LED strips have long been used for local lighting and as main lighting. But in addition to monochrome (one-color) different colors, there are controllable RGB tapes (Blue, Green, Red) that can change their color. One of the manufacturers of such devices is Apeyron.

RGB technology

There are a number of features in the design and operation of the multicolor strip.

Differences from regular tape

Like a regular one, RGB tape is printed circuit board in the form of a narrow strip along which conductive strips are applied. Unlike the standard one, on the RGB tape there are not 2, but 4 or 5 such stripes - common and one for each color.

Resistors and LEDs are installed on the board using the SMM (Surface Mounted Mevice) method, which vary depending on the type of tape:

• Monochrome. Can be of any size and required color.
• RGB. It uses SMD 5050 LEDs. This diode consists of three LEDs in one package. In a monochrome ribbon they are one color, in a multicolor ribbon they are different (red, green and blue). This combination allows you to change the color of the device or make it white. Black color ensures the absence of light.
• RGBW. In addition to colored diodes, white ones are installed in the strip. This gives additional features to control the brightness and color of light.

In addition to devices in which all LEDs of the same color are controlled simultaneously, there are devices with chip diodes. They contain a chip that allows you to control each LED individually. This makes it possible to implement effects such as “running lights” or “star rain”.

Example of an RGB strip board

Benefits and uses

The advantage of such LED devices is the ability to change the color of the lighting, both manually and according to a predetermined program, as well as the organization of various lighting effects - color shifts, flickering or, when connecting the controller to a computer or music center, light music.

Such devices are used in a variety of places:

• in the illumination of shop windows;
• advertising signs;
• creating a romantic atmosphere in the room;
• lighting of the corridor or bedroom - blue light turns on at night, and bright white light in the evening or when signaled by a motion sensor;
• aquarium lighting.

In addition to these options, many others are possible. The use of such devices is limited only by the designer’s imagination.

Multi-colored ribbons give scope for design possibilities

Tape selection

One of the questions that needs to be answered when organizing LED lighting– which band should be used.

Illumination level

First of all, you need to decide in what capacity the LED backlight will be used:

• Decorative lighting. The functionality of the controller is of primary importance.
• Zone lighting. This is additional lighting in the room. Its power is only a fraction of what is needed for the entire room.
• Workplace lighting. It is difficult to find out the required power, since it is usually used in conjunction with the main lighting. Determined by selection method or using online calculators.
• Basic lighting for the entire room. The power is determined by the area of ​​the room and its purpose - in the bedroom it is 2 W/m2, in the kitchen or children's room - 3 W/m2, and in the brightest room - 3.5-4.

When drawing up the project, light loss in the diffuser or in the ceiling plinth is taken into account. They reach 50%. The option of two-zone and multi-zone illumination is possible.

An example of using zone backlighting. Such a tape will not provide illumination of the entire room, but it can highlight the desired part

LED type

The multi-color strip with LEDs contains SMD5050 crystals measuring 5 * 5 mm, consisting of three diodes and having 6 pins. In a single-color strip they are the same color, but in an RGB strip they are different (red, green, blue). A roll of such tape is 5 meters long and has a power of 144 W.

In addition to regular diodes, there are chip diodes, WS2812B and WS2812S. Outwardly, they are similar to ordinary ones, but inside they contain a PWM controller that allows you to control each LED individually. They implement a variety of effects, such as “running lights” or “star rain”. From similar devices You can mount an LED screen. The disadvantage is high price and the need to use a special controller.

Diode Density

The brightness and price of an LED strip depends not only on the size and type of diodes. The density of the crystals is no less important. In RGB tape it is 30–60 pcs/m. For greater brightness, two, three or four rows are used with a density of 120, 180, 240 pcs/m, respectively.

Ribbon color

The color of the RGB strip is adjusted by the brightness of LEDs of different colors. If the diodes turn on completely, the tape emits white light. By decreasing the brightness of one or two colors, the overall color of the tape changes. This is done using a controller.

