LED Strip Studio LEC3 User manual
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LEC 3
LED Ethernet Controller 3
SPI MATRIX
Art-Net LED Controller
POWERED LEC
Powered LED Ethernet Controller
www.ledstripstudio.com
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Contents
General information
Package content
Safety instructions
Disposal of your old device
Trademark credits
Copyright
Technical details
LEC3, SPI-Matrix and Powered LED Ethernet Controller difference
What can you control using the devices?
LSS LED Strips, Hardware Specication
LED Strip Studio Software
LED Ethernet Controller 3 (LEC 3) device
LEC 3 Front connectors
LEC 3 Rear connectors
LEC 3 dimensions
SPI Matrix
Powered LED Ethernet Controller
LEC 3 Ethernet board DMX control
Software DMX control
Table of contents
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LED Strip Studio
-Ethernet and signal connection scheme when using LEC3
Connecting TM, WS, APA or SK family LED Strips with LEC3
Direct connection
Separate power supplies (more than 5A per LEC 3 output)
Connecting LEC3 with WS2801, WS2803 LED Pixels
Detailed cable-connection for LED strips
Recommended wire types
Signal cables
Power cables 110-230V
Power cables 5V DC
LEC3 control modes
Ethernet mode
ArtNet mode
ArtNet Pixel Mode
ArtNet SD-card mode
DMX Mode
Auto-play mode
Testing mode
DMX Out
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This manual contains important instructions for the safe operation and installation of
the unit. Read and follow the safety instructions and all other instructions.
Keep this manual handy as a reference for operating procedures and safety information.
Specications in this manual and design are subject to possible modications
without notice due to improvements.
The LEC3 package consists of:
• LEC3 controller
• L-shape mount brackets set including screws
• DIN rail mount including screws
• 5x suitable 4-pin 5mm pitch cable side pluggable terminal block
• micro SD card
• micro SD card to SD card adapter
• micro SD card USB reader
Installation should be performed only by a competent person or professional electrician.
Make sure that the installation complies with the standards and rules that apply in your
country.
Do not use the device if it seems to be damaged.
Use the device only as described in this user manual. Any other use or use under other
operating conditions is improper and may result in personal injury or property damage.
No liability will be assumed for damages resulting from improper use.
Never open the controller and do not attempt repairs yourself.
Do not place the device close to heat sources and always ensure enough ventilation.
Do not place the unit on surfaces that are heat sensitive.
General information
Package content
Safety instructions
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This device has been designed for indoor use only. Do not expose the unit to direct
sunlight. Do not allow this product to meet liquids. Electrical shock could result. Also,
damage to the product, smoke, and overheating could result from contact with liquids.
Clean the device components that are accessible from the outside regularly. The clean-
ing frequency depends on the operating environment: damp, smoky or particularly dirty
environ ments can cause greater accumulation of dirt on the device components. Clean
with a dry soft cloth. Stubborn dirt can be removed with a slightly dampened cloth.
Never use solvents or alcohol for cleaning.
Establish all connections when the unit is switched off. Use the shortest possible
high-quality cables for all connections. Make sure that cables cannot cause a trip hazard.
Never touch the plug contacts with sharp or metal objects.
Ensure that plastic bags, packaging, etc. are disposed of properly and are not within
reach of babies and young children. Choking hazard!
Ensure that children do not detach any small parts (e.g. screws, connectors or the like)
from the unit. They could swallow the pieces and choke!
Never let children unattended use electrical devices.
Dispose of this device through an approved waste disposal rm or through your local
waste facility. When discarding the device, comply with the rules and regulations that
apply in yourcountry. If in doubt, consult your local waste disposal facility.
Windows® is the registered trademarks of Microsoft® Corporation.
Art-Net™ – Designed by and Copyright Artistic License Holdings Ltd.
Madrix™ –registered trademarks of inoage GmbH
All other products mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Showtacle Ltd. © 2018 All rights reserved.
Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior written permission is prohibited.
Specications in this manual and design are subject to change without notice.
Disposal of your old device
Trademark Credits
Copyright
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This document will introduce you to correct hardware connection of LED strips and will
provide the most important technical details about LED Strip Studio (LSS) software and
LED Ethernet Controller 3 (LEC3), SPI-Matrix and Powered LED Ethernet Controller devices.
In the following table you can see the basic differences between all 3 devices.
(*) SPI-Matrix can be upgraded to LEC3 to support LED Strip Studio software.
Contact us for more details at info@ledstripstudio.com.
Generally, SPI-Matrix is the same as LEC3, but without the support of LED Strip Studio
software – you can’t use it as LED Strip Studio software output device.
Powered LEC Ethernet Controller (Powered LEC) is the same as LEC3, but with integrated
power source (320W, 5V, 60A by default, 12 or 24V version on request).
