Watch this before buying LEDs

See how we use LEDs in our projects!
krplus.net/bidio/ca-jq5ieZqi5aGE

I’m not mad. But sometimes I wish someone would just say “this is the best one to get this “

Something to note about the whiteness of LEDs. The reason why dedicated white LEDs make a better white than RGB LEDs is because LEDs by default emit a very narrow range of wavelengths of light, so a red LED emits a very pure red, blue LED emits very pure blue, and green LED emits a very pure green. This can trick your eyes because the photoreceptors in your eyes mainly come in three types that respond most strongly to those three colors and your brain translates the colors by how much each different type of photoreceptor is responding to it. But when it comes to bouncing light off of items (which is how we see those items) a material that bounces purple light is not necessarily going to bounce red and blue light terribly well, so if illuminated under an RGB imitation of white light, that purple item will appear a lot closer to black than it actually is. White LEDs get around this by using a coating (I believe of phosphorus) that absorbs the energy of the very narrow band light of the LED and re-emits it as full-spectrum white light. So if you want to use your LEDs to illuminate something without ruining the apparent colors of any non red, green, or blue items in that area, you need dedicated white LEDs. If you want to do that while also having the option to add color to the light, you need RGBW

I was just looking for some LED strips for a project I'm going to be doing and this video was exactly in time! I've learned quite alot from my own research on LED Strips and its amazing that this video compiles them all for a quick and convenient reference whenever needed. Although I've to say, this video also covered some of the things that I didn't know and also cleared out some of the doubts I had.

This is so good-thank you! I haven’t done any LED projects because I’ve been paralyzed by all the options. This is so helpful ❤

I’ve been lobbying with these for a few years and I’ve watched a lot of videos. This is the best beginner video I have seen. Good work.

Thank you for this rundown. Shopping for LEDs is confusing if you don't know what you're looking at. Your information here is extremely helpful. Thanks for sharing!

For tip #7, a bigger supply at the start really isn't going to help you much if the color is shifting from the start to the end of the strip. Especially with cheaper strips, the resistance in the strip itself starts to dominate and no amount of extra power supply current can help you with that. Power injection or migrating to a higher voltage are the only way out of that pitfall.

Brilliant video. Direct information. All substance that flows logically without gaps. Thank you for making the best reference video I've seen on this subject on KRplus. Cheers and thank you.

Love it, thank you for sharing with us all! I've got several projects where I want to incorporate LEDs, but have been extremely hesitant about getting into them because I don't feel like I know enough about it to do it well, and they're expensive enough that I don't want to have to "waste" some on starter projects. This helps a lot!

The issue with the silicone coating, is they tend to Yellow and grow cloudy over a few years, ruining the color accuracy and overall brightness. All soft silicones are prone to oxidation after being cured.
If you KNOW your strip is going to stay dry, it might be better for longevity to get the IP 30 ones.

This video could not have come at a better time. Currently installing some LED's into a pedestal. Very helpful Brad!

Very helpful video. Covered a lot of questions I had in one spot including estimating the number of LEDs powered by the various voltages, making a bit more sense of the soup of LED types and numbers, and hints at a few things including controllers, the little fiddly connector bits, power injection, and even gave me an idea for some picture lighting! I'm running a 65 foot total length from a single point and think I can do with 24v 30 lights per meter easily....feeding the two ends of the loop. Also I think your diffused tracks gave me an idea to add a tap off the main to some custom picture lights I can fabricate out of oak. Gonna go basic controller for now, but maybe I'll fiddle with a Pi and program later.

I really like the way you organized your links. It made it easy for me to find all of the components for the "easy white LEDs."

This is so helpful and well explained! Thanks for the info! I'm looking into making my own led strip

For the sticky tapes to mount the LEDs, I have been using VHB(Very High Bond) tapes for all my LED projects. Specifically from 3M. I have tried both the clear version and the black one, both works wonders. I have LED in the back of my truck and mounted LEDs to the roof of my canopy for 2 years now, it only fell saggy once over the whole 5m length, and it was 44 degrees in the dead of summer, so ill cut it some slack.
If you find the sticky tape that comes with the LED underwhelming, give VHB a shot. Just remember to peel off the existing sticky tape first, because often times the VHB will firmly grab on to the original sticky tape, but the original sticky tape fails to grab onto the LED.

