64x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel - 4mm pitch

This is a 64x32 square RGB LED matrix panel with 4mm pitch. These type of panels are normally used to make video walls.

The LEDs on this panel are very close to each other (a 4mm pitch) so you won’t have be really close to appreciate it. It's made to look good indoors, even with a wide-angle view (160 degrees) and look great in ambient light.

This matrix has 2048 bright RGB LEDs arranged in a 64x32 grid on the front. On the back there is a PCB with two IDC connectors (one input, one output: in theory you can chain these together) and 12 16-bit latches that allow you to drive the display with a 1:16 scan rate.

These displays are technically 'chainable' - connect one output to the next input,  Arduino example code does not support this. It requires a high speed processor and more RAM than the Arduino has!

This matrix has 2048 bright RGB LEDs arranged in a 64x32 grid on the front. On the back there are two IDC connectors (one input, one output: in theory you can chain these together) and 12 16-bit latches that allow you to drive the display with a 1:16 scan rate.

These panels require 13 digital pins (6 bit data, 7 bit control) and a good 5V supply, up to 4A per panel. We suggest our 6A regulated 5V adapter and then connecting a 2.1mm jack.

These displays are designed to be driven by FPGAs or other high speed processors: they do not have built in PWM control of any kind. Instead, you're supposed to redraw the screen over and over to 'manually' PWM the whole thing. On a 16 MHz Arduino Mega, we managed to squeeze 12-bit color (4096 colors) with 40% CPU usage but this display would really shine if driven by any FPGA, CPLD, Propeller, XMOS or other high speed multi-core controller. The good news is that the display is pre-white balanced with nice uniformity so if you turn on all the LEDs it's not a particularly tinted white.

Of course, Adafruit wouldn't leave you with a datasheet and a "good luck!". They have a full wiring diagrams and working Arduino library code with examples from drawing pixels, lines, rectangles, circles and text. You'll get your color blasting within the hour! On an Arduino, you'll need 16 digital pins, and about 3200 bytes of RAM to buffer the 12-bit color image.

RAM & Processor Requirements

Keep in mind that these displays were designed to be driven by FPGAs or other high speed processors: they do not have built in PWM control of any kind. Instead, you're supposed to redraw the screen over and over to 'manually' PWM the whole thing.

You'll need about 1600 bytes of RAM to buffer the 12-bit color image. You cannot use this size panel with an Arduino UNO (ATmega328) or ATmega32u4 - you need a chip with more RAM! These displays are technically 'chainable' - connect one output to the next input - as long as you have the RAM and CPU to handle it

This display does best with a high speed, high RAM microcontroller like a SAMD21, SAMD51, ESP32, etc. 8-bit micros are going to struggle if they work at all. The good news is that the display is pre-white balanced with nice uniformity so if you turn on all the LEDs it's not a particularly tinted white.

Specifications

• 5V regulated power input, ~4A max (all LEDs on)
• 1/16 scan rate
• Indoor display, 160 degree visibility
• Displays are 'chainable' - connect one output to the next input - but the Arduino example code does not support this yet

Notes

• The back of the matrix will either be green or black
• This product may come with one or two power connections
• There may be a short coupling data cable installed in the center
• you cannot use an Arduino UNO to drive this size