NEW PRODUCT – Digital RGB LED Pixels (Strand of 20)

20Mmledpixel Lrg

NEW PRODUCT – Digital RGB LED Pixels (Strand of 20)! RGB Pixels are digitally-controllable lights you can set to any color, or animate. Each RGB LED and controller chip is molded into a ‘dot’ of silicone. The dots are waterproof and rugged. There are four flanges molded in so that you can ‘push’ them into a 20mm drill hole in any material up to 2mm/0.08″ thick. They’re typically used to make outdoor signs.

The pixels are connected by a 4-conductor cable. Red is +5V, Blue is Ground, Yellow is Data and Green is Clock. Data is shifted down from one pixel to the next so that you can easily cut the strand or attach more onto the end.

20Mmledpixeltop Lrg

Each dot is digitally controlled, with an internal 5-bit PWM LED driver (15-bit color for 32,768 different shades). The pixels must be clocked by a microcontroller, we have an example code linked below that works on an Arduino, it should be simple to adapt it to any other microcontroller.

The pixels use 5050 surface mount RGB LEDs, with brightness of about 500 mcd per individual r/g/b LED. If you need something much brighter, check out the Shiftbrites, they use a piranha-style LED that is 5000 mcd+

  • 20mm diameter (0.75″) 16.5mm deep (0.65″)
  • 64mm / 2.5″ apart on the strand
  • 20 pieces per strand
  • 15 bit color
  • 5V power, 60mA maximum per pixel (LED on full white)
  • 2-pin SPI protocol
  • LPD6803 Datasheet for the chip inside each pixel

Sold by the strand, each strand has 20 pixels in series! You can solder multiple strands in a row, as many as you wish. You can drive these with an Arduino using any two digital pins, check this library which also has example code to demonstrate the strands.

In stock and shipping now!


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



3 Comments

  1. Hi,

    “You can solder multiple strands in a row, as many as you wish.”
    You’ll need to look out for power consumption though!
    If the cable is 22AWG (*1), you’ll get max. 7A/60mA = 116 LEDs < 6 strands
    But, it also seems the power and ground are routed in one side and out the other of each LED, so watch out for the max. current through the board traces too! [Any specs on that?]

    It might be a good idea to suggest resupplying power and ground every N strands (serializing data will be fine as long as the grounds are tied together though)

    Cheers,
    Jonathan
    (*1: http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm)

  2. How far apart can these pixels be placed from each other without modifying the wiring?

  3. probably a couple of feet. total length we would suggest keeping under 100 ft.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.