Move over NeoPixels, there's a new LED strip in town! These fancy new DotStar LED strips are a great upgrade for people who have loved and used NeoPixel strips for a few years but want something even better. DotStar LEDs use generic 2-wire SPI, so you can push data much faster than with the NeoPixel 800 KHz protocol and there's no specific timing required. They also have much higher PWM refresh rates, so  you can do Persistence-of-Vision (POV) and have less flickering, particularly at low brightness levels.

Make your own smart Cool White LED arrangement with the same integrated LED driver that is used in our DotStar or NeoPixel LED strips.  Unlit, the color resembles a yellow Starburst. Lit up these are insanely bright (like ow my eye hurts) and can be controlled with 24 bit high-frequency PWM. The phosphor helps diffuse the 3 white dies inside together for a very bright but consistant light, compared to what you get by trying to mix RGB to make white (which never quite looks right)

However, unlike NeoPixels, these LEDs have 2 wires (input and output) for sending data - one clock pin and one data pin. That means you need two pins, not one, to control DotStars. Because the clock and data is separated, you can use any processor speed or type to control these strips, and you don't have to worry about being careful with the timing. Hardware SPI support is handy but not required. This makes them excellent for use with any microcontroller or microprocessor, including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Propeller, SparkCore, and any 'raw' microcontrollers/microprocessors. It's very easy to port the library, and you can send data to the pixels at up to 32MHz clock rate!

NeoPixel LEDs use 800 KHz protocol so specific timing is required. On NeoPixels, the PWM rate is 400 Hz, which works well but is noticeable if the LED is moving. In comparison, DotStars have a 20 KHz PWM rate, so even when moving the LED around, you won't see the pixelation, the blending is very smooth. (we recommend DotStars if you can use them!)

This is the 30 LED-per-meter version of our DotStar strips, on white flex PCB. We also have this in Warm White and RGB full color.

The strip is made of flexible PCB material, and comes with a weatherproof sheathing. You can cut this stuff pretty easily with wire cutters, there are cut-lines every 1 LED. Solder to the 0.1" copper pads and you're good to go. Of course, you can also connect strips together to make them longer, just watch how much current you need! We have a 5V 4A power supply that can drive a half meter or meter, a 5V/10A supply that can drive a couple meters (depending on use) You must use a 5V DC power supply to power these strips, do not use higher than 6V or you can destroy the entire strip

These strips come in 5 meter reels with a 4-pin JST SM connector on each end. These strips are sold by the meter! If you buy 5 meters at a time, you'll get full reels with two connectors. If you buy less than 5m, you'll get a single strip, but it will be a cut piece from a reel which may or may not have a connector on it. If the piece comes from the end of the reel, the connector may be on the output end of the strip!

To wire up these strips we suggest picking up some JST SM plug and receptacle cables for the signal wires  For the power wires, you will also probably want a 2.1mm DC jack to wire in so you can connect one of our 5V wall adapters to power it.

We have a tutorial showing wiring, power usage calculations, example code for usage, etc. Please check it out!

Move over NeoPixels, there's a new LED strip in town! These fancy new DotStar LED strips are a great upgrade for people who have loved and used NeoPixel strips for a few years but want something even better. DotStar LEDs use generic 2-wire SPI, so you can push data much faster than with the NeoPixel 800 KHz protocol and there's no specific timing required. They also have much higher PWM refresh rates, so  you can do Persistence-of-Vision (POV) and have less flickering, particularly at low brightness levels.

Make your own smart Cool White LED arrangement with the same integrated LED driver that is used in our DotStar or NeoPixel LED strips.  Unlit, the color resembles a yellow Starburst. Lit up these are insanely bright (like ow my eye hurts) and can be controlled with 24 bit high-frequency PWM. The phosphor helps diffuse the 3 white dies inside together for a very bright but consistant light, compared to what you get by trying to mix RGB to make white (which never quite looks right)

However, unlike NeoPixels, these LEDs have 2 wires (input and output) for sending data - one clock pin and one data pin. That means you need two pins, not one, to control DotStars. Because the clock and data is separated, you can use any processor speed or type to control these strips, and you don't have to worry about being careful with the timing. Hardware SPI support is handy but not required. This makes them excellent for use with any microcontroller or microprocessor, including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Propeller, SparkCore, and any 'raw' microcontrollers/microprocessors. It's very easy to port the library, and you can send data to the pixels at up to 32MHz clock rate!