Thank you for shedding light on led's. Cheers!❤

Best LED Video ever. Thank you SO MUCH.

His smile at 19:18 is the exact reason I watch his videos. His nerdiness and enthusiasm is golden!

Thanks, I've watched sooo many videos on RBG lighting and they normally skip a critical bit of detail in power and this is the first that covered it. So great video, now I can stop buying the premade ones.

Thank you so much for making this video. I'm interested in buying my first ever LED wall strips for my room and this video definitely helped me make a better informed choice

Great job Brad, that was just the introduction I needed! Time to pimp out a new set of your modular drawers in the shop

Thank you for sharing this. Very informative!

Thank you for creating one of the best LED explanation videos I've ever seen.

That was SUPER HELPFUL and just in time too because I'm currently working on a project involving LED's! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

My advice would be, fit them to cooling surfaces like Aluminium strips, use the dimmer switch to dim it by 10% and it will repay you by lasting years longer, keeping them cool is key. If you are running from a 12 volt offgrid supply, try dropping the supply voltage to 10 volts and under run them.

Well presented info. I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the silicone encased "neon" style strips. I know they're basically no different than the IP67 strip you showed except that they also diffuse the light and come in many different profiles including full round "rope" style.

Be careful when using more than one power supply when powering the same strip. The positive of one supply should never have a path to the positive on another supply. Keep a common ground and data line though the strip but have the positive be separated. For example, if using two power supplies, one at the beginning and one at the end, half way though the strip you can cut out one of the positive copper pads at a cut point. Much more information and good examples available when you google multiple power supply power injection as well. Be safe.

This was such a helpful video! I've worked with LEDs on a couple projects now and it never occurred to me that diffuser panels could be a thing lmao.. Thanks!!

thanks I am just starting a project and your information was invaluable.😊😊

I know fairly all those features will little bit of cloud. Watching this just make it clear. Thnx a lot.

You surely shed a lot of light on this! 😜
I already made some projects with led strips, but I learned some new things here. Great video, thanks!

I love this video!! I want to build my own LED light strip in my closet using contact sensors and eventually create a real time bus arrival dashboard using LED strips. At least with your video, I got over my fear of wasting money on LED strips. I have a better idea of what to do. Very thorough! I’ll be recommending your video to anyone who’s thinking about starting led project.

My preference for LED lighting is something that can be connected through a 5volt or 12 volt connector on a computer motherboard. As for the animations, I have been trying to find a way to replicate the lighting in an ASUS ROG G20CB desktop so that the lighting will change color according to the music playing on it.

Brilliant video mate, full of useful information, this will certainly aid my project! Subscribed, keep up the good work 🤘🏻

4-5 yrs ago I got a dumb kit from China to light up my collectables on the bookcase I built for them. It had no instructions but came with the strips, connections (wires, plug-ins, etc) and I also put a switch on them (5 shelves worth). It was fun figuring out how to get them all to work together when I used the switch. I love electronics so much!
I've since got a few moducases for my more expensive collectables. Moducase is not cheap but they are well worth the money because if put together right there's absolutely no dust, dirt or (if you have a husky) dog fur in them.

This was the first really helpful vidéo I found on the subject! Thanks!

I have one hangup about your explanation of power requirements.... Using a larger power supply at only one end of the strip will NOT prevent the color problems at the other end. This is especially true with the 5V pixels (WS2811/12B, etc). The issue is not about the power supply not providing enough, it has to do with voltage drop over distance. The copper traces on the strip have a pretty small cross section (equivalent to ~24AWG), and 5V doesn't go very far through that regardless of how large the power supply is. You have to inject power at roughly 3m intervals (or with a 5m strip simply inject at both ends). You don't even necessarily need multiple power supplies, you can just connect the single supply to both ends. Using a higher voltage strip means you only need power injection every 10 meters or so, but the same principles apply.

