What could be better than smart RGB LEDs? It's smart RGB+White LEDs! These NeoPixels are equipped with 4 LEDs (red, green, blue, and white) for amazing lighting effects. Create your own smart RGBW LED setup using the same integrated LED driver as our NeoPixel LED strips. This version features RGB plus warm white LEDs in a white casing. It comes in a pack of 10 individual LEDs that you can solder into any design you fancy. We offer a wide variety of NeoPixel LEDs for you to choose from. The NeoPixel is unique, with one half being the familiar RGB and the other half a white LED with a yellow phosphor. When unlit, it looks like an egg yolk. When lit, it's extremely bright - so bright it might hurt your eyes! You can control each channel with 8 - bit PWM (8 x 4 channels = 32 - bit color overall), making it perfect for adding colorful and warm white dots to your project. These 5050 (5mm x 5mm) SMD LEDs are easy to solder and are the most compact way to integrate multiple bright LEDs into a design. If you're prototyping, we recommend our 5050 - size LED breakout PCBs for a breadboard - friendly package. NeoPixel LEDs use an 800 KHz protocol, so specific timing is needed. Their PWM rate is 400 Hz, which works well but is noticeable if the LED is moving. In contrast, DotStars have a 20 KHz PWM rate, providing smooth blending even when the LED is in motion (we recommend DotStars if possible). Each NeoPixel is a 5050 - sized LED with an embedded microcontroller inside. You can set the brightness of each R/G/B/W. Each LED acts like a shift register, reading incoming data and shifting out previous data. You can control an unlimited number of LEDs by sending a long data string. The PWM is built - in, so once you set the brightness, the LEDs will keep working without further input. We have a tutorial on wiring, power usage calculations, and example code for NeoPixel. Check it out! Note that you'll need a NeoPixel library with RGBW support, which isn't always available. Using a plain 'RGB' library will give strange results. Our Adafruit NeoPixel library supports RGBW, but other libraries might need some adjustment. Also, the blue LED is close to the white phosphor, so blue light will have a white mix.
Using these NeoPixel RGBW LEDs is a breeze. First, if you're prototyping, solder the LEDs onto our 5050 - size LED breakout PCBs for easy use with a breadboard. If you're creating your own design, solder the individual LEDs into place as you like. When it comes to controlling them, make sure you have a NeoPixel library with RGBW support. Our Adafruit NeoPixel library is a great choice, but if you use another one, you might need to make some adjustments. You can set the brightness of each red, green, blue, and white LED separately. Each LED reads and passes on data, so you can control as many LEDs as you want by sending a long data string. For power and wiring, refer to our tutorial for calculations and examples. As for maintenance, these LEDs are pretty low - maintenance. Just keep them clean and avoid physical damage. Remember, the blue light has a bit of white in it due to the proximity of the blue LED to the white phosphor. Also, because they use an 800 KHz protocol, specific timing is required. And be aware that the PWM rate of 400 Hz might be noticeable if the LED is moving. If that's a concern, you might want to consider using DotStars instead.
