Each controller drives a single line of pixel LEDs and stays in step with every other line across the whole display — 20 lines or 80, on a road ceiling that runs for hundreds of metres. Switch it on and it runs.
Compatibility
The same board runs all three. No jumper to change and no separate model to order — wire your existing 1903 or WS2812 strings straight in.
Why it is different
A DMX run needs a data cable chained to every single controller — the hard part on a long ceiling, and the first thing to fail. The neutral cut method removes that cable, but it re-syncs by cutting the supply, so the display goes dark for a few seconds each time. Our XTAL Type works exactly that way and drops into any neutral cut installation you already have. Our AC Sync goes one step further — the same cable-free wiring, but it never has to go dark at all.
| DMX | XTAL Type | AC Sync | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data cable between boards | Yes, to every board | None | None |
| Over long distance | Chain becomes fragile | Works | Works |
| Holds in step for | As long as the cable holds | Up to 3 hours | 24 hours |
| Display goes dark to re-sync | No | Yes, at each reset | Never |
| Extra hardware needed | DMX controller + cabling | Neutral cut master, or switch off and on by hand | None |
| Mains on the board | No | No, 5 V only | Yes, 220 V |
Choose your grade
- Lines hold together for up to 3 hours
- No mains connection to the board at all
- Drops straight in behind an existing neutral cut master — its reset is what re-aligns the lines
- Without a master, switch the supply off and on after about three hours
- Lines hold together for a full 24 hours
- No master relay, no reset, no blackout
- Reads the mains cycle every controller already shares
- Every board must sit on the same mains phase
Animations, sizes, pixel output and the addressing method are identical in both. Only the mains input and the holding time differ.
Out of the box
Every board leaves the factory carrying the same set of over fifty animations, running one after another in full 24-bit colour. There is no software to install, no SD card to write and no app to pair. Power the set and the show starts.
Commissioning
Every controller has to know which line of the matrix it drives. It is set with the single button on the board — no computer, no app, no software and no dip switches. The pixels on that line become the display, so you can set a whole ceiling standing under it.
- Hold the button for about 1 secondThe line stops the animation and switches to setting mode, showing the number it currently holds.
- Press once for every step upEach short press adds one. Past the last line it rolls back around to 1, so you can never get stuck.
- Save it — two waysHold the button for about 2 seconds, or simply stop pressing and wait 5 seconds. Either one writes the number into the board's memory, where it stays through every power cut.
- Watch for the white confirmationThe lit pixels turn solid white the moment the number is stored. The board then leaves setting mode and starts the animation on its own.
Count the lit pixels — that count is the line number. To save you counting one at a time, the colour changes every 10 pixels, so you read whole blocks and then the remainder. On a 50-pixel line that is exactly five blocks:
So a line showing two complete blocks and three more pixels is 10 + 10 + 3 = line 23. Nothing is ever counted past ten.
A 50-pixel line cannot light 51 pixels, so past 50 the count starts again from one — and the unlit part of the line glows dim white to tell you so. Dim white behind the colours means add 50 to whatever you counted.
One lit pixel on a dark line is line 1. One lit pixel on a dim white line is line 51. That single difference is all an installer has to remember, and it lets a 50-pixel line address 100 controllers. A 100-pixel line runs eight colour blocks before repeating and addresses up to 200 the same way.
What a variant contains
A matrix is written pixels per line × number of lines. You receive one controller per line, so the second number is the quantity in the box — a 50 × 60 matrix ships 60 controllers, a 100 × 80 ships 80. One order of a variant is the complete set for that matrix, not a single board. Select your grade and matrix size above.
Where it is used
- Controller boards only. LED pixels, SMPS and wiring are not included.
- AC Sync: keep every board on one mains phase. It reads the mains cycle, so boards fed from different phases of a three-phase supply cannot stay in step.
- Use one SMPS make across the whole set. Different makes power up at different moments and the lines start out of step. This matters for both grades, and most of all for XTAL Type, whose timing begins at power-up.
- The 50+ animations are fixed. They are loaded before dispatch and run in sequence. You cannot add your own — the board has no port for loading new ones.
Per controller
- Pixel Type
- WS2812 / WS2812B / UCS1903
- Pixels Driven
- 50 or 100 per board
- Colour Depth
- 24-bit
- Animations
- 50+ preloaded, in sequence
- Mains Input
- 220 V AC — AC Sync only
- XTAL Type
- 5 V only, no mains
- Pixel Supply
- 5 V from your SMPS
- Line Numbering
- One button, shown on the pixels
- Maximum Lines
- 80 per matrix
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