Best approach for long run of WS2815

Troubleshooting
1

Hello all, this is less a troubleshooting topic and more a how to approach question. I am doing my first larger ~1200 pixel ws2815 12v installation and would like some guidance on best approach.

From what I’ve gathered, the best way to deal with large pixel runs is to use an output expander. Split up the runs into maybe 4 outputs? My initial intention was to wire it all in series on a single PB data line, but Id like to keep a better refresh rate than I expect this would result in. I will be 3D mapping the entire install, if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance for the guidance!

2

The output expander’s performance diminishes after being split ~3 ways (as I recall it used 2Mbit serial vs 0.8Mbit for WS28xx) so 4-way split sounds good.

Somewhere there’s a spec on the max pixels per second that PB can output - 48kpps = 40fps @1.2k pixels (vs ~28fps max without expander) (someone should maybe double-check me on this)

You can also sync multiple pixelblazes, though that is a little trickier with mapping.

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