#1 Digital LED Strip Manufacturer in China

Top-notch and State of the art Digital Light Strip Design

 

Wholesalers and lighting contractors can purchase digital LED strips in large quantities from SDIP. The Digital LED light strips are available in bulk units of up to 100 -1000 and more.

SDIP is a leading 5050 LED strip light manufacturer and supplier in China with over ten years of experience making high-quality lights. The digital LED light strips come with a 12~18 months warranty. Additionally, you can get market-oriented prices on your purchases. SDIP has a fast and flexible delivery system to meet your deadline.

Surf our online catalog to buy the best digital LED strips!

 

Digital LED Strip Light FAQ

 

Digital LED strips are delightfully intelligent, which elevates them to the level of “dream-come-true” for the DIY crowd. Known by different names like addressable LED strip, programmable LED strip, smart LED strip, dream, pixel, and video LED strips, digital LED tapes are in vogue!

People looking to install some smart LED lights in their homes, offices, or other locations, love the flexibility, customization options, and color spectrum offered by these light strips. A little different from their analog counterparts, digital LED light strips are a popular choice for a variety of interior and exterior lighting projects.

Voltage

Typically digital LED light strips work at a voltage of 5V; however, 12V and 24V versions are equally popular. These strips facilitate control of three LED diodes as a single pixel. Most of the digital LED tapes comprise of 42 LEDs every meter; however, strips of a variety of sizes with different number of LEDs per meter are available in the market. Choose a digital light strip depending on your project specifications and lighting needs.

Usage

Digital LED light strips are used for a variety of high-quality lighting projects like TV shows, club interiors, TV studios and even for lighting effects on buildings. The biggest USP of digital light strip is that they can be used for decorations as well as advertisement billboards that display video content. Since users have a wide range of options, it allows them ample room for innovation and flexibility in their LED lighting projects.

Color Change

The biggest advantage that digital LED light strip has over its analog counterpart is that users can individually control each LED diode (addressable LED strip)s, which helps in the creation of different colors in different parts of a single digital LED tape. Digital LED light strips can even be used to display videos, which is possible because of the integrated chips inside the LED diode.

Control system

Digital light strips are also known as addressable LED strips or programmable LED strips because they can be individually controlled with the help of microcontrollers. Microcontrollers like Raspberry Pi, Adafruit, Arduino and other digital controllers are used along with a range of computer software to produce a wide range of color combinations and display effects on the LED strips.

The digital LED strips are capable of receiving video information over Serial Protocol Interface or SPI wherein each diode uses specified REGB data included in the SPI Data Packet.

However, since no single protocol in SPI communication exists so every IC chip uses different type of SPI signal. Some of the popular digital LED tape models (named after their ICs) include WS2811, WS2812, WS2813, TM1803, TM1809, SK6812, APA102 or APA104, and UCS.

Smart LED Strip

 

1. What Is A Digital LED Strip?

2. How Do Digital LED Strips Work?

3. What Is Main Difference Between Analog And Digital LED Strips?

4. What Are The Different Types Of Digital LED Strip Lights?

5. What Is A 5050 Digital LED Strip?

6. What Is The Difference Between 3528 And 5050 Digital LED Strip?

7. Are 5630 LEDs Brighter Than 5050?

8. Are 5730 Brighter Than 5050 Digital LED Strip?

9. What Is The Difference Between 2835 And 5050 Digital LED Tape?

10. Do WS2815 Consume Less Current Than WS2812 Digital LED Strips?

11. How To Program Digital Light Strips?

12. How Do You Reprogram Digital Light Strips?

13. What Is Individually Addressable Digital LED Strip?

14. How Do You Control Individually Addressable Digital LED Light Strips?

15. Can I Use Digital LED Light Strip Without Controller?

16. Is Digital LED Light Strip More Difficult To Install?

17. How Do I Digital LED Tape To My Phone?

18. What Kind Of Waterproof Index Can You Offer Digital LED Tape?

19. What Kind LED Chips Are Used By Digital LED Strip Manufacturers?

20. What Is The Difference Between IP20/33, IP55, IP65, & IP67 In Digital LED Tape?

21. Can I Order Custom Design PCB Board For My Digital LED Tape?

22. Is Ageing Test Mandatory Before Delivering Digital LED Tapes?

23. What Type Of PCB Board Do You Use For Manufacturing Digital LED Light Strip?

24. What Is Difference Between DC12V and DC24V Digital LED Strip Lights?

25. How Do You Cut Digital LED Light Strips?

26. Can I Solder To Connect Digital LED Light Strips?

27. How Do I Connect Two Digital LED Strips Without Soldering?

28. How To Choose The Right Connectors For Digital LED Light Strips?

29. How To Choose A High-Quality Digital LED Light Strip?

30. What Happens If Your Digital LED Tape Lights Fail To Turn On?

31. Can Digital LED Light Strip Catch Fire?

32. Can I Leave Digital LED Tape On All Night?

33. Are Digital Light Strips Bad For Your Eyes?

34. Do Digital Light Strips Attract Bugs?

 

