With LED Strip Studio pixel controllers, you have several control options. You can use standards such as DMX 512, Art-Net, Stand-alone or Ethernet (software) mode. Also, you can count on 2 hardware buttons and DIP switch on the front panel of the LED controller to switch between animations on SD-Card in case you use them in stand-alone mode.
A great feature is our test mode, which allows you to play Red, Green, Blue, White dimming and Snake effect on all 4096 LEDs. It’s perfect to test if all your LED pixels are working correctly. You can run test with hardware buttons on your LED controller or with your web browser through Web configuration tool.
Apart from the function to switch between the effects stored on SD -card, two hardware buttons can also:
Top button – hold for 5s during the start and it will restart the device back into factory settings
Top button /Autoplay Mode only – hold for 5s and default animation plays
Down button/Autoplay Mode only – hold for 5s and the animation will stop playing
LSS controllers have several status LEDs. There are 4 on the front panel and 4 status LEDs on the back panel.
Software connected – in case LSS software is connected ( ready to send data to LED controller)
DMX signal detected – fast flashes in case DMX signal is detected.
Art-Net signal detected – slow flashing in case Art-Net signal is detected.
Power on – diode turns on if power is connected.
DMX OUT true – diode turns on if DMX in is connect directly with DMX out
Frame sending – in case data is being sent to SPI out, this diode flashes.
In addition to above, status LEDs can also indicate states in the table bellow. 5s after you either turn on or restart the device, the LEDs indicate which device is ready to be used. This can help in case you have multiple devices connected to one of our controllers and you want to check which one is ready.
| SPI OUT 1 | SPI OUT 2 | SPI OUT 3 | SPI OUT 4 | |
| LEC 3 / Powered | on | off | off | off |
| SPI Matrix | on | on | off | off |
| Upgraded SPI Matrix | off | off | on | off |
All LED Strip Studio pixel controllers follow this control options priority, where test mode has the highest priority and auto play has the lowest one. In case of Test mode triggered through Web Configuration, you have to cancel it by clicking Stop Test button. Likewise, you have to first cancel mode you are currently in to enter a different mode (unplug cable in ethernet mode; interrupt signal Art-Net of DMX signal data flow, etc.)
Imagine this: You have LED Ethernet Controller 3 connected with LSS software via ethernet cable. But you are not sure if you selected the right type of LEDs on SPI output. So, you can simply open web configuration. Choose the output that you are using and try to run test mode. In case you will see correct colors on LEDs, you know what kind of LED type and Color order you need to set in LSS software. Don’t forget to click on Stop Test button after you finish testing. Changes made in web configuration has no impact on LSS software.
Our software and hardware developers are adding new features on a daily basis, so it’s possible that some control options are not mentioned here. Check for latest version of the firmware. In case you can’t find something, please, let us know over the contact form.
Test mode is great to quickly test if all connected LED pixels are working properly. Since you can use Red, Green, Blue or White dimming test patterns, you can also check the RGB color order of all your LED pixels.
Test mode is a very simple, but useful feature, which allows you to scroll through all test patterns
You have two options to run the test mode – using hardware buttons and through your web browser.
Out of the all control options, this type of test has the lowest priority since it is played directly from the device itself. It serves for a basic check. Hardware test mode of LED Ethernet Controller 3, SPI Matrix and LED Ethernet Controller Powered in few steps:
It’s a good practice to run Test mode in case you are not sure what is IC type or LED type of your LED strips/pixels. While some test pattern are running, you can easily switch between different LED/IC types and find the right one.
Auto-play mode is available for all LSS controllers. Auto-play means that the device will play stored animations from SD-card automatically after startup (or after pressing buttons), so you have several control options. You can do the configuration over
• LED Strip Studio software for SPI LED Controller
• Or over your web browser for LED Ethernet Controller 3 / Powered or SPI Matrix.
Auto-play can achieve several different states with priority in this order:
In case you would like to use auto-play mode, you have to do several steps. First, you have to be familiar with LED Strip Studio software, which you will need to create LED scenes/animations. You can find video tutorials on our web.
Each and every option in Auto-play modes require a scene or animation files store on SD-Card. Yu need to export scenes in the following format – EFFXXX.LN2. XXX is the number of your scene (for example EFF001.LN2, EFF125.LN2).
We assume that you are familiar with the process of creating scenes in the LSS software.
