LED light strips change color by utilizing multiple diodes within each light, each emitting a single color. The way these diodes are powered determines the perceived color.
How Color-Changing LEDs Work
Here's a breakdown of how color change is achieved:
- Multiple Diodes: Each LED in a color-changing strip contains several diodes. These diodes are typically red, green, and blue (RGB), but may include others depending on the desired color range.
- Individual Color Emission: Each diode is designed to emit only one specific color of light.
- Electricity Control: The color change happens as electricity is passed from one diode to another. As mentioned in the reference, "As electricity passes from diode to diode, the LED will appear to change colors."
- Color Mixing: By varying the intensity of electricity supplied to each diode, the resulting colors are mixed, creating a range of hues. For instance:
- Powering only the red diode results in a red light.
- Activating the red and green diodes simultaneously at equal intensities produces yellow light.
- Activating red, green, and blue diodes at equal intensities produces white light.
- Control Mechanism: LED strip controllers, often using a remote or smartphone app, precisely manage the electricity flow to each diode to produce specific colors and effects.
Examples
Here are a few examples of how colors are created in an RGB LED strip:
- Red: Only the red diode is fully powered.
- Green: Only the green diode is fully powered.
- Blue: Only the blue diode is fully powered.
- Cyan: The green and blue diodes are powered equally.
- Magenta: The red and blue diodes are powered equally.
- Yellow: The red and green diodes are powered equally.
- White: All red, green, and blue diodes are powered equally.
Practical Insights
- Variety of Colors: The precise control over individual diodes makes it possible to create a vast palette of colors.
- Dynamic Effects: Controllers can rapidly cycle through colors, create gradients, or produce flashing patterns by adjusting power to the LEDs.
- Customization: Many LED strips come with user-friendly software that enables the user to customize color combinations and effects.
- Dimming: Along with color, the overall brightness can be altered by reducing the power supplied to all the diodes.
In summary, color-changing LED light strips achieve their effect through a combination of multiple single-color diodes and precise electrical control over those diodes, as the electricity passes between the diodes.
