How to compare Addressable RGB LED Light Strips WS2811, WS2812B, WS2813, WS2815, SK6812,   APA102C 

Today I am comparing the different normal addressable led strips, talking about their technical specifications, then I’m gonna help you figure out which one is the best-led strip lights for your project.

5V Addressable Strip

WS2812b led strip lights

The most well-known chip currently is the ws2812b chip. This chip became very famous partly because Adafruit gave it the name “Neopixels” and made it available to the general public a few years ago.

It can do 30LEDs/M, 60LEDs/M, 144LEDs/m. Black and White PCB.

One Pixel with One LED, each LED can be cut. Detail as below, It with all WIFI controllers and Offline controllers.

WS2812B LED Strip

Ws2813 led strip

Refresh Frequency updates reach 2 KHz, 5v compatible, and dual signal wires so that if one led gets damaged, the signal should still transfer to all other chips. (almost same with ws2815, but voltage different).

 Any led broken will not affect another led unless two consecutive LEDs are broken.

30LEDs/M, 60LEDs/M,144LEDs/M.

PN Working current Working temperature Package LED number Viewing angle Lifespan Working voltage Pixel/M
S010030-WS2813RGB 1.8A/meter -40℃~60℃ 5meter/roll 30pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V 30Pixels/M
S010060-WS2813RGB 3.6A/meter -40℃~60℃ 5meter/roll 60pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V 60Pixels/M
S012144-WS2813RGB 8.64A/meter -40℃~60℃ 2meter/roll 144pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V 144Pixels/m

SK6812 RGBW LED Strip

 This chip runs PWM at about 1.2kHz making it better in the regard to the ws2812b too, and Adafruit used it the same with ws2812b. It does RGBW mostly.

 

APA102C (SPI) LED Strip

APA102 PWM Frequency is 19khz

 It also isn’t a clockless chip with only three wires (+, -, data) but instead uses a 4 wire protocol (+, -, clock, data). The APA102 also has some advantages in regards to settable brightness and tune-able color spectrums. APA102 is also the brightest LED strip before, so if you need a lot of light output, this might be your LED chip! The APA102 can also be bought in full white variants giving you for instance warm white addressable LED strips.

 

SMD2020 APA102C and SMD5050 APA102C for your choice.

1)SMD2020 APA102C 200leds/m, 288leds/m, 

2) SMD2020 APA102C, 72leds/PC, 227cm length customize.

apa102c led strip

3)SMD5050, APA102C, 30LEDs/M, 60LEDs/M, 144LEDs/M. Black and White PCB.

apa102c led strip

12V strip light

WS2815 led strip

A new chip from the creators of the WS2812B and compatible with the same protocol. The main improvements are a higher internal PWM frequency (around 2kHz), 12v compatible (5v logic signal), and dual signal wires (DI, BI, GND, 12V), so that if a chip gets damaged the signal should still reach all other chips. This causes ws2815 to use more watts than a ws2812b running the same pattern.

WS2815 LED Strip

WS2811 LED Strip 

It is the cheapest addressable led strip, It is one signal cable, three cables (GND, DAT, 12V/24V), The voltage 12V/24V both available. RGBW and RGB color for more choice.

WS2811 IC uses pixel light and Amusement Pixel light widely.

ws2811 strip

 

dreamcolor led strip lights

What is WS2812/WS2812b and How to work with a WS2812/WS2812b led strip

As near as we can tell, the popular WS2812 individually addressable RGB LED was released to the world sometime around the last half of 2013. This wasn’t long ago, or maybe it was an eternity; the ESP8266, the WiFi microcontroller we all know and love was only released a year or so later. If you call these things “Neopixels”, there’s a good reason: Adafruit introduced the WS2812 to the maker community, with no small effort expended on software support, and branding.

The WS2812 is produced by WorldSemi, who made a name for themselves earlier with LED driver solutions, especially the WS2811, and SOIC chip that would turn a common anode RGB LED into one that’s serially controllable. When they stuffed the brains from the WS2811 into a small package with a few LEDs, they created what is probably the most common programmable LED lighting solution available today.

WS2812:

addressable led

remote control led strip lights

led strip lights bedroom

WS2812B is an intelligent control LED light source that the control circuit and RGB chip are integrated into a package of 5050 components. It internally includes an intelligent digital port data latch and signal reshaping amplification drive circuit.

