Are you bored of the regular color spectrums in your LED strip Lights? How can you introduce some DIY colors to your LED strips to give your home a beautiful look? LED light strips can boost the look of your room, especially when the colors fit together with the décor. So, let us check out the best ways to DIY the color of the LED strips at your home!
Creating DIY Colors With Your LED Strip
Most LED strips can be categorized into multi-color and single-color variants. Multi-color LED strips to include Dreamcolor and RGB strip lights. You can learn how to sequence individual Dreamcolor LEDs as well. Dreamcolor LED strip lights are also known as rainbow RGB strip lights. They are often designed with an additional black IC chip added to a group of 3 LEDs. This pattern can show multicolors chasing in a single line, similar to the way we see a rainbow.
On RGB strips, each LED light piece will consist of green, red, & blue chips. They have the capability to radiate the same colors when lightened up individually. However, they can also emit other colors when two or more of these chips are combined in a certain ratio.
Some LED strip lights tend to place high-quality IC chips within the chips of these RGB strips. Here, each of these IC chips can be matched to a definitive pixel point. So, you can adjust the brightness or color of these pixel points in order to achieve striking animations. You can create color-based animations like shooting stars, horse-running, waterfall, and so much more.
Simple RGB strips cannot achieve these significant animations.
Using Remote Control For DIY Color Effects
Depending on the LED strip light brand, the remote you own can be a bit different. However, the button and usage pattern tends to be similar. In order to DIY your LED strip light, start by perfectly installing it in your desired location. Once the installation is complete, pick the remote, and you can find 20 present static mode colors. You can select any color for your strip light from these options.
You will find a DIY mode on the remote denoted by a button. Start by pressing up & down arrows. This will help enhance or diminish the base color’s intensity, which includes green, red, & blue. This will show a rich color hue on the LED strips.
When you hit the DIY option on your remote, the resulting color would be white. This suggests that the blue, red, & green colors are at their maximum capacity. So, the key is to bring the pixels down to complete zero for the RGB strip. It will seem that the LED light has been turned off. But, remember, it is on, only the intensity is zero.
Next, push up the buttons as needed, and you can change the intensity to create your own DIY colors.
In order to select or change the desired color, follow the given steps:
- Press the remote’s DIY button
- Next, long press on the remote’s arrow keys. This will help lock in the color and the intensity you need.
- You need to press your remote’s DIY button once again.
When you long press on the remote’s arrow keys, the color change is obvious. However, if you simply short press, the changes won’t be obvious. This will cause you to think that the strip’s DIY option might not work.
Most RGB remote controllers feature preset DIY buttons. Depending on the number of color settings, you can increase or decrease the intensity of the light as required. However, for a more customized set-up, you need to use an application-based LED strip light.
Understanding The Color Theory Before You DIY
Before you create your desired DIY colors, you need to understand the color basics.
- Complementary Colors:
Complementary colors are two colors falling on the opposite spectrum of the color band. For example, red and green are complementary colors along with yellow and violet.
- Complementary Colors (Split):
This color spectrum is comprised of 3 colors. In this option, one color is matched with two adjacent colors in a complementary spectrum. For example, the yellow-green or blue-green spectrum can be combined with red.
- Analogous Colors:
Analogous colors are the 3 colors that align next to one another on a color spectrum. For example, this combination can be blue, green, and blue-green.
- Triadic Colors:
Triadic colors are 3 colors set equally apart within the color spectrum. For example, these colors can be orange, green, & violet.
- Double or Tetradic Complementary Colors:
These colors are a combination of 4 colors. They form two sets, with each set being a complementary color. You can pair green and red with blue and orange.
This is a complete rundown of the color spectrum theory. Understanding these colors will help you determine the perfect mix & help you match the LED strip Lights to get the desired hue.
Now, you also need to understand that mixing colored lights can be different from mixing colored solids. Light can be adjusted depending on the preferred brightness. It can also be mixed to create a whole new color.
Decoding the Additive & Subtractive Color Ideology
Additive color lighting presents itself in the primary RGB lighting, which includes green, red, & blue. According to this theory, you can create your desired hue by fading down or fading up the LED lights. This color mixing process helps you get deeper colors and hues with your LED strip lights.
Alternatively, subtractive colors are involved in the CMY lighting process. This color combination includes cyan, magenta, & yellow. LED strip lights with CMY colors work well with the subtraction of white light. Simply put, this color wheel removes white light. On the other hand, RGB adds a colored hue to the existing ones.
For the unversed, CMY color model includes the usage of magenta, cyan, and yellow colors that are mixed together to create a broad range of colored lights. While RGB uses white light as a combination of red, green, and blue, CMY uses black for the same.
You can mix & match CMY and RGB strip lights to get your desired color shade.
DIY Color Set-Up With LED Strip Light App
Most modern-day applications come with their own management applications. The process of DIY light setup with an application is easier than using a remote. These applications are pre-loaded with stock color palettes that provide you access to colors that you plan to set. All you need to do is click on the desired color, and the strips can be switched to a desired room color style.
However, these LED strip lights are pricey as compared to the ones with just a remote option. The IR or RF-controlled strip lights have pre-configured colors that limit your creativity or customizing capability.
Additionally, you can also look for pre-defined lighting setup codes available online and download them on your application. These can help you create customized colors and shapes with colors without having to put in a lot of effort.
Use of 5050 LEDs In The RGB LED Strips (Multi-Color)
Most RGB LEDs tend to use the 5050 LEDs, given their strong color performance. This SMD LED has 3 color chips within the same casing. The RGB chip package features different wavelengths. This LED’s size is estimated at 5.0 X 5.0 X 1.6mm, while its power peaks at a max of 0.2W.
5050 SMD LEDs operate at a similar voltage as commonly available LEDs, which are just 2.7 to 3.3 Volts. Moreover, these LEDs have a thick brace bracket and are physically sturdy. Given its amazing color-changing performance, this LED strip Lights is used widely for its multi-color changing capabilities.
Color Gradients With RGB Strip Lights
RGB strip lights need to function with an LED controller to give you the desired hue. As opposed to the conventional dimmers, RGB controllers also feature time change options for changing colors. This can help you determine the time between any color-changing sequences.
Temporal dimension control allows the RGB strip lights to reveal a color slope that can be changed over time. Multi-color light strips can help produce bright and dynamic gradients that can be adjusted in terms of speed and timing.
Multi-Zone RGB Strip Light Controllers
Zoning of your strip lights can also help with better customization of the lighting process. Multi-zone RGB strip lights are designed to control various lighting zones independently or synchronously using an application or remote control.
If you seek a uniform-colored lighting installation, the strips are limited to one zone. You can also create a setup with multiple zones where each zone can be illuminated with different colors in one go.
Wi-Fi RGB Controllers For Customized Lighting
Today, most LED strip light owners opt for Wi-Fi-based RGB controllers. This allows you to control the lighting setup with the help of your Wi-Fi connection. Such controllers can also play the desired music through the smartphone while the RGB strip changes color as per the music flow.
The application users can easily help customize it to create a distinctive color combination that is different from general controllers. Simply choose the white light’s color temperature & adjust its brightness accordingly to create the desired effect.
Such controllers are also compatible with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. You can also integrate it with your home’s IC system.
Conclusion
Regardless of the lighting method for the DIY process, you would need some basic components to operate correctly. With LED power, an LED RGB strip light, and RGB LED strip Lights controller, you can create some amazing effects for your personal space.
