Has anyone used the WS2811/WS2812 12V light strips?
I have only used the 5V strips to date, but for in-car use, 12V makes much more sense - currently I use a DC:DC converter to go from LeadAcid/3SLipo to Android/LED, but I can dump that and make my circuit much more simple with a 12V LED strip. Drawing 12V from a key-switched source in the car would make things much more simple and my Bluetooth would just come straight off the VCC power anyway.
I think it’s to risky to use the power directly from the battery, because there are nearly 14V when the motor is running.
Which doesn’t answer my question, but thanks.
I’m actually pretty good with this electrical stuff… what I am not good with is knowing who has used 12v WorldSemi LED strips…
Sorry. No never used the 12v as I prefer to keep voltages low and thus less heat.
Heat tends not to be an issue when you are flying around with 4 or 6 big electric fans holding you off the ground 
But something to think about with car installations in mind - and our already-hot equatorial environment.
I have used this style of 12V ws2811. http://m.aliexpress.com/item/1854000208.html
I’ve used this plug and play setup from Cool Neon: http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACCT88394/sc.2/category.2005/.f they plug into the wall in my bedroom and have worked perfectly for 3 years or so. Haven’t used them with a battery though.
I’ve done several projects with 12v WS2811 “pixel node strings”, but none with strips. I have used 12v strips with other controller chips, TM1809 I think.
I really like the 12v setup: you can make much longer runs between power injection points and still have everything work.
And of course there is the whole big “12v battery” universe which makes it all pretty convenient if you’re in that world already.
From looking at the pixel node strings, it looks like each node has a tiny 5v power regulator in it, which means that pixels on a “12v” string will work well down into lower voltages, too, i.e. 7v. I suspect this is part of why the 12v long pixel strings work better than long 5v strings: the voltage at the far end can drop pretty low before the LEDs actually feel anything.
Relatedly, it’s worth noting that 5v pixel strings only come up to 50 pixels, while 12v strings typically come up to 100 pixels long. Again, I think it’s all about voltage drop.
What about the data line ? Do you need a 12v level shifter ?
Data is regular 5v. Or maybe 3.3, but 5v tolerant.
Thanks @Mark_Kriegsman - exactly the kind of answer I was looking for.