Testing Color Output to Find an Issue

Yesterday we noticed that the colors displayed in the animations we were running we off. Today we are testing the display of full values of Red, Green, and Blue. Each type of RGB LED Pixel can use different libraries, color orders, and gamma values. For example, our Straight 12mm Diffused RGB LED pixels use the WS2801 library and the GRB color order. If the software or hardware any where along the signal chain gets that wrong, the panel output will not look right.

PixelPusher

1. Review PixelPusher configuration file, pixel.rc, for inconsistent color order settings
2. Run pixelpusher_colourpicker sketch in Processing to set specific colors
3. Display full R, G, B on panel.

PixelPusher Results: PASS

Everything works as expected.

PixelController 2.1.0-RC1

1. Review config.properties for correct settings
2. Run PixelController with PixelPusher’s ArtNetBridge.jar
3. Display full R, G, B on panel.

Settings

• Generator Layer 1: COLOR FADE
• Select Colorset: RGB
• Generator Speed: 0

Using the Generator Speed control, you can set it to a lower number ex: 50 to let the animation run slowly. When the color you want is displayed, set the speed back to 0.

PixelController 2.1.0-RC1 Results: FAIL

The first 170 pixels (Universe 6) are not the expected color, but the other universes are. Why 170? ArtNet or DMX Universes are 512 Channels. 512 channels / 3 channels per Pixel (R,G,B values) = 170 Pixels per Universe.

PixelController 2.0.0

To see if the issue is only in the bleeding edge version of PixelController, we redo the test using the last stable release, version 2.0.0.

1. Use config.properties from 2.1.0-RC1 installation to avoid new errors
2. Repeat color testing process above.

PixelController 2.0.0 Results: FAIL

The Panel displays same issues as 2.1.0-RC1. In addition, PixelController does not stop the animation when Generator Speed is set to 0.

Next Steps

Time to look at the source and submit an issue on Github to neophob.

We’ve also reached out to the PixelPusher Forum to see if anyone else has experienced this.