Building a Colour-Changing Sign
Where RGB stops and RGBW starts, why a colour sign needs more depth than a white one, and when the control IC has to be inside the module.
A colour-changing sign is not a white sign with a coloured face. The three dies inside the module have to blend before the light reaches the acrylic, which changes the depth arithmetic, and whether you need per-module addressing changes which of the three models applies.
Building a Colour-Changing Sign In 5 Steps
Decide whether white is a requirement
RGB white is a mix and it reads as tinted next to a real white module.
If the sign has to run white for most of the year, specify RGBW, where white is a separate die.
Recheck the depth for colour blending
A depth band that works in white can show red, green and blue fringing.
The 3636RGBW publishes a 150 mm minimum for this reason. Colour work generally wants the deeper end of a band.
Decide if each module has to be addressed
Effects designed for pixel control cannot be produced by a run switched as one.
The 6515RGB/W carries the IC inside the potting. The other two models are driven as a run.
Work the cascade limit before the effect design
An effect designed across 80 modules on a 50-module chain will not run.
The 6515RGB/W and 6615RGBW publish 50 modules per chain; the 3636RGBW publishes 20 single-ended and 50 double-ended.
Fix the control protocol before ordering
Modules and controller bought separately rarely speak the same protocol.
Confirm the controller against the module in writing. For continuous runs, the DMX512 neon flex is the addressable product here.
The Products Referenced Above
JDS-6515RGB/W
Addressable RGB/RGBW module with a built-in IC, 65 x 15 x 10 mm, IP68, for medium-sized signs 80 to 120 mm deep.
See the specification
JDS-6615RGB/RGBW
6.5 mm-thin RGB/RGBW module with a bat-wing lens, 60 lm, IP67, 50 modules per chain.
See the specification
JDS-3636RGB/RGBW
1.44 W RGB/RGBW module at 100 lm/W, IP67, nine pieces per metre, for signs deeper than 150 mm.
See the specification
DMX512 Neon Flex Strip, 60 LEDs/m
DMX512-addressable RGBW neon flex, 60 LEDs/m, 24 V, 450 lm/m, cut every 100 mm, 5 m per roll.
See the specificationBuilding a Colour-Changing Sign Questions
Is RGBW worth the extra wattage?
Can colour modules be dimmed?
Start On Building a Colour-Changing Sign
Send the reference, the quantity and the destination market. A recommended starting point with the matching specifications comes back by email.