Technical details
Art-Net
(4096 individual LED
pixels over ArtNet)
LED Strip Studio
software
Integrated power
source
LED Ethernet Controller 3
(LEC 3) SPI Matrix Powered LED Ethernet
Controller
*
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There are many kinds of digital LED lights you can control using LEC3.
You can control digital LED strips, digital LED pixels or any other special digital lights.
They are also sometimes called dream or individual addressable LED lights.
We use “digital LEDs” or “digital pixels” in the text to address all kind of digital lights
(like LED strips, pixels, digital bulbs, …). Digital LEDs can use different kind of chip and
output protocol to control RGB LED color.
LEC3 is now able to use LED strips with SK, TM, WS or APA chips (and many more), but
we update the rmware to work with all latest control protocols.
You can use LEC3 in 4 different modes:
• Ethernet (software)
• ArtNet
• DMX
• Stand-alone (SD-card mode)
ArtNet and DMX mode can work in two different ways: Pixel or SD-card player.
In Pixel mode the DMX channels are converted directly to pixels (3 channels for every
pixel, maximum is 170 pixels per ArtNet Universe). In SD-card player you can only trigger
animation LED les stored on SD-card (so you don’t have to use complicated ArtNet or
DMX solution with tons of cables).
What can you control using the devices?
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LSS LED Strips hardware specication
Dimensions
Strip type
Number of LEDs
IC
LED pitch
LED type
Shortest working segment
Colors
Color channels
Grayscale
Voltage
Maximal current
LED Size [mm]
LED Viewing angle
LED Luminous intensity [mcd]
LED Wavelength [nm]
Color temperature
Expected lifetime
Reel weight (5m LED strip)
Storage temperature
Operating temperature range
Waterproof
Warranty
width: 14.5mm, thickness: 4mm, length: 5020mm
STCL LED Strip 42
42 LEDs/meter
SK6812 (TM1809 and WS2812B compatible)
23.8 mm
5050, ROHS compliant lead-free soldering compatible
1 LED, 23.8 mm
Full color, 24 bits, 16.7 million colors
3 channels: Red, Green, Blue
8 bit, 256 levels for every channel
5V
1.5A/meter at full white
5.0*5.0*1.6
120°
R: 700-1000, G: 1500-2200, B: 700-1000
R: 620-625, G: 522.5-525, B:467.5-470
Variable, set by RGB channels
30000+ hours
230 g
-40° ~ +80°
-20° ~ +50°
Yes, IP65, protected by silicon tube
1 year
LED strips produced for LED Strip Studio are high quality LED strips developed complete-
ly by LED Strip Studio company. Here you can nd basic technical details for the strips:
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LED Strip Studio Software
LED Strip Studio software is the “main brain” of LED Strip Studio system.
It can be used to play video, picture or even live stream on video LED strips
(or LED pixels). This is recommended PC conguration for LED Strip Studio system.
Of course, if the conguration is better, the software will work smoother.
Operating system
Processor
Graphic card
RAM
Hard disk
Required software
Grabber card for live streamrange
MIDI control
OSC control
Touch screen
Windows 7, 8, 10
Dual Core (Intel Core2Duo and better)
Dedicated - nVidia or ATI/AMD
(but new Intel HD cards are also ne)
4 GB
200 MB
DirectX 9.0c, Apple QuickTime
Yes, HDMI – BlackMagic Intensity PRO
supported
supported
supported
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LEC 3 - LED Ethernet Controller 3
LED Ethernet Controller 3 (LEC 3) is main controller for digital LEDs (pixels, strips, bulbs,
…). Using integrated DMX output, you can also use it to control analog lights (like strips,
pixels, PARs, …). This provides you with convenient way to control all kind of LED lights
using one controller.
It integrates Ethernet, DMX and ArtNet controller and stand-alone player for digital lights.
It can control up to 4096 LEDs (4 outputs, each 1024 LEDs), but also it can send signal
to additional LSS Distributors. Additional LSS Distributors can be used to extend total
number of LEDs controlled by one LSS Ethernet to 8096 (distributors support up to
4000 LEDs).
LEC 3 device
Power
Maximal Number of LED
pixels to control
Connection
IP address range
LED Strip Outputs
SD-card
Supported IC
Firmware
5V, 0.5A
4096 (8096 with additional Distributor)
Ethernet IPv4, DMX In / Out
Any (192.168.1.1-192.168.1.255 recommended)
4, each for up to 1024 RGB/768 RGBW LEDs
Up to 32GB, standard FAT32
TM, WS, APA (and more)
Upgradable
(we’re adding support for new kind of LED IC chips)
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LEC 3 - Front Connectors
LEC 3 front view
Ethernet
Status
Buttons
IP/DMX Add.
SD-card
DMX In/Out IC
DMX LED
To control Ethernet board using LSS software you have to
connect your PC with Ethernet board using Ethernet cable.
Three LEDs which show device status:
Green – power is on
Yellow – DMX or ArtNet is present
(fast blink for DMX, slow blink for ArtNet)
Red – if on, LSS software is connected to the device
over Ethernet
Allows you to select le to play in auto-play mode and also
to run test patterns (in case the SD card is not inserted).