1. What Is A Digital LED Strip?

Digital LED Strip, also known as addressable LED strip, programmable LED strip, or smart LED strip, is an intelligent light strip comprising of ICs, which facilitate complete customization with respect to brightness, color, speed, and timing of individual LEDs.

Each LED on a digital LED light strip can be individually controlled with the help of pre-programmed controllers or DMX software.

Available in both water-resistant as well as non-water resistant variants, digital LED strips have become extremely popular because of the flexibility it offers.

 

2. How Do Digital LED Strips Work?

The digital LED strip lights work in a completely different way than their analog counterparts.

Digital light strips consist of a dedicated IC for each LED and they work only when digitally coded data is sent to the chips.

Thus, it implies that you can individually control each LED, which gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of brightness, color combination, speed, and timing.

However, digital LED tapes are more expensive than analog LED strips.

Digital LED strip

 

3. What Is Main Difference Between Analog And Digital LED Strips?

If you’ve been looking for digital LED strip manufacturers in China, you’ve surely come across the term analog LED strips.

Well, you’re sure to get confused with so many terminologies flying around while shopping for a decent LED strip to use in your lighting project.

There’re primarily two different kinds of LED strips in the market – analog and digital.

Analog LED strips consist of all the LEDs in parallel connection, which implies that the entire set of LEDs (RGB) works as a single unit.

You can create all sorts of colors for the entire set; however, it’s not possible to control the color or brightness of each LED individually.

Analog LED light strips are super-easy to use and an inexpensive option when it comes to achieving a decent LED lighting within a limited budget.

On the other hand, the working of digital LED strip lights is completely different from their analog counterparts.

Digital light strips comprise of a dedicated IC for each LED and they work only when digitally coded data is sent to the chips.

It is possible to control LEDs individually for exercising greater flexibility in terms of brightness, color combination, speed, and timing.

However, the digital LED tapes are more expensive than the analog LED strips.

 

4. What Are The Different Types Of Digital LED Strip Lights?

Digital LED strip suppliers like SDIP Light offer a wide range of options when it comes to choosing different variants of digital LED light strips.

Some of the common digital LED tape models (named after their ICs) include WS2811, WS2812, WS2813, TM1803, TM1809, SK6812, APA102 or APA104, and UCS.

All these alphanumeric codes show the different types of Integrated Circuit Chips or ICs used by the digital light strips.

Let us look at the three most popular digital LED tapes:

WS2811 – Available as 12V and 5V variants, this digital LED tape offers consistent color distribution across the length of the strip.

This integrated chip permits single channel control of the 3 LEDs, which implies that you won’t be able to individually control the LEDs.

WS2812B – This digital LED strip uses a serial communication system, which implies malfunctioning of a single IC completely stops the strip from functioning.

WS2813 – This is an energy efficient digital LED strip and is an improved version of its predecessor WS2812B.

WS2813 consists of a ‘Data IN’ and backup in channels, which implies that when the data-in circuit breaks, the strip can still relay signals using the backup-in channels.

However, if multiple LED chips fail at the same time, the strip will stop functioning.

Refresh rate of WS2813 is higher than WS2812B, so it’s a better choice if you intend to stream videos or are looking for better color effect.

Different Types of Digital LED Light Strip

 

5. What Is A 5050 Digital LED Strip?

Digital LED strip manufacturers use a variety of chip types to create digital LED tapes and one of the most common types of chip is 5050.

LED chips are also known as SMDs or Surface Mounted Diodes, often identified in the form of a 4-digit code, implies the LED chip’s size.

Thus, the SMDs on a 5050 digital light strip are of the size 5.0mmX5.0mm, which is large enough to include four LEDs.

The 5050 digital LED strips often house 30 or 60 LEDs/meter of the strip using 14.4 watts and 24V.

The output capacity of a 5050 digital LED light strip is between 990 and 1080 lumens/meter.

These digital LED tapes offer a smooth and bright effect under ideal conditions and used in various lighting applications such as corridor lighting, and interior lighting in bars, hotels, and restaurants.