The controller allows you to adjust the brightness and color of the tape

The RGB+WhiteRGBW LED strip is a two-row LED strip, in which one row is made of color LEDs and the second row is made of white LEDs. This makes it possible to obtain pastel colors, as well as increased brightness in normal lighting.

IP degree of protection

According to the level of protection from external conditions, devices are divided from unprotected (ip20, ip33) to partially protected (ip42, ip44) and sealed (ip67, ip68).

RGB strip power supply

The most common voltage of these devices is 12-24V. There are devices powered by 110 and even 220V, but they are not very common.

Selecting a power supply (driver) for a strip

The power supply for LED strips is selected based on the total power of the devices that will be connected to it. For example, if 5 meters with a power of 14.4 W/m and 3 meters with 7.2 W/m are connected, then the total load is 14.4*5+7.2*3=93.6 W. Considering the 20% margin (93.6+0.2x93.6= 112,32) , the power of the unit must be at least 112.32 W.

Expert opinion

Alexey Bartosh

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Important! When connecting LED devices with long cables, larger cross-section wires are used to avoid voltage drop. Therefore, it is advisable to take several drivers instead of one and install them near the connection point.

Like the strips, power supplies come in dc12-24v as well as 110v.

How to control RGB strip light

To control the brightness of a single-color strip, you need a dimmer, but to take advantage of the full capabilities of multi-color devices, you need a controller. Otherwise, you will have to adjust each color separately, and the lighting effects will not be available.

RGB strip controller kit

Selecting a controller for RGB strip

The selection of a control device depends on three factors:

• Power. It is calculated in the same way as the required power of a power supply unit - based on the total number of connected devices. Sometimes, as when choosing a power supply, it is advisable to purchase not one powerful RGB controller, but a smaller one and an RGB repeater.
• The desired set of functions. There are a lot of types of control devices, but, for example, to illuminate a product in a display case or an aquarium, you don’t need a device with big amount lighting effects, and for additional lighting of the room, switching on a timer or light music is desirable.
• Remote control. Just like selecting features, sometimes it's necessary and other times it's a waste of money.

When selecting, these points are taken into account so as not to purchase an overly expensive device, and at the same time its capabilities are quite sufficient.

Types of controllers

There are different types of controllers for controlling RGB LED strips: from the simplest, push-button ones, to those equipped with microprocessors and Wi-Fi.

Conventional devices can only select a specific color and provide simple lighting effects. Used to illuminate shop windows and other places.

More complex models Can be programmed to change colors and effects using a timer. They can have a connector for flash memory and respond to lighting in the room and outside. There are also Bluetooth controllers with a corresponding remote control.

The most complex devices can be connected to the smart home system.

Most bands have a remote control remote control. It happens:

• on buttons;
• infrared;
• on radio signals;
• Bluetooth control;
• Wi-Fi control.

The last two can replace the iPhone or mobile phone with Android.

You can control the feed using your smartphone

In addition to regular controllers, there are homemade devices, operating on the Arduino microprocessor board. Such homemade products control simple or chip LEDs and create light or color-music effects. Motion or light sensors are also connected to the Arduino-controller.

RGB controller operating modes

LED strips are installed in two types:

• simple, controlled by changing the supply voltage simultaneously along the entire length;
• chipped, with digital control of the color of each diode individually.

Accordingly, the controllers operate in two modes - analog and digital. This different types devices and they are not interchangeable.

Connection methods

There are two options for connecting an RGB strip:

• soldering;
• connectors.

Solder connection

In order to solder the cable to the LED strip, you must:

• Wire with a cross section of up to 0.5 mm2. A thicker one may tear off the contact pads.
• Soldering iron with power up to 25 W. A powerful soldering iron will overheat the soldering area, and the pad will peel off from the base.
• Solder and neutral flux.
• Heat shrink tube 30 mm long.

Expert opinion

Alexey Bartosh

Specialist in repair and maintenance of electrical equipment and industrial electronics.