Nice! Complete basic knowledge and a brief and readable form.

Absolutely the best LED info video to date. Thank you

Thank you for sharing so much knowledge. I appreciate it.

Thank you, great info! I love all your videos but especially this kind. Since summer is here, it's hard to make myself go into my shop, so this is good inspiration for how I can be productive.

For the controller, i always use the esp 32 (or esp8266) With the WLED program. It has a lot of effects and features

You have no idea how helpful this video is your a hero IMO thank you for the video it was so helpful and answered question I had no idea how to ask

Great video,well explained and much needed. Cheers

I love this video, thank you for posting this. Could you possibly make an add-on or sequel video to this describing building a kit for a bicycle? As far as how many lights per strip and power supplies you’d recommend? If that isn’t really something you do, I totally get it

I’ve been wanting to add some LEDs to my desk. This was very helpful. Thanks!

This is so awesome! Thank you for being amazing and making such a good tutorial!

Thanks. This gave me some info on LED strips that I didn't know. I want some of the addressable LED strips and this will help me decide which ones to get.

Those less dense strips might be cool with a fixture of some kind. Maybe smooth stainless steel or other metal/ shiny material with holes for leds.
No need to be shiny, could be just be embedded in to any surface that would look cool with few leds.
Just an idea.

This has been the best explainer on LEDs I've seen, hands-down! Thanks Brad!

One of the most informative and easy-to-follow videos I've watched!

This was the video I was looking for! Thank you Brad!

Literally the exact video I needed. Thanks!

You’re video is answering so many of my questions!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

You should see the power supplies and heat management strategies used in architectural LED lighting! I'm currently sitting at just a hair over 100' of 24V, 240LED/m dual-row strip lighting across 7 10A power supplies, and I expect about triple that amount by the time I'm done with renovations.
24V setups have a lot of advantages in larger installations, chief amongst which is that the power supplies can be "tuned" downward a bit in their output voltage, allowing both the power supplies and the LEDs to run significantly cooler. Heat management becomes a really big issue when you're talking about 120w per 5m span; even 2" width of 1/8" aluminum in flat-stock or u-channel variants can be too little if you don't have a lot of breathing room!

I wish this guide existed when I did my DIY LED ceiling panel. It would have been way easier to pick my components

I've been thinking about using LED in my subwoofer boxes. Thanks for the tutorial!

Fantastic info, Brad! Thanks a bunch!!! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

I was literally going to make a video just like this.
im glad that you did all the effort for me :) Thanks bud !

Great video, really sums it up! I got some LED devices connected to my PC but I'm new to LED strips and now I got a table that has a strip which sucks big time so I need to replace it. This video told me everything I needed to know to figure out what to purchase, however I'm still unsure about the power and control part but I assume some more reading will do the trick.

Perfect informations. Solved 90% of my doubts.

Awesome work Brad, thanks for the info! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

The absolute BEST video I’ve been able to understand about LEDs! Others just say “Watch out for how many LEDs per meter” without showing what that looks like or “This is a single LED and this is a strip” without really showing application. Fantastic vid, I finally understand something and thanks SO, so much for showing how each strip number looks under a diffuser. 🥹

Truly great content. You really dive deep and have such quality info, plus I love the moments of hilarity. Thanks for doing what you do.

You can even mix 12v and 24v strips using a single controller by adding a led amplifier at the end of the 12v strip and powering the amplifier with a 24v power supply. Setup goes as follows, 12v power supply-controller-12v led strip-led amplifier with 24v supply-24v led strip. Total length of system is roughly 86ft.
2x 16ft 12v led strip
2x 32ft 24v led strip.
And works even better if 12v side is a loop and 24v side is a loop by connecting beginning and end of the led strip together. I was ocd about the system being insync

Ive been talking about doing a project involving leds for a couple weeks. I havent gone into the research process yet. So this saves me time, and yet it is quite weird it was suggested to me. Either way, thanks for the bideo it definitely helps

OMG!!!! Thank you Sooooo much for taking the time and making this video Bless Ya Brotha

Thank you! That was REALLY helpful!

