Hello.
I have an idea for a project that physically would require many strips. What micro-controller will support the most ws2811 data lines?
Thanks.
I have been using a ESP8266 - ESP-12E NodeMcu V3 (ESP8266-12E) module and works great. Now they have the ESP32 which I have been toying with.
I have been running 900 WS2812B (6x150 5m strips) on a single ESP-12 and only issue is making sure the power gets to the pixels.
If you have a long length like this, make sure to get a power supply like a 300w, 5v, 60Amp and avoid doing all white (white is bad lol)
Actually, the Arduino MEGA or DUE support the most WS2811/WS2812 data lines ( up to 54 digital I/O lines ) but that may or may not be the best answer for you.
When I have many WS2811/WS2812, my preference goes to the Teensy 3.2 with its OCTOWS2811 adaptor. The adaptor provides 8 level shifters (3.3v to 5V data) and the Teensy supports parallel data output that gives you 8X the data update (FPS or Frames Per Second) .
Im thinking only 1000 leds but 100 strips. So a couple of due’s is the winner. I’m wondering if Teensy 3.6 can do more.
To be honest, not likely… ‘support the most ws2811 data lines???’ is what you asked for but may not be what you need ???.
I have not used it myself (not yet… ) but the Teensy 3.6 is the most powerful in the Teensy line and it specifies 58 digital I/O lines. I think some are not readily available via pins and would require very delicate soldering on small pads, not something I would recommend even to the most experienced with soldering.
@JP_Roy yep I want the most fastled useable data lines. I don’t find the teensy 3.2 pads a problem but they may be smaller on the 3.6.
@Gibbedy_G Can you clarify why you ask for many data lines ?
I built a Xmas tree a few years back around an Arduino MEGA. I actually used 34 separate data lines on it (one data line per branch of my tree) I did that because I wanted the absolute minimum number of wires in my tree and I was not concerned with the slow LED update time (or FPS). Is that also your concern here ??
Here’s a link to a post I made here on that XMas tree…
https://plus.google.com/u/0/106626345342202981932/posts/hmTwVmrCxvK
Yeah 100 strings of 10 leds hanging down. I don’t want to loop one to the next as wiring would be a pain. Mega is probably the easiest. I just wondered what useable io I can use. I think 2 Megan with serial comms will do ok
@Gibbedy_G OK got it but… to avoid the hassle of using and synchronising 2 ( or more ? ) MCUs did you consider wiring that last LED data out and tacking / hiding the wire on the back of the strip or string such that all the looping is done above where it could be hidden easily ?
Go with Teensy 3.6. There exists a breakout board to easily access all pins. You can also use parallel output on 24 of those lines (8x PORTB 16x PORTDC) to improve your frame rate. I ditched the Due, Teensy 3.6 is vastly superior on all aspects.
@Franck_Marcotte thanks for the link to that breakout board. Agree that the teensy 3.6 would be the right answer here.
have you thought about wiring it as 10 strips of 100?
@Franck_Marcotte That breakout board looks great !!!
Maybe I should ask directly on the PJRC forum but… Does the Teensy 3.6 support 24 simultaneous parallel outputs !?
I’m only interested in the most fastled usable outputs. I’m not concerned with parallel outputs or speed at the moment. Like most of my ideas It may never get built.
@Gibbedy_G “Like most of my ideas It may never get built.” Damn that’s pretty depressing 
Well if you do get it built, and are not happy with your framerate, read the bit about parallel output. It’s not for strip mirroring, it’s simply to improve framerate, and the wiring is the same. Only a few things to change in setup(). When you get into the 1000+ leds, it’s very useful. Good luck!
@Franck_Marcotte Will do. Thanks
If you really do buy 1000+ LEDs and go to all the trouble to mount them somehow and wire them all up to power supplies and wires for the signals, ignoring the consistent advice for using parallel output would be quite foolish.
Hi @PaulStoffregen , I am curious about the actual capability of the Teensy 3.6 to handle parallel output… just how many can it handle simultaneously ?
I can really only answer for use of OctoWS2811, which can run stand-alone, or through a FastLED driver (which lets you use FastLED’s many amazing rendering functions). Today the limit is 1365 LEDs per pin, with 8 pins parallel output. Eventually this may expand to 16 pins, but 1365 per pin is a very hard limit. For 30 Hz update rate, only 1100 per pin can be used, due to the WS2812 communication speed.