Ask a question to an expert

Attention! Active flux cannot be used. It will destroy the wire or contact strips, and also lead to a short circuit, after which the strip will have to be repaired.

Connectors for RGB LED strip

The modern connection method is connectors. These are small plastic devices with contact pads inside for connection to the tape. Their number should correspond to the number of conductive strips 2, 4 or 5.

These devices are available for various connection options:

• with leads for power supply;
• connecting, designed to connect two sections of strip;
• corner, for connecting at an angle;
• "T" or cross-shaped.

And many others. Using connectors, you can repair the device yourself.

Connecting to an RGB controller longer than its rated power

When controlling LEDs with a power exceeding the controller parameters, or when connecting devices located at a large distance, an RGB repeater is used.

The signal is sent to it from the controller via thin cables, and the device controls the glow of adjacent strips of tape.

Video review of the kit with remote control

📋 Take the test and test your knowledge

They can shine with white light, but not everyone knows that this light is very different from the light that monochrome white strips shine with.
White LED strips use a phosphor substance - a substance that can convert the energy it absorbs into light radiation (luminesce). Therefore, the light is soft and pleasant. In RGB multicolor strips, white light is achieved by mixing red, blue and green (RGB). Since even in the highest quality tapes the power and depth of each color may vary slightly, white turns out to be off-white.
If you are still undecided whether you want white or multi-color backlighting, we would like to introduce you to the 2in1 option: RGB+W.
There are many options for RGBW LED strips on the market that combine RGB and white crystals. Specially designed controllers allow you to control all colors at once from one remote control. Adjust their brightness and hue.

Often RGB+W LED strip is produced in two rows. One row has multi-color diodes, the second one has single-color LEDs. Personally, we prefer to use two separate strips instead of one single row. This is almost always much more profitable, since it is somewhat more difficult to produce double-row tape, and only marketing distinguishes it from two parallel tapes.
The advantages of using two different strips instead of one double-row are obvious and we have already considered them (see We are against double-row LED strips)

How does RGBW lighting work?

Any RGB+W LED strip has 6 pins (4 for RGB and two for W). All 6 wires are connected to a special controller (the brain of your lighting). The controller is controlled via radio via a remote control or via a smartphone. You have the opportunity to control both white light and multi-colored light separately. You can also add blue or yellow light to the main white to get shades from cold to warm light, which is sometimes very important.

What's better to buy?

In our experience, almost any single-color monochrome tape interrupts RGB, so we recommend installing an RGB tape with a minimum power of 7.2 W/m and supplementing it with a white tape based on your wishes: if this is the main light, then >17 W/m if it is additional lighting, then ~9W/m. The minimum power RGB tape is enough to change the shade, and if you turn off the white tape and leave only the multi-color one, then even 7.2 W/m can fill your room with colorful light.
- If you have a fairly powerful white tape ~19W/m, then RGB should still be taken with SMD5050 60 diodes per meter 14.4W, otherwise there is a chance that if you turn it on at the same time, it will not be visible at all.
- It is always better to take a white ribbon in a neutral or daytime white color. By playing with shades you can always make it warmer or colder.

Multi-colored RGB LED strip is the main trend of 2018-2019. Let's look at how to connect it correctly, what an RGB controller and amplifier are and why they are needed.

What is RGB LED strip

RGB (Red, Green, Blue - red, green, blue) is an LED strip that can change its color during operation. Each LED module contains three LEDs - red, blue and green. By changing the brightness of each crystal separately, you get any color in the visible spectrum.

Externally, RGB LED differs from monocolor only in the number of pins. There are 4 of them - three of them for powering each individual crystal and one common plus.

There are special LED strips with five terminals. They are marked as LED RGB W (W – white). The fifth pin is responsible for white light. The fact is that in a three-color diode, white color is obtained by mixing all three colors in equal proportions. This “white” differs from pure mono light. Therefore, the led type appeared with a fourth white crystal.