With our controllers, you are able to play several scenes/animations in a row. We are calling this feature Playlist. You can configure Playlist in Web configuration.
Follow these steps to set playlist in stand-alone mode:
There is one specific condition – indefinite loop. For example, you have some start animation, and then you want to repeat only one scene until you turn off your LED controller. It’s great to define “boot” or startup sequence for the LED installation.
For example, your first animation will be fade-in scene and then company or client logo. A scene with a logo will play indefinitely until you turn off your LED controller.
Indefinite loop can be set for any of 16 scenes in playlist, but only the first scene with an indefinite loop will be played on your LEDs.
One of the easiest options how to set default animation is through DIP switch, which is located on the front panel of the LED controller.
I’d like to play animation EFF002.LN2 immediately after I turn on my LED controller. For that, I can use DIP switch, where I move pins that represent value 2. Turn on the LED controller and scene will play automatically. The default speed of the animation is set on value 128 and repeat is on.
Value on a DIP switch also defines the current IP address and DMX address of the pixel controller. In another words, your IP address for web configuration will be 192.168.1.DIP_Switch_value, likewise the DMX address of your device.
To play specific scene from SD-card after turning on your LED Controller, you can set Default file/scene this over web configuration.
Follow these steps to play specific scenes/show from an SD-Card:
LED Ethernet Controller 3 / Powered, SPI Matrix and even SPI LED Controller have hardware buttons on the front panel. These buttons allows you to switch between scenes stored on the SD-Card in order from 0 to 255 or from 255 to 0 and adds to control options you have.
Default scene has number 0 and contains a black scene. If you like to set a default scene with a different position number or even run play-list after turning on your LED controller, then follow Auto-play: Default scene, Auto-play: DIP SWITCH or Auto-play: PLAYLIST.
In case you’d like to use buttons as trigger for your animations, you need to export scenes in the following format – EFFXXX.LN2. XXX is the number of your scene (for example EFF001.LN2, EFF125.LN2).
We assume that you already created some scenes in the LSS software.
There is one special feature, which allows you to trigger animation over an HTTP link.
http://IP_ADDRESS_OF_CONTROLLER/SetAutoplay.html?file=NUMBER_OF_SCENE
Where IP_ADDRESS_OF_CONTROLLER is the current IP address of the LED controller and NUMBER_OF_SCENE is animation, which you’d like to trigger
HTTP LINK trigger step by step:
I like to trigger animation/scene number 149 from the LED controller with Current IP 192.168.1.24. My HTTP link will look like this – http://192.168.1.24/SetAutoplay.html?file=149.
DMX mode is automatically activated when there is DMX signal source connected to DMX IN and there’s no LED Strip Studio software or Art-Net signal source connected. It can be considered one of the most used control options since DMX is still a very popular protocol despite it’s age. DMX address can be set in web configuration or by using DIP switch on the device.
Indicator of the DMX signal is flashing yellow/orange status LED on the front panel of the pixel controller. Our controllers work in DMX THRU mode constantly, which means that DMX IN and DMX OUT are directly connected.
In case you use controllers over LED Strip Studio software, DMX Out is used as a DMX output for software – it’s not in thru mode. You can see that the white LED indicating DMX thru on the front panel is OFF. If you want to use DMX OUT connector, you need to generate DMX in LSS software -> mapping -> Analog section.
Buttons on the front panel are inactive while the DMX mode is active.
With DMX mode, you have two control options:
DMX pixel mode is a feature that allows you to display DMX values on LEDs. Pixel mode takes DMX values and uses 3 (RGB) or 4 (RGBW) DMX channels for every LED pixel. You can configure Pixel mode in Web Configuration. In addition, one “DMX” pixels can control more than one physical digital LED. Using LEDs per pixel option, you can define, how many physical LEDs are controlled using 3 input DMX RGB channels.
How to set DMX pixel mode step by step:
You can use DMX to trigger scenes (LED animations) from SD-Card. In case you like to use Art-Net as trigger, follow these instruction.
Most of the settings are done over web configuration. Plus, we assume that you already created some scenes in the LSS software.
How to set LED Controller:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Brightness (255 default)
|
Animation (1-255) | Speed (128 default)
|
R | G | B | W |
We recommend using Animation step size in case you are using sliders to change animations. For example, console slider can change values from 0 to 255. If you set Animation step size on value 128, you will be able to change animation value in 2 steps, no 255. In case that you are using buttons, set the Animation step size on 1.