The reset button sets the device to factory default settings
DIP switch allows you to set IP and DMX address.
In auto-play mode can be used to set animation to play.
FAT32 micro SD-card for storing LED videos/animations.
You can trigger them using DMX, ArtNet or use them in
auto play mode.
You can use DMX In/Out to control LEC3 or LSS software.
DMX out can work in through or output mode
(it’s a bit more advanced comparing to standard DMX).
Indicates, whether the DMX is in though mode
(typically in DMX control mode).
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LEC 3 - Rear Connectors
LEC 3 rear view
Power in 5-24V DC
Output 1 - 4
Output LED 1 - 4
Power connector for power source
Powered SPI output for LED strips.
Output status indicator – ashes when SPI signal
is being sent out.
LEC 3 already contains one LSS Distributor with address 0.
That’s why you can directly connect LED strips to LEC 3.
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LEC 3 Dimensions
Side View
Back View
Front View
Bottom View
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SPI Matrix
SPI-Matrix is pure ArtNet output device. It can’t be used by LED Strip Studio software
directly (but you can export scenes to SD card LN2 and LNT les and use them). You can
use it using following software/hardware controllers:
• Madrix
• Chamsys
• MA-Grand
• Any other standard ArtNet controller
SPI-Matrix hardware is the same as LEC3 device, only the license key for LED Strip
Studio software is not integrated. It can be used as SD card player though.
SPI Matrix device
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Powered LED Ethernet Controller
Powered LED Ethernet Controller is basically LEC3 device with integrated power source.
PSU parameters are 320W, 5V, 60A (other voltage and power source type on request).
It’s ideal solution for rental businesses, which want to use digital led lights (strips, bars,
pixels, …).
Powered LEC device
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LEC 3 Ethernet board DMX control
Software DMX control
It is possible to use LEC3 also without the computer. You can play animations from
SD-card and switch between them using DMX. Here are DMX control channels:
1. Brightness – brightness of drawn image
2. Animation – choose animation from 0 to 255 (up to 256 animations).
3. Animation speed – default speed is 128.
4. Red (change color)
5. Green (change color)
6. Blue (change color)
7. White (change color) – used for RGBW strips
Red, Green, Blue and White are used to change color of the image (not to control color
channel intensity!). Just make sure, you use RGBW strips in
It is also possible to control the LSS software using DMX. Please read software manual
for more details. But the DMX signal can be connected to DMX input of LEC3 device
(and it’s being sent to LSS software over Ethernet).
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LED Strip Studio - Ethernet and signal connection
scheme when using LEC 3
You can use several LEC3 devices connected to Ethernet network to handle more than
4096 individual LED pixels (even 50000 and more). Use standard Ethernet switch and
Ethernet cables to do that.
Typical signal connection of LED Strip Studio
...
...
Ethernet
switch
Computer
LEC 1 LEC 2 LEC N
Signal group 1
...
Signal group 2
...
Signal group 3
...
Signal group 4
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Connecting TM, WS, APA or SK family LED strips
You can use 5-24V power supply depending on used digital strips or pixels. The power
source can be connected directly to LEC3. The SPI outputs are powered and LEC3 can
handle up to 5A output power per output (thus you can use up to 20A power source).
In case you use more power than 5A per output, LEC3 contains polyfuse (a.k.a. poly-
switch or resettable fuse), which will prevent destruction and lower the power (you’ll see,
the brightness of your LEDs will be lower).
Direct connection
Following scheme shows how to connect SPI digital LEDs (TM, WS or SK family digital
LEDs), power source and LEC3:
Power source, TM/WS/SK LED strips and LEC3 board connection scheme
LED strip TM/WS/SK
GND +Vcc
GND
Data
+Vcc
Cloc k
Data
+Vcc
+
GND
Power supply
5-24 V
GND
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If you notice, GND is connected to power source and to LEC3. But please connect only
+Vcc of the LED strip with LEC3. It might activate the polyfuse and disable signal output.
Notes:
• You need to connect LED strip + and GND to power source.
• If the LED strip is longer than 3m (typically), we recommend wiring both ends to the
power source to prevent intensity loss. Intensity loss is caused by voltage drop.
• Clock Ethernet output is connected only when using e.g. WS2801 or APA102
chip-based LED strips.
• When more power supplies are used, you can simply connect them to LED strip
(e.g. usually digital LED strips require power boost every 5m to not lose brightness).
Separate power supplies ( more than 5A per LEC 3 output )
Following scheme shows how to connect SPI digital LEDs (TM, WS or SK family digital
LEDs), power source and LEC3:
Using separate power supply with TM, WS or SK strips
LED strip TM/WS/SK
GND +Vcc
GND
Data
+Vcc
Cloc k
Data
+Vcc
+
GND
Power supply
5-24 V
+
GND
Power supply
5-24 V
GND
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