These tapes (like monocolor ones) have several classes of dust and moisture protection:

• IP20 – without protection, afraid of moisture and dust;
• IP67-69 – not afraid of dust, can be used in a damp environment (bath, aquarium).

What you need to connect an RGB strip

Let's figure out how to properly connect an RGB LED strip. For a complete lighting scheme we will need:

• LED Strip Light;
• power unit;
• RGB controller with remote control;
• RGB amplifier (optional).

power unit

The power supply for the LED strip must be selected taking into account the expected load and its future location. Let's look at the example of SMD5050 60 led. Power consumption – 14.4 W/m.

With a length of 5 meters, the required power of the power supply will be:

5m * 14.4W * 1.25(safety factor)= 90W

Types of power supplies for LED

If the length is 15 meters, then the power supply is accordingly needed 3 times more powerful - 270W. If the length of the tape is 20, 25 or more meters, it is advisable to install several power supplies of lower power.

The degree of protection depends on the location of the power supply. If located in a dry, closed room, IP20 is sufficient. If in a bathroom or other aggressive conditions, then no lower than IP67.

RGB controller

Light control is carried out through a special controller. It connects between the power supply and the LEDs, and is equipped with a wired or wireless remote control.

RGB controller

The controller, like the power supply, is selected depending on the total power of the tape. With the difference that 25-30% of the reserve is added to the required power of the power supply, and the controller is selected closely according to power.

For example. You need to connect 10 meters of SMD5050 60 led. The power of 1 meter is 14.4 W, so we need a 144 W controller.

According to the control principle, they are distinguished: wired - often mounted on the wall; wireless controlled via:

• Infrared port (IR) – the remote control must be in line of sight;
• radio channel - allows you to use it within the home;
• Wi-Fi – allows you to control both from the remote control and from an application on your smartphone.

Lighting control from a smartphone

After installation and connection, you will be able to:

1. Set color manually. Both pure colors and mixed shades are available.
2. Adjusting brightness is similar to a regular dimmer (read more about).
3. Automatic modes. These include color switching, fast flickering, smooth changing, smooth fading and other algorithms.

What if the power of the RGB controller is not enough to connect all the lighting (more than 20 meters)? You can install 2 controllers, but you will have to control the light in one room from two remote controls, which is inconvenient and expensive. The second (correct) option is to use an RGB amplifier.

RGB amplifier (led amplifier)

This device allows you to amplify and transmit the signal from the controller further along the circuit. Thus, by using several amplifiers, you can assemble a lighting circuit of any length.

RGB amplifier (led amplifier)

The amplifier is installed in the gap of the tape and has a separate connection to the power supply (about connection below). We select the power based on the remainder of the tape, which does not have enough controller power.

Some people think that an amplifier is needed to increase brightness and should be used even for a distance of up to 5 meters. This is fundamentally wrong.

A good example. You need to connect 20m SMD 3528 (14.4 W/m), with a total power of 288 W. We only have a controller with a power of 216 W and a power supply of 300 W. Accordingly, you need an amplifier:

288 W - 216 W = 72 W

The power supply is 300 W, which is enough to power the controller and amplifier. If the power supply is not enough (for example, 250W), you need a separate power supply for the amplifier.

Connecting RGB LED strip

The correct order of connecting the circuit elements is as follows:

Correct connection order

Remember. Sections of tape longer than 5 meters must only be connected in parallel.

What happens if you connect it in series?

Firstly, you will noticeably lose brightness at the end of the section. Although LEDs have very low resistance, there are losses. With such a length, the voltage at the end will be about 10V. Reduced voltage will result in reduced brightness, already noticeable to the eye.

Incorrect connection
Correct connection

Secondly, the conductive tracks of the tape are designed to maximum length 5m. By connecting 5 more in series, the tracks will overheat and the lighting will most likely burn out at the very beginning of the section.

The tapes can be connected to each other using soldering or terminals. For single-color options, two-pin terminals (connectors) are sold, for RGB - four or five. Please check this point when purchasing.

