Pixel Smart LED Controllers for Ad Signs, Stage Equipment and more

Light-up signs, decorations, and equipment are among the most obvious ways to attract audience attention to your product or service, be you a stage artist, DJ, club owner, or any other business. While simple neon signs are classics, most customers are looking for more sophisticated solutions such as panels, signs, and other products with Pixel Smart LEDs.

And as soon as you have an idea for the final product in your head, it’s time to think about how it will be implemented. Since this is not just a retro sign with bulbs, you cannot just plug the cord into the mains. You will want to use all the possibilities of Smart Pixel LEDs, such as switching of light effects, sound activation, synchronization with other light-up equipment, and, of course, different Pixel LED control options, depending on the situation and the type of the

Pixel Smart LED Controllers compared + prices

	NODE MCU	ESP-01	ESP-12E	ESP-12E mini	ESP-32	Teensy 3.2	Teensy 3.6
FPS	30	25	30	30	25	25	12
Number of lines	7	1/2	4	6	16	8	8
Max. amount of LEDs that can be controlled per line	1500	1000	1200	1200	1200	450	1360
Max. amount of LEDs that can be controlled	4760, more with decline FPS 680/date	1300	2720, more with decline FPS 680/date	4080, more with decline FPS 680/date	16000, more with decline FPS 1000/date	4500	10850
Interconnection	radio, DMX, music activation, Artnet 2,4 GHz, stand-alone	Wi-Fi	radio, DMX, music activation, Artnet 2,4 GHz, Wi-Fi, stand-alone	music activation, Artnet 2,4 GHz, Wi-Fi, stand-alone	radio, DMX, music activation, Artnet 2,4 GHz, Wi-Fi, stand-alone	radio, DMX, music activation, stand-alone	radio, DMX, music activation, stand-alone
Price	$70	$30	$70	$70	$100	$80	$150

Transmitters compared + prices

20 buttons transmitter	2 buttons transmitter	DMX transmitter	USB transmitter
each button switches a number of effects; Power by USB	number of effects plus or minus; Power by USB SD card; for a restricted number of effects	Convert DMX value channel to RF signal number of effect; SD card for the set channel number	Convert show list from PC to RF signal number of effect; SD card for the set channel number
$130	$70	$100	$70

In 4+ years, ETERESHOP has gone from a simple need for Pixel LED controllers for rudimentary control of effects on our products to advanced features such as sound activation, synchronization with the stage, music, and other costumes.

Although our main specialization are LED costumes, accessories, and photo zones, our Pixel LED controllers can be used for various products, namely ad stands, and signs, DJ booths, and stage equipment as well as luminous installations and decor of different complexity levels.

We do not stop there and continue to work on expanding the capabilities of the controllers and improving their work. Our clients and their requests are constantly pushing us to search for new solutions. That is why we are always open to any suggestions and ideas.

2017: first Smart Pixel products and the demand for controllers

We’ve started the active introduction of SMART Pixel LED costumes and accessories into our range of products, as they allow our clients to create the most vivid and memorable shows and are in demand all over the world. As a result, it became necessary to find Pixel LED controllers to be used for such products.

This year, for the first time, we began to carry out the first developments and experiments in this direction and wrote the first firmware.

Pixel Smart LEDs on an Ad Sign — Smart Light-up Ad Sign

Ad Sign with Smart Pixel Lights — Rainbow Light-up Sign with 50 LEDs

NODE MCU

· Math effects only

· Light effects with text change over Wi-Fi

· Maximum 20 effects

ESP-01

· Art-Net client, no settings customization available

· up to 4 universes (680 LEDs)

· 1-2 data pin

TEENSY 3.2

· Math effects are recorded via EEPROM.

· Change of effects via SERIAL or via an uploaded file on an SD card.

· Up to 10 light effects.

· Effects are recorded from the card using Wireshark and the console packet parser.

· Real-time Artnet control via LAN WIZ820 and additional routers.

2018: expanding functionalities of controllers

SMART products gained popularity and there was a growing need to expand the functionality of controllers.

In 2018 we increased the number of processed diodes by one controller (up to 1000 LEDs), recorded the effects on the SD card, and made direct reading from it, which made it possible to reproduce the effects without loss in quality. The choice of controllers for different needs has expanded as well.

Smart LED 3D Letters for Ads Design — RGB Pixel LED Channel Letters

Smart LED 3D Letters — RGB Pixel LED Channel Letters

NODE MCU

- 4 lines of LEDs.
- Up to 1000 LEDs per controller.
- SD card reading available.
- Testing radio synchronization, but it doesn’t always work correctly.
- Each controller has its own firmware and is set up personally, which is time-consuming.

Soldering NODE MCU controllers on wires in 2018

TEENSY 3.2

DMX -> RF converter, i.e. transmission of values from DMX data channels via radio. The radio transmitter on Smart pixel decorations/ costumes/ ad signs reads this value and turns on the appropriate light effect. (Supply voltage: 3.3 – 5 V; current consumption during data transmission: 100 mA; frequency range: 433.4 – 473 MHz; transmitter power: up to +20 dBm; receiver sensitivity: up to -117 dBm)
8 lines of LEDs with up to 450 diodes per line.
Up to 3600 diodes per controller.
SD card reading.
LAN Artnet real-time control over up to 1000 LEDs.
Testing radio synchronization, but doesn’t always work correctly.

TEENSY 3.6

DMX -> RF converter, i.e. transmission of values from DMX data channels to Smart Pixel LED equipment via radio to turn on the necessary light effect. (Supply voltage: 3.3 – 5 V; current consumption during data transmission: 100 mA; frequency range: 433.4 – 473 MHz; transmitter power: up to +20 dBm; receiver sensitivity: up to -117 dBm)
8 lines of LEDs with up to 1365 diodes per line.
Up to 10920 diodes per controller.
SD card reading.
LAN Artnet real-time control over up to 1000 LEDs.
Testing radio synchronization, but doesn’t always work correctly.

Teensy 3.6 (2018) first test — Controlling effects over 10k+ LEDs

ESP-01

· One diode output + button / two diode outputs.

· Maximum 680 diodes per controller.

· Client/ server system for controllers synchronization via Wi-Fi.

2019: improving reliability and quality

Controllers remained one of the weakest parts of all products. They broke down quite often, as they were soldered by hinged mounting. After expanding the capabilities of the controllers, our team has faced the task of improving the quality of their work and their reliability.

In 2019, the first versions of printed circuit boards were developed and after that, there were much fewer problems with controllers. Since then, all printed circuit boards are manufactured on industrial equipment and have high accuracy and reliability.

It took us too long to personalize the firmware of each controller, so we decided to start a big new project to solve this problem. This project was supposed to include the ability to configure the controller without programming skills. Our clients could from that moment modify the data after receiving the controllers. As part of this project, we wrote a large number of our own libraries, which allowed us to increase the performance of controllers by 8 times.

In 2019, we’ve brought the synchronization between controllers to a good level. This allowed our customers to plan much more complex shows involving multiple LED and Smart Pixel products in sync.

Smart Pixel Lights Large Display Installation — Large Smart Pixel Screens

Ad Display with Pixel Smart LEDs — Soft LED Screen for Adverising