's right? reason I ask is the 5050's seem to come with a much larger controller than the one I have now, which is a tiny circuit board that is just bigger than the wire it's self...

thanks in advance!

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3258s are single LED per chip whereas a 5050 has 3 LEDs per 5050 so a single RGB 5050 can produce any color.
The 5050 can be all the same color or RGB or whatever.
The 5050 RGB LED strips have a controller chip per 5050 which can be programmed to set its 5050 color & intensity (hence flashing etc).

The controller chips are daisy chained and addressed by number/sequence from the end of the string. (The "end" is self configuring so you can cut the strips anywhere, typically leaving groups of 3 5050s with controllers for a 12V strip (the strips should have (dashed?) lines where they can be cut.)

Last time I looked there were 2 popular controller chips. You have to match the strip type to the controller.
One of them was considered difficult because of its variable length data string depending on what instruction was sent but IMO that is merely a software issue fir uPC chips - ie, defining a look up table or using "variable handshaking" etc; both of which are subroutined or called. Besides, there didn't seem to be an issue judging by the number of PICAXE, Arduino, etc projects that used either controller-chip type.


Whereas each individual 5050 LED can produce any color, 3258s would require 3 adjacent LEDs each displaying its particular intensity to make up the overall (3 LED) color.
I didn't look at 3528s since I was interested in individual LED colors - eg, a 3rd stop/tail 5050 RGB strip that could include amber flashers, or amber chasing flashers, or white rear lighting etc. But I'd assume their "master" controller that plugs into the strip takes care of the "group by 3" 3528s in a similar fashion to the 5050 controllers that do the same but where each group of 3 is in the single 5050 chip.

AFAIRecall, when I looked there was no "ready built" controller that handled both 5050 strip types. I'd expect similar for 3528 RGB controllers, but AFAIAmConcerned, that is merely a programming issue.

I'd google for controllers that do what you want and suit the RGB LED strip type you have.


As for power/current, that's also a case of matching. Each LED in a 5050 might be rated as 50mA, so for one channel (R, G or B) with 5cm per 3 5050s (60/m or 300/5m etc) that's 60 x 50mA = 3A per meter.
Of course the 5050s can be lower current or maybe higher current (per individual 5050 "internal" LED).
And strips can have different 5050 spacings.
And just because a LED is rated at whatever current does not mean you have to drive it that hard - eg, if limited to 10mA run the 50mA LED at 20% intensity/brightness.
(I doubt you'd have to check that the controller's "intensity" is proportional to current. To do otherwise would mean matching the controller to a specific manufacture of 5050s etc else programming of intensity versus current data/curves. I'd expect the simple linear "current proportional to intensity" is assumed and if there is a non-linearity, the programmer changes the relevant programmed intensity.

awesome reply, thanks for all the info, a little of it was over my head, but you answered my questions and then some!

as far as the controller types go, i'm thinking i'm going to buy a roll of the 5050's and just try the controller that is on my 3528's and see what happens, i'm sure I won't get a chasing pattern, or be able to individually control the leds, but that's fine with me, i have no interest in doing that for my application.

thanks again for the help!

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ok, I looked at more auctions, the individually addressable strips are freaking expensive, and not that common, the majority of the 5050 strips on ebay work just like the 3528's, except each smd is rgb.

so i've ordered 2, 5 strips of black pcb, one with the giant ugly controller, and I also ordered a separate controller that is RF, but only have a couple buttons on the remote. the plan is to be able to hide this controller on my new motorcycle, without having to have an IR sensor sticking out somewhere...

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damn, hit submit too early!

the controllers that are sold on ebay, separate from the strips say that they are good for either 5050 or 3528's, so i should be golden there

only frustration i'm having now, is the rgb controllers come with 11,22 and 44 button remotes, for IR, and 11 for RF, I found one 25 button remote (IIRC) but the controller looked the size of a cellphone, and I don't know where to hide that, so i will just go with the 11 button and figure out how hard it is to use...

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Let me know how you go.