The power supply is connected to a 220V network (AC terminals, polarity is not important), converts AC voltage DC 12V (terminals V+, V-). When connecting the following circuit elements, it is important to observe polarity.

Connection terminals on the power supply

The RGB controller is connected after the power supply (maintaining polarity), and the RGB strip is connected to it. Each pin on the case is designed for a specific LED output. If you mix them up, nothing bad will happen, just the colors will be mixed up.

Terminals for connecting the controller to the LEDs

As a result, the finished circuit assembly should look like:

The amplifier is similar in appearance to the controller, it is connected separately to the power supply, only it has not one die with terminals, but two. Most often labeled as Led Amplifier, it is installed in the tape gap. Connects according to the diagram:

Purpose of led amplifier terminals

Let us now analyze the connection diagrams for tapes of different lengths with and without an amplifier, with one or more power supplies.

Connection diagram for RGB LED strip without amplifier

This simplest scheme turning on an RGB LED strip up to 5 meters long via a controller with a remote control.

Electrical diagram RGB lighting connections

To connect LED RGB tapes 10 or 15 meters long, make sure that the controller and power supply have enough power (with a reserve), and connect according to the following diagram:

Connection diagram 10 or 15

Connection diagram for strip with RGB amplifier

We use an amplifier if the controller power is not enough. If the power of the power supply allows you to connect the controller and amplifier, we use the following circuit:

When the total power of the controller and amplifier is higher than the power of the power supply unit or it is irrational to use a block of such power (large, very hot or noisy), then we connect the led amplifier to a separate power supply according to the following diagram:

Using this scheme, you can increase the total length of the tape as much as you like. All of it will be controlled from one remote control.

Besides serial connection, as in the examples above, amplifiers can be connected in parallel.

Diagram of parallel connection of several RGB amplifiers with one power supply.

Circuit with several parallel amplifiers with separate power supply.

Scheme: several parallel amplifiers with separate power supplies

The correct connection diagram for 20 meters of RGB tape is shown in the video.

Typical connection errors

Serial connection of more than 5 meters of tape. This cannot be done.

Twisting instead of soldering wires (or connectors). If you don't want to solder, use connectors, they're cheap.

Failure to follow the connection order: power supply ⇒ controller ⇒ tape ⇒ amplifier ⇒ tape.

Save on the power supply by buying “back to back” in terms of power. Unfortunately, LEDs are both plus and minus in terms of watts consumed. If you buy a power supply without a 20-25% reserve, it will wear out and in a year you will buy a new one, but with a reserve.

Buying a controller with excess power. It won't get any worse, but you'll overpay. Correctly select the power 1 to 1.

Selection of very powerful tapes and installation without heat sink. For example, SMD5050 120 led/m consumes 28.8 W/m. With such power, the LEDs heat up quite strongly and the structure must be mounted on a heat sink - an aluminum profile. Otherwise, the diodes begin to degrade, lose power and burn out.

Ready-made RGB light bulbs for base with remote control

It is worth mentioning separately about ready-made RGB products for the E14 or E27 base.

These paws come in a variety of designs and designs. Inside the lamp contains a compact driver for power supply from a 220V network, a controller and three-color LEDs.

It is not suitable for complete lighting of the room, because... It will not be possible to synchronize several lamps into one system. Used as a night light or decor. Consumption 1-3 W/h. The cost starts from $3 for China.

We have repeatedly looked at a variety of LEDs, structure, use, etc. and so on. Today I would like to dwell on one of the types of LEDs (if you can say so) - RGB LEDs.

What is RGB LED and device

Connecting RGB diodes with Altmega8 PWM

We connect the anodes of the RGB LED to lines 1,2,3 of port B, and connect the cathodes to the minus. To obtain a variety of color palettes, we will apply a PWM signal to the anodes in a certain sequence. In this example, we specifically use software PWM, although on the Atmega8 you can easily get hardware PWM for 3 channels. Software PWM can be used in cases of timer/counter shortages and other reasons. To generate PWM of a certain frequency, we use an overflow interrupt of the 8-bit timer T0 (TIMER0_OVF_vect). Since we do not use a prescaler, the timer overflow frequency will be equal to 31250Hz. And if the variable "pwm_counter" counts up to 163, then the PWM frequency will be equal to 190 Hz. In the interrupt handler, based on the values ​​in the variables pwm_r, pwm_g, pwm_b, the pins of port B are switched. Color effects are configured using functions where the LED glow time is set. In the test program, red, green, blue, white lights up first, and then a cycle begins with color transitions.

