Addressable LED

In an individually Addressable LED strip, the LEDs each have a companion IC to give them independence and intelligence. In most Adafruit Ne op ixel products, this IC is embedded directly into the LED package. The finished product has the same four-pin package as most RGB LEDs, but instead of RGB+, these four pins are power, ground, data in, and data out. The “data out” feature is what allows the modules to be connected end to end in a strip or ring. The modules communicate using a single wire that is extremely dependent on timing. Real time processors like the Arduino handle this well, while a microprocessor like the core of a Raspberry Pi requires quite a bit of additional programming to accurately drive smart LEDs.