LEDSTRIPS

People often ask me how we get the color effects in the shows I design, and I realized there is not a lot of information out there about LEDs. The world of LEDs in set practicals is exploding and advancing every day, so to catalogue for myself, my crews, and all those who ask for help, I have put together this guide.

Analog LED Strips

Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? While we think of LED lighting as digital lighting, the basic and currently (as of 2018) most popular type of LED strip is an analog version, where as there are 4 connectors (One for each red, blue, green and DC negative) and you dim the voltage of each color to get different colors of light. This means for a basic setup in a lighting system you need 3 parts: An LED Strip (light output), a DMX Decoder (to change from DMX to analog), and a power supply (to power the decoder and the LEDs). Let's start from the beginning:

RGB LED Strips

There are several factors to think about, but once I typically pick for a theater, I tend to only get things within that system so you can grow and reuse inventory. Some people think of LED strips as expendable, especially once you cut it for custom projects, but I generally find you can reuse the LED strips depending on your soldering skills (more on that later).

Here are the major factors to consider: Which LED Chip to use? Amount of LEDs? Voltage?

LED Chips

I make sure to use strips with the SMD5050 RGB Chip so that the color is mixed on each chip. Today (circa January 2018) this is relatively inexpensive. There are other major types, but others typically have individual red, green, and blue LEDs on the strip and thus don't color mix well for theatre (unless you're going for that effect). I only recommend the SMD5050 but if you're looking for the other type, look up SMD3528.

Amount of LEDs | Length

The amount of LEDs per strip will determine how much power and control you will need. The standard is 300 LEDs per 5 meters (16.4 feet) roll which turns into an LED ~ every 5/8". For light-boxes (heavy diffusion between the source audience) and cove-lighting (pointing at a wall and hiding the source from the audience) this is generally plenty bright. If you are doing diffused tubes/strips (LED points directly at the audience with light/medium diffusion) it can be a little bright, but depending on your diffusion you may need this many to keep from having dark spots. If you are doing direct-view (pointing the LED unexposed directly at the audience) this may be way too many LEDs per inch.

Voltage

The voltage of your LEDs determines all of the other equipment you need to purchase. The major options are 12v or 24v, although there are some 5v too. Your decision here depends on your needs. Remember: higher voltage = lower amps. If you are doing a lot of long runs and do not want to use as many power supplies, then 24v might be where you want to go, however, if you are doing any wireless with RC4 or City Theatrical's Show Baby, then 12v may be your direction. Larger 12v Batteries are easier to come by locally from car part stores to any where that sells electronics.

Recommendations

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DMX Encoders

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Power Supply

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AC/DC

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Batteries

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More information coming soon...