Program code:

// Controlling the RGB LED. Software PWM

#include

#include

volatile char pwm_counter,pwm_r,pwm_g,pwm_b;

// Interrupt on T0 overflow

ISR (TIMER0_OVF_vect)

if (pwm_counter++ > 163)

pwm_counter = 0;

if (pwm_counter > pwm_r) PORTB |= (1<< PB1);

if (pwm_counter > pwm_g) PORTB |= (1<< PB2);

if (pwm_counter > pwm_b) PORTB |= (1<< PB3);

// Delay procedure in microseconds

void delay_us(unsigned char time_us)

( register unsigned char i;

for (i = 0; i< time_us; i++) // 4 цикла

( asm (" PUSH R0 "); // 2 loops

asm("POP R0"); // 2 cycles

// 8 cycles = 1 us for 8MHz

// Delay procedure in milliseconds

void delay_ms(unsigned int time_ms)

( register unsigned int i;

for (i = 0; i< time_ms; i++)

( delay_us(250);

// Red color

void red (unsigned int time)

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_r = 164 - a; //increase

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_r = a; //decrease

// Green color

void green (unsigned int time)

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_g = 164 - a;

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

// Blue color

void blue (unsigned int time)

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_b = 164 - a;

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

// White color

void white (unsigned int time)

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_r = 164 - a;

pwm_g = 164 - a;

pwm_b = 164 - a;

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

// Color transition

void rgb (unsigned int time)

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

pwm_b = 164 - a;

for (char a = 0; a< 165; a++)

When connecting a regular monochrome tape, you should adhere to three basic rules:

• connection is made in parallel in sections of no more than 5 meters

• the tape is mounted on an aluminum profile

• The power supply is always selected with a power reserve

The same rules are fully applicable for multi-color RGB tape. However, there are some peculiarities here. They are connected with the use of an RGB controller in the connection diagram.

RGB controller

In addition, be sure to remember that full-fledged rgb backlighting can be made using SMD 5050 LEDs. They are the ones that implement the ability to change colors in one light source.

This is achieved due to the fact that the LED is assembled from three crystals. In all other types of SMD 2835, SMD 3528, one LED can shine in only one color.

Because of this, small dips in illumination may occur in the backlight, when neighboring LEDs simply will not light up and the strip of light will not look solid and continuous. Examples and disadvantages of such models can be found in the articles “” and “”.

The RGB controller is connected after the power supply. With its help, you can change not only colors, but also the brightness of lighting, different operating modes, the intensity of color changes, etc.

For the light-music mode, when colors run in different directions and replace each other, special controllers will be required. They are called DMX.

A certain length of LED strip can be connected directly through the controller. The maximum is 5 meters or 10 meters when connecting two sections of five in parallel.

But what to do if you have multi-colored lighting for more than 10 meters? For the monochrome version, everything is solved by parallel connection of individual pieces. For example, you connect 3 sections of 5m each and have full illumination 15m long.

For RGB strips, it is possible to solder and connect 5-meter sections in parallel, but there are some nuances with direct connection to one controller.

Connection diagram for RGB LED strip 5m or 10m long

First, let's consider the option when you have a total length of LED backlighting of only 5m or 10m, that is, two solid strips connected in parallel, 5m each. What is needed in this case?

• power supply that converts 220V from the network into 12 or 24V necessary for the backlight to operate

• RGB controller

Unlike the power supply, it can be selected without a power reserve, which is called back-to-back. The main thing is to correctly calculate the power of the tape itself.

