Looking for a different controller to drive multiple universes/strand

[Greg.Ca]

I currently use  four J1SYS P12S's to drive 48 strands of one universe each and it is working great for me on my 48 strand 150 pixel/strand mega tree.

I do however have a new project that requires a controller card that has two channels out that can drive OVER 170 pixels/strand. My current project is 250 pixels/strand and I have figured out how to do power injection along the way but need a controller that can drive over a universe on each output.

With the P12S's, each of the 12 outputs can drive only one universe so I did some research and found out that J1 sys makes a smaller board called a P2 which seems like the perfect solution. It has two outputs and each output  can drive more than one universe. It is very configurable with multiple options and multiple ways to power the board. This board can drive both 5V and 12V pixels.  I did order this board and it should be here in a day or two. It is however close to $90.00 each after shipping and wonder if there is a competitive board that is cheaper that can do the same thing.

My requirements are configurable IP address, E.131 data input, 5V powering the board, two outputs each capable of driving 250 pixels/output and of course cheaper than a P2. (I may need many of them for a project I'm working on.)

Is there a competitive board for the P2 that is a lot cheaper? --Greg--

[sean]

dave's new falcon-16 can drive 340 pixels per string. It is planned to be announced at the Academy on july 13th.

If you want a comparison of controllers
http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/

the advatek pixlite-16 can also drive 340 pixels per string and it is available now.

[rangerrick]

So, how does that work?  A universe is 512 channels which is 170 pixels.  Does it actually drive 2 universes per string/output without additional hardware for addressing?

Rick

[Steve Gase]

a pixelnet universe is 4096 channels.

even without pixelnet, the e1.31 protocol should support this -- e1.31 (network protocol (breaks the universes into 512 channels) and a e1.31 controller can theoretically reassemble these e1.31 universes into larger universes like pixelnet.

i believe the falcon controller is also able to combine multiple pixelnet universes so that you could have a string that crosses the 4096-channel boundary.

[rangerrick]

pppfffff!  i was looking at getting the pixlite 16, but now...

Truthfully, I am a newbie at this.  I've been reading and watching everything I can find, but I've never hear of a pixelnet universe.  From what you've said, the controller pumps all the data for 2 (or more) universes down one string.  How does that affect performance?

Which controller software is best for multiple universes and works with Nutracker? 

[sean]

all these rgb controllers work with xlights
http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/

xlights also supports usb controllers for renard, lor, dmx, d-lights

if using the falcon pi player
all the rgb controlelrs are supported
also all the usb controllers that xlights are supported on the fpp except lor protocol. for lor stuff change over to dmx.

[Steve Gase]

pppfffff!  i was looking at getting the pixlite 16, but now...

Truthfully, I am a newbie at this.  I've been reading and watching everything I can find, but I've never hear of a pixelnet universe.  From what you've said, the controller pumps all the data for 2 (or more) universes down one string.  How does that affect performance?

Which controller software is best for multiple universes and works with Nutracker?

the falcon and nutcracker teams are tight...  
nutcracker has native support for dmx, LOR, pixelnet, e1.31 and dongles/controllers from many different vendors.

Pixelnet was invented by RJ of the diylightanimation.com forum.  the falcon team has built a compatible solution that plays well with DLA kits -- but offers a lot of additional advantages.    one of the big ideas from the falcon team is the falcon Pi Player that uses a $30 general purpose computer to play sequences, music, and video.

regarding the amount of pixelnet data (4096 channels)...  it is the purpose of the controller (zeus, falcon, SSC, USC, etc.) to use the assigned channel number for the string and extract only the channel data for that collection of pixels.  the controller converts from pixelnet data to SPI (pixel data).

[bigstott]

I have 2 pixlite 16's. 1 is set for my mega tree 32 strands of 50 lights. so basically per output I am running 6 strands or 300 pixels per output with power injection every 100 lights. So for my megatree I am only going to be using 6 outputs of 16. So many more strands or elements can be added to this controller.

[rangerrick]

all these rgb controllers work with xlights
http://nutcracker123.com/nutcracker/rgb_controllers/

xlights also supports usb controllers for renard, lor, dmx, d-lights

if using the falcon pi player
all the rgb controlelrs are supported
also all the usb controllers that xlights are supported on the fpp except lor protocol. for lor stuff change over to dmx.

Will Nutcracker support pixlite4?

Rick

[sean]

yes, we support all e1.31 controllers.