It is the internal IC, also called built-in IC or embedded. They are in many cases WS2812 or also called WS2812b. Voltage DC5V (WS2811 and WS2818 are DC12V), individually addressable.  

 

What is the ws2812b multi-color led strips and Advantage?

WS2812B RGB LED with Integrated Driver Chip. The control circuit and RGB chip are integrated into a package of 5050 components.

This LED flexible strip is a full-color external control for each lamp bead. It with high brightness can achieve effects of full-color running water, chasing, and scanning.

The RGB LED chips with low driving voltage, environmental protection, and energy-saving, high brightness, scattering angle is large, good consistency, low power, long life, and other advantages. The control chip integrated in LED above becoming a more simple circuit, small volume, convenient installation.

WS2812 Advantage

  1. Integrating control circuit and RGB chip
  2. Built-in signal reshaping circuit
  3. Built-in electric reset circuit and power lost reset circuit
  4. 256 brightness and 16777216 color display
  5. Cascading port transmission signal

The WS2812B is no doubt an immensely popular LED Strip and a beloved mainstay of every maker’s blinky projects, given its low driving voltage, high brightness and good color consistency among many advantages. An improved version of the WS2812, the WS2812B is an intelligent control LED light source, with the control circuit and RGB chip integrated directly into a 5050 RGB LED. As a digital LED strip, each addressable LED has an integrated driver that allows the brightness and color of each LED to be controlled individually, that is, an LED can be a different color to the one next to it. Thus, it enables us to create beautiful and complex lighting effects.

How many kinds of ws2812b colored strips are already available in our bazaar.

 WS2812 can make more LEDs available in a single meter LED strip, it is 30leds available, 60leds 144leds per meter powered strip. On-demand, we can also modify 74 LEDs per meter or other quantities. WS2812b has only 4legs, but an alternative parameter is possible. 

PN Working current Working temperature Package LED number Viewing angle Lifespan Working voltage
S010030-WS2812BRGB 1.8A/meter -40℃~60℃ 5meter/roll 30pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V
S010060-WS2812BRGB 3.6A/meter -40℃~60℃ 5meter/roll 60pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V
S010074-WS2812BRGB 4.44A/meter -40℃~60℃ 5meter/roll 74pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V
S012144-WS2812BRGB 8.64A/meter -40℃~60℃ 2meter/roll 144pcs/meter 140 50000h DC 5V

led grow light strips

How to connect control ws2812b led strip 

WS2812B LEDs have an IC built into the LED, which enables communication via a one-wire interface. This means that many LEDs can be controlled using one pin on your controller. The LED strips have 3 pins: the power pin (+5V), the ground pin (GND), and the data pin (Din and Dout). The power and ground pins are used to apply power to your strip, while the data pin should be connected to the controller.

programmable led strip

For a strip requiring a power of 5V, there should be no problem controlling it via the 5V output on an Arduino. But if you decide to control your LED strip using a Raspberry Pi or ESP8266 that sends signals at 3.3V, you should convert the 3.3V data signal to a 5V signal using a logic level converter module.

How to choose power supply for WS2812b smart led strip

Both LEDs draw about 60mA at maximum brightness, so power supplies used for WS2812B set-ups are interchangeable. As always, depending on the number of LEDs on the strip or strips you are using, the power required will vary. It is important to select a power source that matches the strips’ requirements in order to keep your strip at an appropriate brightness. Since each LED draws about the same amount of current of 60mA at max brightness.

USB Adapter

  • A single strip with 30 LEDs, you would need a 30 x 0.06 = 1.8A rated power supply at maximum brightness. 
  • A single strip with 60 LEDs, you would need a 60 x 0.06 = 3.6A rated power supply at maximum brightness. 
  • A single strip with 74 LEDs, you would need a 74 x 0.06 = 4.44A rated power supply at maximum brightness. 
  • A single strip with 144 LEDs, you would need a 144 x 0.06 = 8.64A rated power supply at maximum brightness. 

If you are running on a USB 2.0 port that provides 0.9A, you can safely power strips of 0.9/0.06 = 15 LEDs.

Power supply, each led is 0.3w.

  • WS2813 RGB LED Strip Waterproof – 30 LED/m – 5m with 60W power supply
  • WS2813 RGB LED Strip Waterproof – 60 LED/m – 5m with 100W power supply
  • WS2813 RGB LED Strip Waterproof – 74 LED/m – 5m with 150W power supply
  • WS2813 RGB LED Strip Waterproof – 144 LED/m – 5m with 270W power supply