LED Control Card vs 16x32 LED Panels. How many?

[abrahamalincoln]

We just purchased one of your LED Control Cards. We are building an LED wall incorporating 12 16x32 LED Panels by 13 16x32 LED Panels, for a total of 156 16x32 LED panels. How many 16x32 LED Panels can be controlled by each LED Control Card?

I contacted customer service and they told me to ask here. Please see attached image as a reference. Thanks!

[Franklin97355]

Which LED control card are you using and how do you plan to power this thing?

[abrahamalincoln]

Which LED control card are you using and how do you plan to power this thing?

We're using this card: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1453
And these panels: https://www.adafruit.com/products/420

We're powering it with a 5v 30a power supply. I've currently built a test wall using the LED panels mentioned above in a 6x3 array. We are using a card from a Chinese company LED Signs which works but isn't as robust as Adafruit's. It also won't let you run a direct video feed into it which is one of our requirements. We were using it as a back up since the Adafruit one wasn't in stock. Not a big risk for us since it was 1/3 of the price of Adafruit's. Luckily, one of Adafruit's cards came in stock yesterday and we scooped it up. Should be here tomorrow. Customer service says you should have them back in stock by early next week at the latest.

As a reference, with the LED Signs card we would need 4 of them to power the 156 16x32 LED panels. I just need to know how many of Adafruit's cards we will need to power the 156 LED panels so we can order appropriately. We have a deadline for this wall so I get everything ordered asap! Thanks.

[adafruit2]

There's 8 ports so there can be 8 'strings' of panels. the controller documentation says it can handle 1024X256, and 1024 / 32 = 32 so up to 8x32 panels.

HOWEVER!

Now is a good time to reiterate that we sell these carts for hobbyist use and experimentation. We do pre-program them for our panels but we have only built a small wall. We dont have support or experience with larger walls. They may need configuring and the configuration software is written by LINSN not us (and its not trivial to understand) Also, the panels use a LOT of power and we haven't tested them extensively. You may have to hire an engineer or consultant for your project - we don't do any engineering or consulting! Thank you for your understanding - video walls are big endeavors!

[abrahamalincoln]

There's 12 ports so there can be 12 'strings' of panels. the controller documentation says it can handle 1024X256, and 1024 / 32 = 32 so up to 12x32 panels.

HOWEVER!

Now is a good time to reiterate that we sell these carts for hobbyist use and experimentation. We do pre-program them for our panels but we have only built a small wall. We dont have support or experience with larger walls. They may need configuring and the configuration software is written by LINSN not us (and its not trivial to understand) Also, the panels use a LOT of power and we haven't tested them extensively. You may have to hire an engineer or consultant for your project - we don't do any engineering or consulting! Thank you for your understanding - video walls are big endeavors!

We understand your "HOWEVER!" statement. That's why we're trying to make it work. If you don't experiment, you never know!

Thanks for the info. The one thing that confuses me is when you mention 12 ports. Where do you see 12 ports? I only see 8. What am I missing. I've attached an image for reference.

[dweston]

Hi abrahamalincoln,

Did you manage to obtain an answer to your number of ports question?

I want to control 45 16x32 panels in series. I presume this will be feasible with this controller by using one string of 32 panels coupled to another string of 13 panels.

I'm principally interested in displaying poetry streaming in serial along the length of a building.

[adafruit2]

Eek typo! it's 8 ports, the photo is correct - description has been updated!