Everything you need to know about ledstrips
LED strip lights are new and versatile forms of lighting. Unlike regular LED strips, addressable LED strips allow you to control each individual LED, creating a wide range of color and animation possibilities. There are many variants and exceptions, but for the most part, they have the following characteristics:
- Consist of many individual LED emitters mounted on a narrow, flexible circuitboard.
- Each LED (or each group) on the strip has its own integrated circuit that communicates with the control circuit, allowing for precise control over the color and brightness of each LED.
- Operate on low-voltage DC power
- Are available in a wide range of fixed and variable color and brightness
- Bought in a long reel (typically 5 meters), can be cut to length, can include double-sided adhesive for mounting
- LEDstrips can be tints of 'white' , RGB(W), various colours controlled with an app/remote or even (individually) addressable & controlled by software.
How do I know if my LED strips are addressable?
1) Check whether there is IC or not. There are two kinds of IC, external IC, and internal IC. If has IC, then it is an addressable LED Strip Light.
2) Check the cable, if there are signal data cable, then it is addressable LED Strip Light.
Educate yourself before buying the wrong strip!
Of course there is much more to learn and know about LED strips check out these resources for in-depth info:
https://aidiwattlighting.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-addressable-led-strip/
everthing you need to know about the various kinds of ledstrips, controllers and drivers
https://www.waveformlighting.com/led-strip-lights
another great, comparable, source of info on led strips