5050 Digital LED strip

 

6. What Is The Difference Between 3528 And 5050 Digital LED Strip?

The 3528 digital LED strip comprises of SMD 3528 and since it has smaller space compared to an SMD5050, so it can house only one LED in one chip.

Thus, its brightness is lesser compared to the SMD5050 chip; however, when a higher number of 3528s are used in a strip then it can be brighter than a 5050 strip.

3528 digital LED tapes are inexpensive and used for accent lighting, under bars, tables, and cabinets, TV backlighting etc.

 

7. Are 5630 LEDs Brighter Than 5050?

5630 digital LED light strips are one of the oldest in the market but have recently emerged as an option for various lighting projects.

The size of a SMD5630 is 5.6mmX3.0mm and even though it’s chip size is smaller than SMD5050 but it’s much brighter than the latter.

A decent 5630 sourced from a reputed digital LED strip supplier such as SDIP Light comprises of 60 LEDs/meter and produce approximately 2700 lumens.

 

8. Are 5730 Brighter Than 5050 Digital LED Strips?

Yes, 5730 digital light strips are brighter than the 5050 digital LED tapes, as it comprises of powerful LEDs capable of generating greater brightness.

 

9. What Is The Difference Between 2835 And 5050 Digital LED Tape?

The size of SMD2835 LED chip is 28mmX35mm and the size of an SMD5050 is 50mmX50mm.

The 2835 digital LED light strip can produce approximately 360-720 lumens per meter of the strip; however, the brightness depends on the LED density.

On the other hand, a 5050 digital LED tape can produce approximately 1000 lumens per meter of the strip, which implies that these strips are brighter than the 2835 strips.

 

10. Do WS2815 Consume Less Current Than WS2812 Digital LED Strips?

WS2815 digital LED strips consumes lesser current than WS2812.

The current consumption of WS2815 of 30IC/meter is 0.013A/LED whereas that of a WS2812 strip of same specification is 0.06A/LED.

 

11. How To Program Digital Light Strips?

You can program digital light strips as they consist of individually addressable LEDs, which can be controlled through a mix of hardware and codes to create numerous display effects.

Using the microcontrollers like Adafruit, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and code libraries, you can create display effects as per the needs of your lighting project.

Some of the popular controllers of digital LED strip light include the following:

• SP002E 3 key mini micro RGB controller
• K-8000L 8 ports offline SD card TTL DMX512 RGB LED Strip Controller
• K-1000C offline RGBW LED pixel controller with SD Card
• H803TC Online Offline DMX Master RGB LED Strip Controller
• H803TV online Madrix master controller DVI/HDMI interface for 3D and music effect
• H801RC Offline Online 8 ports RGB LED Light Slave Controller
• H802TB DMX512 Compatible Offline Master LED Pixel Controller
• H802RA Ethernet Art-Net protocol Slave Addressable LED Controller
• H803SA 8 ports stand-alone DMX compatible RGB LED Strip Controller
• LED Dream-Color 14 key RF remote controller
• 24 Key infrared IR Remote Controller for WS2812 LED Strip
• 5v 12v 8 key 133 RF remote controller

5v 12v 8 key 133 RF Remote Controller

 

12. How Do You Reprogram Digital Light Strips?

Reprogramming the digital light strips is easier, especially if you’re using a remote control.

However, you’ll need to learn about the functions of different buttons on the remote.

Though different models of controllers and remote exist in the market but the basic reset or reprogram buttons are the same.

Here are the steps to reset or reprogram the digital light strips back to factory settings:

• Switch on the digital LED light strip and wait for a few seconds
• Now, turn off the LED strip lights but don’t turn off the remote control
• Next long-press the power button then connect the power supply
• Press the button till the digital LED strip lights are turned ON
• Now the digital LED tape turns ON and you must wait for the strip’s color to change to yellow before releasing the remote’s button
• You’ve successfully reset the digital LED light strip

 

13. What Is Individually Addressable Digital LED Strip?

An individually addressable digital LED strip has 3 unique red, green, and blue LED chips.

Users can address a single or group of LEDs to create a wide spectrum of lighting effects as per the requirements of their lighting project.

Another feature is that users can create different lighting effects in different segments of the digital LED tape at one go or different intervals.

This makes individually addressable digital LED strip lights perfectly suitable for dynamic displays like animated billboards.

Components of individually addressable digital light strips include ICs, LEDs, a controller, and a power source.

The red, blue, and green LED is controlled through dedicated ICs, which offer individual control over each LED.

The controllers have data channels for relaying commands, which differentiates it from the non-addressable LED strips.

