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Adding Teensy 4 Support to Fadecandy Server - Streaming 8k pixels at 60FPS over USB

A project log for SmartLED Shield for Teensy 4

Drive high density and low cost HUB75 RGB Matrix Panels with the Teensy 4. Best way to use panels with the powerful SmartMatrix Library.

louis-beaudoinLouis Beaudoin 09/14/2020 at 13:232 Comments

I've been wanting to add a good option for streaming video to SmartLED Shield for Teensy 4 over USB, and I was able to make some good progress recently. After looking at what open source options exist for streaming video to LEDs over USB, Fadecandy seemed like the best project to use as a starting point, and I figured out how to add support for streaming to the Teensy 4 to Fadecandy. It's working quite well, and is able to drive a huge 128 x 64 panel at 60 FPS over USB. Here's a quick demo:

A little background: "Fadecandy is a tool for creating interactive light art using addressable LED lighting" designed by Micah Elizabeth Scott (scanlime), and was made to drive WS2811 "Neopixel" addressable LEDs over USB with higher color depth and smoother interpolation than they normally have. I'm a fan of the high quality fades and colors that can be made with Fadecandy.

Fadecandy is designed to work with multiple types of controllers in parallel, so you can have a project that uses a mix of WS2811 LEDs using a Fadecandy Controller, and HUB75 and APA102 LEDs using a SmartLED Shield for Teensy 4, and just add more controllers to drive larger displays.

Discussions

twilliams001 wrote 12/07/2020 at 16:41 point

Louis, I am also very interested in how you did this. I've been having huge problems with wiring the Teensy 4 to WS2811 strips even with the scattered clues around the Internet. I've been able to make it sort of work in parallel mode with FastLED, but not consistently. I'd love to move to FadeCandy for my simple tree lighting needs. Can you provide more details for us?

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Shawn wrote 12/04/2020 at 15:36 point

Great project!  I am curious.. when you say "I figured out how to add support for streaming to the Teensy 4 to Fadecandy", do you have any details on this that you can share? or GH repo?  I'm interested in how you accomplished this. Thanks!

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