strings, strands, channels, universes, espixelstick

[perigalacticon]

Noob Steve here with some really basic questions!

1.  What is the difference btwn a string and a strand? 
2.  Could someone please explain all about channels, in xLights, the controller, and universes?
-what are they
-how do they work, in the program etc.
-how are you supposed to number channels, how do you do it if you have physical strings attached in series or not?
3.  Can I run a show from xScheduler directly to many EspPixelSticks or do I need a controller?
4.  Is there are a good explanation of how to set up EspPixelStick in xLights?  Or is this a controller only action?

Thanks

[jnealand]

Here is a start.  Cannot address anything about ESP stuff or xschedule
We have all gone thru the confusion at some time. 
One port = one pigtail = one string, but the string (logical) may be made up of multiple shorter physical strings connected together.
One string can be from 1 to 1024 nodes/pixels
One strand = the part of a string that goes in one direction before reversing direction, like in a mega tree or matrix where the string physically zig zags up and down or side to side.  I use 240 node strings that go up and down 4 times or 60 node strands on my megatree
One node / pixel = three channels
One DMX universe = 512 channels although some folks use 510 just because it is divisible by 3.  Falcon controllers use 512 with no issues. 
One pixelnet universe is 4096 channels (Lynx controllers).
One channel is a single point that can be turned off/on and dimmed.  This is the true measure of the complexity of your show and not the number of bulbs since a string of 50 AC bulbs is only one channel, but a string of 50 pixels is 150 channels.

Using the correct terminology will always get you the fastest and most accurate help.  There are probably more terms, but I just ran out of memory.  LOL

[keithsw1111]

You can run esp directly from xlights and xschedule. No extra controller required.

[perigalacticon]

Thanks for the help!  I was able to do that!