Pixel lighting fundamentals
Pixel LED
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Understand the system. Specify with confidence. Clear explanations of pixels, control signals and specification terms for your next stage, facade or architectural lighting project.
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From a single pixel to a complete layout.
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Pixel LED basics
Start with what a pixel is and how light becomes a controlled image.
What Is an Addressable LED? Pixels and Control Explained
An addressable LED is a light source whose color or brightness can be controlled separately from other control units in the same installation. A driver IC receives digital values and drives one LED package or a group of LEDs. The independently controlled unit is commonly called a pixel. Addressable does not always mean that every visible LED has its own control value.
Read the explanation 4 min readWhat Is LED Pixel Mapping? Layout, Patch and Positions
LED pixel mapping assigns values from a software image, animation or effect to the physical positions of independently controlled lighting pixels. The map connects the logical canvas to the installation through a fixture patch and output-address allocation. It lets an effect follow the intended spatial layout, whether the LEDs form a line, a ceiling grid or a three-dimensional structure.
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Control & addressing
Understand the language between your software, controller and fixtures.
What Is a DMX Universe? Channels, Addresses and Pixels
A DMX universe is a group of up to 512 control-data slots, commonly called channels. Each ordinary 8-bit slot carries a value from 0 to 255. A fixture uses one or more slots according to its operating mode. A universe is a data-addressing unit, so “512 channels” does not mean 512 RGB pixels, 512 fixtures or 512 controller outputs.
Read the explanation 4 min readWhat Is an SPI LED Strip? Data, Drivers and Control
An SPI LED strip, in common lighting-market usage, is an addressable strip whose pixel drivers receive serial digital control data. The label covers several driver protocols, including clocked and clockless designs. It does not identify one interchangeable electrical interface. Specify the driver IC, its required signal and the compatible controller output to know what a particular strip actually accepts.
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Reading a specification
Make sense of density, cut units and the numbers on a project drawing.
LEDs per Metre vs Pixels per Metre on LED Strips
LEDs per metre counts the LED packages along a strip. Pixels per metre counts the independently controlled lighting units along that strip. The two numbers are equal only when each LED package is independently controlled. A driver can instead control several packages together, so a strip with 60 LEDs per metre might have 20 pixels per metre in a grouped design.
Read the explanation 4 min readAddressable LED Strip Cut Points and Pixel Groups
Addressable LED strip cut points are the manufacturer-designated positions where a particular strip may be divided under its documented conditions. The cut unit is the section between permitted cut positions. An addressable pixel is an independently controlled lighting unit. These describe different properties: a pixel boundary is not automatically an approved cut point, and an LED package is not automatically a complete pixel.
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