 

14. How Do You Control Individually Addressable Digital LED Light Strips?

Individually addressable LED light strips can be controlled through controllers.

Different types of controllers are available in the market and some of the popular ones include DMX controllers, Inline Controllers, Dali controllers, single-zone RF controllers, and Multi-zone RF controllers.

Some digital LED strip manufacturers offer advanced controllers that can concurrently handle more than 500 zones.

You must choose a controller based on your budget, ease of use, lighting requirements, size, and type of the controller.

Controlling an Individually Addressable LED Light Strip

 

15. Can I Use Digital LED Light Strip Without Controller?

No, it’s not possible to use a digital LED light strip without controllers or microcontrollers such as Adafruit, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi.

 

16. Is Digital LED Light Strip More Difficult To Install?

Installing a digital LED light strip turns out to be an easy task with the right planning, even if you lack the necessary electrical experience.

The digital LED tapes come in big rolls that can be easily installed if you chalk out some essential things like the length of the tape you need for your lighting project, compatible controller, and appropriate power supply.

In order to connect one roll of the digital light strip with another or power source, you will need to use appropriate connectors.

You can also connect the strip to the power source or another strip by soldering them; however, it needs special skills so that you don’t end up damaging the strip.

Soldering is a permanent option for joining the strips with power sources or other strips, so use it only if you intend to keep the lighting arrangement for a longer time.

Digital LED light strips come with high-quality adhesive backing so sticking them on walls or ceiling doesn’t need any special electrical skills.

Check out this video for more an interesting installation of digital LED lights:

 

17. How Do I Connect Digital LED Tape To My Phone?

Connecting digital LED tape to your phone is easy, as you would need only a smartphone app to control the light strip.

Creating a variety of display effects with the help of a smartphone app is a child’s play as you will be able to change speed, color, brightness, and mode at will.

 The biggest USP of using digital light strip is that they’re compatible with both Android as well as iOS apps.

You will need to just scan the QR code on the strip’s box and download the compatible app to start operating the digital LED strip.

 

18. What Kind Of Waterproof Index Can You Offer For Digital LED Tapes?

Reputed and reliable digital LED strip manufacturers in China offer the following waterproofing index for digital LED tapes:

Non-waterproof – IP20/33

Silicon glue surface covering –IP65

Silicon tube – IP67

Silicon tube (inside fitting consisting silicon glue) -IP68

 

19. What Kind LED Chips Do Digital LED Strip Manufacturers Use?

As far as the quality of LED chips are concerned, we use the best in the world i.e. Epistar LED chips.

 

20. What Is The Difference Between IP20/33, IP55, IP65, & IP67 In Digital LED Tape?

IP20/33 – non-waterproof grade digital LED light strips consisting of a bare strip with self-adhesive backing and is used at dry locations or indoors.

IP65 – Waterproof grade digital LED tape, which uses a Gel to cover the top surface and self-adhesive backing.

IP65 grade strips are protected against water sprays from all directions.

IP67 – Waterproof grade bare strip passing through a hollow silicone tube while both the ends are sealed.

IP67 grade strips can withstand complete water submersion for a short time.

IP68 – Waterproof grade bare strip that’s passed through a silicone tube of U tube and is covered with silicone gel at the top.

Sealed at both ends for enhanced protection and durability, which is perfect for underwater lighting.

 

21. Can I Order Custom Design PCB Board For My Digital LED Tape?

Yes, you can order custom design PCB board for your digital LED tape.

Our digital LED strip factory has the engineers and machines capable of designing PCB’s for both rigid as well as flexible digital LED strip.

SDIP Light takes both ODM and OEM orders from across the world.

 

22. Is Ageing Test Mandatory Before Delivering Digital LED Tapes?

Ageing is an imperative quality control process and digital LED strip manufacturers carry out the test at least 8 hours before packing the strip lights.

This test even prevents a wide range of problems like dimming, poor soldering, flashing, dead LED, and a several other faults.

Ageing test comprises of color temperature inspection, inspection of current, voltage inspection, and wattage inspection.

Quality control teams conduct ‘ageing test’ on every digital LED light strip, which helps them comply with industry standards.

 

23. What Type Of PCB Board Do You Use For Manufacturing Digital LED Light Strip?

Chinese digital LED strip manufacturers use copper PCB board (2 ounces) and source the PCB from the other suppliers.

SDIP Light is renowned for using premium-quality PCB boards for manufacturing digital LED light strips.

PCBs used for manufacturing digital LED tapes are UL approved and are suitable for all types of lighting projects.

 

24. What Is the Difference Between DC12V and DC24V Digital LED Strip Lights?

The primary difference between DC12V and DC24V digital LED strips is the unique electric circuits.

