What happens when a bored EE gets ahold of 57,600 LEDs

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Well, there is always quantity pricing. Based on my experience with LED lighting wall panels, they do get hot after a while. In addition, the scanning of the array produces horrendous RF near the panel. Keep mics away from the panel and the wiring.
A few years ago, I was walking the floor at a component exposition and turned the corner to face an LED manufacturer's display. I could feel the heat from about ten feet away. The display was all of their products mounted on a single panel about six foot high and two to three foot wide. I think it was ledtronix.

[Tristan Lall]

What size LEDs are being used? (I remember, about 5 years ago, there were SMT LEDs available in sizes as small as roughly 0.5 mm × 0.8 mm × 1.2 mm, or multicolour ones in 4.0 mm × 4.0 mm × 2.5 mm packages. I think Osram Sylvania was the manufacturer I'd used.)

I'm also pleasantly impressed by the fact that someone is putting all those Arduino-based units of clothing to shame. (There are a few genuinely innovative ones, but for the most part, the novelty of a string of flashing lights in a jacket wore off a couple of years ago. Making it into a TV raises the bar.)

[nixiebunny]

The LEDs are the standard 0603 size, 1.6mm x 0.8mm. They are made by Kingbright, and come on reels. I bought 22,000 of each of R,G and B types. Surprisingly, green costs twice as much as blue.

This display runs at much lower power than a typical LED billboard, since it's designed for use indoors or at night. Curiously, the idle current of the 1,000 driver chips (15mA at 3.3V) uses as much power as the LEDs themselves.

[DonRotolo]

OMG that is awesome! Although the phrase "too much time on your hands" comes to mind...

Now to connect video cameras that show the scene 180 degrees from the LED, making an effective invisibility cloak lab apron.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Now to connect video cameras that show the scene 180 degrees from the LED, making an effective invisibility cloak lab apron.

3 to 4 cameras and a little video processing ought to do the trick.

[Bryan Herbst]

This is definitely one of the coolest things I have seen recently.

The Lampduino I am building pales in comparison. I have a measly 8x8 grid!

[gblake]

So.... I want to write something snarky about the suit Will-I-Am wore at the World Championship, but I'm fighting the urge.

Perhaps next year's championship's entertainment should feature Squirrel's brother?



Blake

[MrForbes]

A little update on his web page

http://www.cathodecorner.com/videocoat/

[rachelholladay]

That is awesome! Kinda makes me want to have one..

[Bryan Herbst]

Heard about it again on the radio yesterday (the hosts called it "nerd cool"), and it is featured on Engadget today!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/13/w...s-for-burning/

[davidthefat]

That cost 20 grand to make! Oh my...

[MrForbes]

57,600 LEDs cost a lot of money, even if they're only a dime or a quarter a piece.

The flex circuit boards and automated soldering are also expensive.

But the real expensive part is the six months it took to figure it all out.