Hello i am very impressed of your projects and i love how leds can change the vibe of room. I want to make my room looks crazy but it is little bit big that i have to use 16 meters of rgb strip so can you tell me what strip/power supply and controller i should i get?

Thank you this was fantastic ❤

Great introduction to LED strips. Thanks!

Very informative and explained well - thanks

Had to watch this video a couple of times to get all the great info, Thanks!

This might be one of your best videos ever. The information is laid out so well and it really covers everything. One remaining question I have is integration with. dIY controller such as this with smart home. I hate hue: but they are so good. However I can’t use hue for a project like your bookshelf. I also have Govee outside and some other random crappy bulbs. I use Homebridge to bridge them all into Apple HomeKit; but for a custom bookshelf or table, I still have to figure out which controller to use or if I should just go the Arduino route. (I am a programmer).

Watching this right after buying the rgbw strip you recommended and I'm feeling pretty good.

Fantastic introduction. Thank you!

Great vid - quite thorough! Thank you 💯

Great video! I'm saving this one for future projects

I was not expecting that jumpscare.

Great video man! I have a question, do the microcontrolers also allow to animate the lights like a DMX would do? or would you need a totally new controller for that?

Super informative, thnaks so much! You've clarified a lot of my questions about LED strip lighting as they are super useful, not just party lights. Any thoughts on motion detector add-ons? I use a kit with a MD for my stairs, so that they are illuminated if someone approaches in the dark (it also senses light level). I want to add one more MD at the bottom step, as there is only one at the top now. Would that cause a problem?

My interest is a white strip that fits around the lid and around the top interior of a Pelican 1615 AIR case with a DIY TrekPak and DIY Lid Organizer that can be remotely turned off or on preferably with a power supply that uses AA batteries. Your video gives me some good ideas. At least where to start. Thanks for sharing.

That was extremely useful and well spoken thank you

This is by far the best led informative video I have ever seen!

This was extremely helpful, Brad! Thanks!

The RGBW thing is similar to why printers use black ink for color printing. Full C+M+Y is supposed to be black, but it’s not quite the right color, so a dedicated K ink is added.

I use RGBW and that as a room light. I find it even brighter and better than a normal lamp and the one I have also has motion sensors

Just a thought, but you should do strips of analouge inputs, all connected with the protocol I2C.
Each chip would have its own input, and enough memory to store up to 256 values, eg 256 chips in a strip. The bottle neck of most analog projects is reading the values fast enough and the connections required. A strip would allow each chip to process and store the digital value of the analog input. You would then read these values into an array, as fast as the I2C allows.
As for why, the new Midi protocol allows for MPE, eg individual analog valves for at least 3 axis.
Strips of analog chips would have so many other uses and free the processing resources of the main controller.

Doing some lighting on our boat dock around the platform area and walkway - wondering if they would be suitable for that application. We are Lakefront and periodically when we have a storm the waves will splash up on that area that we want to put them.

This was a great video! Would you consider expanding further: For example 2 years ago and recently a resurgence on tiktok cloud ceiling led strip projects are picking up again: a lot of common questions are "is this a fire risk" "how many leds/meter" etc! Either way Thanks for making helpful and useful source videos!

Really Good Video. I love the detail and the explanations... Nice work. 😀

This was so helpful. Gonna make some drone race gates for a makerspace!

Great video as always. Details but easy to understand!

Great video for a complete amateur many thanks very helpful

Very surprised you didn't mention the Athom controllers, all the advantages of WLED but without needing to sort out your own microcontroller. These will also work at 5, 12 or 24v, you just need to make sure you use the right power supply for the strip.

I needed this intel. Thank you sir. 👍

The best LED video ever for a noob like me.
Thanks a lot!

This is crazy informative. I just assumed those kits were the only way to get strips and quality was a die role unless you bought those expensive Philips packs.

Such a comprehensive video..Excellent..