NeoPixel LEDs use 800 KHz protocol so specific timing is required. On NeoPixels, the PWM rate is 400 Hz, which works well but is noticeable if the LED is moving. In comparison, DotStars have a 20 KHz PWM rate, so even when moving the LED around, you won't see the pixelation, the blending is very smooth. (we recommend DotStars if you can use them!)

This is the 60 LED-per-meter version of our DotStar strips, on white flex PCB. We also have this in Warm White and RGB full color.

The strip is made of flexible PCB material, and comes with a weatherproof sheathing. You can cut this stuff pretty easily with wire cutters, there are cut-lines every 1 LED. Solder to the 0.1" copper pads and you're good to go. Of course, you can also connect strips together to make them longer, just watch how much current you need! We have a 5V 4A power supply that can drive a half meter or meter, a 5V/10A supply that can drive a couple meters (depending on use) You must use a 5V DC power supply to power these strips, do not use higher than 6V or you can destroy the entire strip

These strips come in 4 meter reels with a 4-pin JST SM connector on each end. These strips are sold by the meter! If you buy 4 meters at a time, you'll get full reels with two connectors. If you buy less than 4m, you'll get a single strip, but it will be a cut piece from a reel which may or may not have a connector on it. If the piece comes from the end of the reel, the connector may be on the output end of the strip!

To wire up these strips we suggest picking up some JST SM plug and receptacle cables for the signal wires  For the power wires, you will also probably want a 2.1mm DC jack to wire in so you can connect one of our 5V wall adapters to power it.

We have a tutorial showing wiring, power usage calculations, example code for usage, etc. Please check it out!

These LED strips are ultra bright, fun and glowy. There are 60 cool white LEDs per meter, and you can control the entire strip at once with any microcontroller and a power transistor. The way they are wired, you will need a 9-12VDC power supply and connect directly. If you want to dim the strip, use any NPN or N-channel MOSFET (although the big powerful kind is good for a large strip) and PWM the input.We splurged and got the weatherproof kind with white background color. There's a 3M adhesive strip on the back which should stick to most smooth surfaces. Great for architectural lighting (under-counter or under-cabinet), decorating your bicycle or car, making lamps, etc. You'll need a lot of power to light these up, we suggest our 12V 5A supply. To connect it to a power supply, pick up a 2.1mm female jack and wire it to the strip with some heat shrink. For portable use, we suggest a 8xAA battery holderPlease Note: these strips are weatherproof so they'll be more rugged than uncoated strips, but they not designed for long term submersion in water, especially chlorinated water, or exposed to UV (eg sunlight) for extended periods of time. They are for indoor use or light outdoor use without direct sun/water. That means you cannot put them into a pool, lake, aquarium, etc. The silk-screening and LED brightness of the strips may vary slightly from reel to reel. Once the adhesive backing has been removed, the strips are not returnable!You can cut this stuff pretty easily with wire cutters, there are cut-lines every 5cm (3 LEDs each), and trim off the weatherproof cover with a hobby knife. Solder to the 0.1" copper pads and you're good to go.They come in 5 meter reels and are sold by the meter! If you buy 5m at a time, you'll get full reels. If you buy less than 5m, you'll get a single strip, but it will be a cut piece from a reel which may or may not have a connector on it. If the piece comes from the end of the reel, the connector may be on the output end of the strip!We don't have a tutorial specifically for the white LED strips but they're basically identical to the RGB LED strips we carry, except that instead of 3 different colored LEDs there is only cool white so we suggest our tutorial on thoseWhen purchasing a full reel, there will be two wires on either side you can connect directly to 12V. Be sure to try both 'directions' as the wire colors do not necessarily indicate which wire is the ground wire. It will not damage the strip if you connect it backwards so if it isn't lighting, try the other way! When purchasing a smaller piece, if you have 4 pads labeled RGB connect the RGB pads together and tie those to ground and connect the 12V+ pad to 12VDC