Screen Ambience LED Strip Tutorial with Signal RGB and Raspberry Pi Pico

Hardware:

Raspberry Pi Pico H

Raspberry Pi Pico H

Link

Adafruit is the best source, although they may be out of stock: Link

  • No need for Wireless
  • Make sure to get the variant with soldered GPIO Headers. If you don't you'll need to solder later.

Male to Female Breadboard Jumper Wires

Jumper Wires

Link

Cheap pack. Try to get the wires as short as possible.

USB Micro B Cable

USB Cable

Link

  • Make sure to get one that will reach all the way to your computer from your PC monitor.
  • Make sure it can transfer data as well as power.

WS2812B LED Strip

LED Strip

Link

There is a wide variety of LED Strips on Amazon and other marketplaces and it's up to you to pick the one you like.

The only requirement is that it is a WS2812B RGB Invididually addressable 3 Pin Strip.

Only the WS2812B is officially supported. Non-RGB Addressable strips will definitely not work!

Generally searching for WS2812B on amazon will give good results, but your mileage may vary.

Tools and misc

  • Soldering Iron and wire clips (if cutting LED strips and re-soldering)
  • 3 PIN LED Male to Female Connectors - can be cut to connect separate LED strips together and soldered.
  • If running more than 100 LEDs, a LED PSU - I did not have to use one, so you're mileage may vary. Please note that GND should be shared. WS2812B has a 5V, Data in, and GND Lines, so as long as the power supply can provide 5V and GND, as well as enough amperage, you should be ok. Ensure you aren't overpowering the LED Strip. Make sure everything is connected correctly or you can fry your Pi. An independent PSU is recommended overall as driving the LED strips at full power with the Pi alone can damage it, however, under 100 LEDs is working ok for me.

I am not responsible for you frying your stuff!

Software

Arduino IDE

https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

SignalRGB

https://www.signalrgb.com/download/

SRGBmods

https://srgbmods.net/picoled/

https://srgbmods.net/compgen/

Setup Steps

Hardware

Attach the LED Strip to the back of your monitor, following the outline like so:

LED Strip

  • Start with the bottom of the screen, going clockwise when facing/looking at the back of the monitor. Make a rectangle like so: LED Mounting
  • If you use a single strip, you will need to make bends or you can cut the strip and solder. You can use the 3 Pin LED connection wires for this.
  • This will be important when creating the Signal RGB Component later. Count after how many LEDs you have before each turn (this depends on the size of your PC monitor and LEDs)
  • Do not connect the start and end of the strip together (don't make a complete circle). You will use one of these ends to connect to the Pi Pico, leaving the other unplugged.
  • Make sure you note down the total LED count of the whole strip when you're done.
  • Install all of the software with the links above.
  • Use the SRGB Mods website to generate the Pico LED Controller Binary and LED Strip Component Generator (see below).
Pico LED Controller Binary

Use the site and follow directions.

  • Set your General settings. This is up to you.
  • Set Pin 0 to Channel 1 - IMPORTANT.
  • Download the file with the Green download button
  • Click the "Display instructions about setting up Arduino IDE" and complete them.
    • At this stage, you will need to connect the Pico to your PC with the USB Cable. Follow the directions.
LED Strip Component Generator

Use the site and follow directions.

  • Enter the total LED Count
  • Pick Rectangle orientation and indicate the number of LEDs for each bend.
  • You can use Rounded corners if you didn't cut and solder.
  • IMPORTANT: You may need to use the Shift LED positions setting. You will find this out when setting up Signal RGB software later on. This means you may need to come back to this site and repeat the process.

Connecting the Pi Pico to LED Strip

Using the Breadboard wires, attach the Pi Pico to the LED Strip:

1. Pico VBUS to 5V Line of the LED Strip (+5V connection)
2. Pico GP0 to Din of the LED Strip (middle connection point on the strip)
3. Pico GND to GND of LED Strip (GND connection)

Pi Pico Pinout

Pico

Signal RGB Software

  • Make sure you have followed the steps to create the Pico Binary and added it to the Pico and added the new Component to the correct SignalRGB folder.
  • Launch SignalRGB
  • Go to Devices in the side panel
  • Select the SRGBmods Pico LC device (it should have a Warning Sign) devices
  • Select Open Configuration in the Warning Popup configuration
  • Click on Red + for Channel 1 channel1
  • Search for the LED Strip component you have made via the LED Strip Component Generator component

Testing

  • Within SignalRGB, select the Library and search for Quad-Collor Breath effect, install and enable. quadcolor
  • Click on My Effects - Customize and disable Rotate Colors and Breathing settings to keep the image static. quadcolor
  • Go to Layouts and hide any other devices you may have, leaving only the SRGBmods Lightstrip
  • Enlarge the Device and fill the screen, making it as even as possible. layouts

You should now see the LEDs match the 4 colors. Ideally, this should be matched right away, however, you may need to use the Shift LED positions setting within the srgbMODS LED Strip Component Generator.

quad

If you need to Shift the LED positions, completely close SignalRGB, upload the new Component File, and use the Share button within the Devices Section to select the new Component. new file

Once you have properly aligned the LEDs, you can install and select the Screen Ambience effect (which comes with SignalRGB). ambiance

Congrats! You're done! 🙌🎉

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