How to work with DMX ? – PSL2

How to work with DMX? – PSL2 #

DMX is a communication protocol used across many industries. In show business, lighting, moving heads, lasers, and most stage equipment use DMX to some degree to control behavior. In smart-home applications, DMX can control everything from curtains to lights to HVAC. In our case, we typically use it to trigger effects stored on an SD card and pre‑programmed in LSS4 software.

Pixel Mode #

You can directly map up to 170 pixels and control them using three DMX channels per pixel for RGB pixels. If your pixels use a different number of channels (for example RGBW uses 4 channels), you can change the pixel size accordingly and the number of available pixels will change (e.g., RGBW / 4 channels → up to 128 pixels).

The device also lets you group multiple LEDs into a single pixel, which is useful when you need control of larger segments with only one POWERED SPI LED 2 device.

SD‑Card Mode #

When you need DMX to trigger stored effects, use SD‑Card mode. Effects are programmed in LSS4 software and uploaded over the network to the device. SD‑Card mode requires only seven DMX channels to control the essential parameters:

1. Speed
2. Animation
3. Brightness
4. Red
5. Green
6. Blue
7. White

Daisy chaining of multiple devices #

The device includes both DMX IN and DMX OUT, so you can daisy‑chain multiple units. Make sure each device has its own unique DMX address to avoid address conflicts. As DMX standard, you can have up to 32 devices in a row, after which you need some extra gear if you need longer chains.

DMX Synchronization #

Beyond standard daisy-chaining, you can synchronize content across multiple devices using DMX. One device is configured as the Master and creates a ZONE; multiple Slave devices can be assigned to that zone. Slaves listen to synchronization data from the Master and play effects across devices in perfect sync.