For example, if 1m consumes 14.4W (data can be found on the packaging or from tables, according to the type of LED), then 10m will respectively “eat” 144W. This is the power you buy the controller for.

How to connect all this correctly? Firstly, 220V must be supplied to the power supply itself. Usually on the left there are two terminals marked L (phase), N (zero) and ground. Here the polarity of L and N is not necessary.

• Light with BGR V+ contacts

They are deciphered as:
B (blue) – blue

G (green) – green

R (red) – red

V is the common plus on the LED strip. Directly on the tape it can be signed as “+12” or simply “+”. All other three rgb pins are negative.

• Power with “+” and “-” contacts

Unlike monochrome tape, the RGB version has not two contacts, but four. And sometimes all five!

The fifth is responsible for white light, since normal white natural light cannot be obtained from a combination of RGB colors. These LED strips are called RGBW or RGBWW.

Therefore, check in advance how many contacts for soldering wires the tape has and buy the appropriate controller. This is especially true when shopping through online stores.

The Power contacts are supplied with 12 or 24V voltage from the power supply.

Look for terminals on the block labeled “V+” and “V-“. Instead of “V-“ they sometimes write “COM”.

If you mix up the order, connect red to green or vice versa, nothing bad will happen, the colors on the control panel will just get confused.

By the way, in extreme cases, an RGB LED strip can be connected without a controller at all, directly to the unit.

To do this, you need to twist all three rgb wires into one and apply a minus wire to it, and a positive wire to the second one.

True, in this case, there can be no question of any multi-colored lighting. However, it can be considered as one of the lighting options if the controller fails.

If you correctly connect the RGB strip according to the first option, you should have the following sequence: 1 Power supply
2 Controller
3 RGB LED strip

RGB tape 15-20 meters long

If you need to connect 15, 20 meters or more, this option with only one controller will no longer work. There are two options:

• use two controllers

• use RGB amplifier

The first option is inconvenient due to higher costs. And secondly, you will have two control panels, each of which is responsible for different sections of the tape. And how you synchronize them is another question.

Therefore, the best option is when everything is controlled from one controller and one remote control. This can be easily achieved using an rgb amplifier.

From the name it is clear that its purpose is to amplify the signal from the controller. True, some are mistaken in believing that it is needed for a brighter glow of the tape. And it can be used for this purpose even for 5-meter sections. This is wrong.

It is selected based on the power not of the entire length of the LED strip, but only of the section that is connected to it, in addition to the first 5 or 10 meters.

Amplifier connection diagram

The amplifier has input-input and output-output terminals. The input and output have the same contacts as the controller - a common plus and colors.

There are also power connection terminals:

• VDD or "+"

• GND or "-"

Voltage 12-24V can be supplied either from an additional unit or from a general one, if its power allows.

To connect, place the common ends of the previous section of the LED strip into the input terminals of the amplifier.

After this, place the power conductors from the unit under the VDD and GND screws.

As a result, you should get the sequence: 1 Power supply
2 Controller
3 LED strip No. 1
4 Amplifier
5 LED strip No. 2

The assembled lighting according to this scheme will work and be controlled from one remote control.

If you need to connect another 5-10 meters of tape, another amplifier is added to the circuit, and possibly an additional power supply (depending on the lighting power).

Just keep in mind that the power supplies themselves cannot be paralleled directly with each other. This must be done through a diode bridge. Therefore, they must be separated from each other through separate sections of tapes.

This way you can assemble multi-colored lights of any length to suit your needs. The main thing is to find a place to place all this equipment.

When there is not enough space, a micro model can be used instead of a large amplifier.

It resembles something like an adapter, and its size is appropriate. At the same time, it copes well with its task of signal amplification.

In addition, it can be used if you lack the power of your controller. For example, the power of the entire LED strip is 110W, but the controller is only 70W.

In order not to change it, just buy such a mini amplifier, connect the two elements in series and enjoy the lighting.

By the way, the controller itself may be of the same miniature size.