Art-Net mode is activated automatically while Art-Net signal is received by LED Strip Studio pixel controllers – SPI Matrix, LED Ethernet Controller 3 or Powered. You can use 3rd party Art-Net software and hardware to generate Art-Net signal.
The default setup of Art-Net mode is on the picture below.
You can overlap art-net universes trough all SPI outputs. For example, you can use the same art-net universes for the first 2 SPI outputs. Or you can use just a part of art-net universes which can overlap.
You don’t need to use all art-net universes if you don’t need them.
Art-Net settings allows you to set the number of LEDs in one pixel. This is an advanced feature and you have to be more familiar with the Art-Net itself. Big advantage though is that you can use less Art-Net universes for the same number of LEDs.
You can set how many LEDs will represent one pixel. For example 1 pixel = 5 LEDs. It means that 170 pixels (1 art-net universe) * 5 = 850 LEDs.
Our LED controllers can control 1024 RGB LEDs per one SPI output.
1024 – 850 = 174 LEDs. If 1 pixel = 5 LEDs, then 174 / 5 = 34 pixels.
It means, that we will use only 2 art-net universes for controlling 1024 LEDs. First will control 850 LEDs, which is 170 pixels. The second will control 174 LEDs, which is 34 pixels.
In case you don’t want to use all SPI outputs, just select turn-off option.
Madmapper is a popular mapping software. Their knowledge base is vast and in case you are looking for some advanced tutorials, please visit their YT channel. This particular tutorial will help you to connect our Art-net controller SPI Matrix with this software. We will be showing how to map a simple LED panel with 4 standalone rectangles, each 8×8 diodes.
Your device can operate in two Art-net submodes: Pixels and SD-Card mode. In order to work with your device with 3rd party software, you need to enable Pixels mode.
Your device can operate in two Art-net submodes: Pixels and SD-Card mode. In order to work with your device with 3rd party software, you need to enable Pixels mode.
LED Mapper from Arkaos is another popular software. Advanced tutorials and their work can be found on their YT channel. This particular tutorial will help you to connect our Art-net controller SPI Matrix with this software.
You have option to use one Art-Net universe for DMX out. It’s a very useful feature when you control more devices over DMX.
You need to set which art-net universe you would like to use. Open web configuration -> Art-Net sett. section and set value “DMX OUT universe“.
You are able to use one Art-Net universe as a trigger of scenes/animation saved on SD-Card. It can be a very useful feature, especially when you are using more LED controllers and Art-net devices.
The Art-net trigger has follows same configuration steps as SD-Card: DMX trigger. Plus, you need to define which Art-net universe triggers the animations.
Note – all DMX values in DMX sett section are chained/linked with DMX values in Art-net sett section!
I’d like to trigger animation/scene number 49 from the LED controller with Current IP 147. Brightness and speed of animation will be a default, same goes for RGBW values. I’d like to use the Art-net universe 11, where starting DMX address is at position 156. My web configuration will look like this:
Values for art-net universes will look like in this table:
| 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 |
| 255 | 49 | 128 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In Ethernet mode, you can control your device with our LED Strip Studio software. Communication between LSS software and hardware is done via our own LSS protocol. This protocol is close to Art-Net, but with additional features to better communicate with our LED controllers – LED Ethernet Controller 3 or LED Ethernet Controller Powered. SPI Matrix supports Art-Net protocol, so no Ethernet mode is available (unless you Upgrade it to support both Art-Net and Ethernet)
Same as for Art-Net, you have to set IP address 192.168.1.X for all devices in the network 192.168.1.1. (255.255.255.0).
The main benefit among all other control options Ethernet mode has is the real-time control – you can drag and drop and play video, generate nice LED effects or even create complete LED shows synchronized with music.
Ethernet mode has the second highest priority after test mode.
In case you have any problems with connectivity, turn off the firewall of your computer. If you are afraid about your security and data, please, set LSS software as known source in your antivirus system or firewall. Most antivirus programs allows this.
For start, we recommend all our customers to buy Demo-kit. It’s a starter package, ready out of the box, with benefits of a complete system – hardware and software. Here is a short video, where you can see the complete setup of Ethernet mode with LED Strip Studio software and LED Ethernet Controller 3.
Please, notice that Mapping in LED Strip Studio software is independent of web configuration settings. For example, you can work with LED type 2 in software and have set LED type 3 in web configuration. As long you are using LSS software, it will apply all settings from LSS software.