A DC12V digital LED strip can be cut into 3 separate strips in a series where every digital LED strip has a different cutting length.

For instance, if you’re cutting an SMD3528-60LED/M-12V, you can do it after every 5cm; however, you can cut every 2.5 cm while using an SMD3528-120LED/M-DC12V.

On the other hand, DC24V digital LED tapes can be cut after every six LEDs in series.

The cutting length varies with the type of digital LED light strip.

For instance, if you’re using SMD3528-60LED/M-24V, you can cut after every 10cm.

On the other hand, you can cut the strip every 5cm while using SMD3528-120LED/M-DC24V LED light strips.

Voltage drop in the DC24V customized LED strip is half of what a DC12V LED strip experiences.

Thus, DC24V is preferred for medium and large-scale digital LED strip lighting projects.

DC12V digital light strips are generally used in cars and other small lighting projects.

 

25. How Do You Cut Digital LED Light Strips?

Cutting a digital LED light strip is easy as all you need to do is follow the cut mark on the strip and cut the strip into desired lengths.

However, you must not cut the strip anywhere else other than along the cut mark, as you will end up damaging the strip.

Watch this clip before cutting a digital LED strip:

 

26. Can I Solder To Connect Digital LED Light Strips?

Yes, you can always solder to connect two digital LED light strips.

In fact, it’s considered to be the best way to connect two LED strips because there’s no room for loose connection once you solder the strips along the soldering point.

 

27. How Do I Connect Two Digital LED Strips Without Soldering?

The only way to connect two digital LED strips without soldering is by using connectors.

Variety of connectors is available in the market and you can choose the one that suits your lighting needs and strip type.

 

28. How To Choose The Right Connectors For Digital LED Light Strips?

As mentioned earlier, two digital LED tapes can be connected without soldering by using appropriate connectors.

Connectors are even used for connecting a digital LED strip to the power source, especially if you intend to avoid the hassles of soldering.

Below is the list of connectors that you can use for connecting Digital LED strips:

• Waterproof DC Plug
• Solder-Free LED Wire Connector
• Female DC Plug
• Solder-Free LED Strip Box Connector
• Hippo Buckle LED Strip Light Connector
• Waterproof RGB LED Connector

5-pin-led-strip-light-connector

 

29. How To Choose A High-Quality Digital LED Light Strip?

Before choosing a high-quality digital LED light strip, you need to search for reputed and reliable digital LED strip manufacturers or digital LED strip suppliers in China.

This is important to ensure that you get quality products at affordable prices.

Quality and pricing options galore when you start searching for high-quality digital LED light strip.

Factors you must consider while choosing a high-quality digital LED light strip to include the following:

1. PFC

Laying copper and Rolled copper plate are the two options available.

Many prefer the rolled copper variant as they consider it to be better.

PFC consists of single-sided as well as double-sided board.

2. LED Chip

Different types of LED chips are available and some brands have maintained a good reputation all along.

Using the SMDs that accommodate at least 3 chips are better than the ones house a single chip as they are brighter and have a greater longevity.

3. LED Color

High-quality LED emits purer colors because of the absence of chromatic aberration.

Good encapsulation guarantees color uniformity in the light emitted by the LEDs

4. Brightness

Lumen specification of a digital LED strip determines its price and you should always buy the one that complies with your project’s brightness specifications.

 

30. What Happens If Your Digital LED Tape Lights Fail To Turn On?

A digital LED tape can fail to turn on because of multiple reasons and some of the common ones include the following:

• Forgetting to turn on the lights
• Not plugging in the power source
• Dead batteries
• Loose connections
• Excessive insulation

You must check the power connections and fasten all the connectors and wires to their power and data sources properly.

You can even choose to opt for a new battery or power source.

Stripping the insulation at least ½ inches at both the ends can also solve the problem.

 

31.  Can Digital LED Light Strip Catch Fire?

Technically, it can catch fire but the chances are very small that they never will.

Digital LED light strips get heated but they rarely lead to a fire.

However, as a precautionary measure, you must ensure that the strips are connected to appropriate power sources and that they’re installed at properly ventilated locations.

 

32. Can I Leave Digital LED Tape On All Night?

Yes, it’s absolutely safe to leave a digital LED tape On all night.

 

33. Are Digital Light Strips Bad For Your Eyes?

No, digital light strips are not bad for your eyes but still, you must avoid staring at them for long hours at a stretch.

 

34. Do Digital Light Strips Attract Bugs?

Yes, like all other light sources, digital light strips can also attract bugs.