Don't eat this LED grid just because it's so colorful and just the right size! This is the smallest little LED grid we can make, with 1 full RGB color pixel in a square that is only 64 inches x 1 inch (compatible with metric enthusiasts, this is 24.4+ -mm x 24.4+ -mm). Best of all, these are tiny DotStar LEDs with built-in PWM drivers, so you only need two digital I/O pins to get the glow.
But don't be fooled by their small size, each LED is still incredible and dazzling in brightness, just like the DotStars/NeoPixels you know and love. These integrated LEDs are the same as those used in our stylish DotStar light strips, just very small. Arranged in an 8x8 matrix, each pixel is individually addressable: like NeoPixel, DotStar LEDs have an embedded microcontroller inside the LED. You can set the color/brightness of each LED to a 24-bit color (8 bits each compatible with red, green, and blue).
Each LED acts as a shift register, reading incoming color data on the input pin and then shifting out previous color data on the output pin. By sending a long string of data, you can control an unlimited number of LEDs. PWM is built into each LED chip, so once you set the color, you can stop communicating with the disk and it will continue to PWM all LEDs compatible with you.
Wiring is simple: there are two 3-pad connection ports on the back. Solder the wire to the input port (+5V GND DIN) and provide 5VDC compatible with the +5V and ground pins, then connect the DIN pins to the microcontroller. You must also establish a common ground from the 5V power supply to the microcontroller/XArduino. Since each LED can consume up to 40mA of current (up to 2.5 amps per panel if all LEDs are brightly white!)
If you plan to use full brightness and a lot of white, we recommend using a 5V 2A power supply. For most applications, you will see about 0.5A of current per panel, and you can adjust the brightness to lower that current. Note that the current passing through the plate is so large that it gets hot! These LEDs