This 16 x 32 RGB LED Matrix Panel features 512 full-colour LEDs for displaying animations, graphics and text, with chainable IDC connections and a 1:8 scan rate. Requires a compatible high-performance controller and a 5V power supply capable of delivering up to 4A.
Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this 16 x 32 RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them on the sides of busses and bus stops, to display animations or short video clips. Adafruit thought they looked really cool so they picked up a few boxes of them from a factory.
They have 512 bright RGB LEDs arranged in a 16 x 32 grid on the front. On the back there is a PCB with two IDC connectors (one input, one output: in theory you can chain these together) and 12 16-bit latches that allow you to drive the display with a 1:8 scan rate.
RAM & Processor Requirements
Keep in mind that these displays were designed to be driven by FPGAs or other high speed processors: they do not have built in PWM control of any kind. Instead, you're supposed to redraw the screen over and over to 'manually' PWM the whole thing.
You'll need about 1600 bytes of RAM to buffer the 12-bit colour image. You cannot use this size panel with an Arduino UNO (ATmega328) or ATmega32u4 - you need a chip with more RAM! These displays are technically 'chainable' - connect one output to the next input - as long as you have the RAM and CPU to handle it
This display does best with a high speed, high RAM microcontroller like a SAMD21, SAMD51, ESP32, etc. 8-bit micros are going to struggle if they work at all. The good news is that the display is pre-white balanced with nice uniformity so if you turn on all the LEDs it's not a particularly tinted white.
Power Requirements
There's a lot of LEDs! You may need up to 4A per panel.
Connection Requirements
These displays require 13 GPIO pins to control. You may have to use consecutive or special pins depending on the driver firmware. We'll be honest: folks who try to wire directly are usually not successful, its easy to get confused and misconnect. For that reason, we strongly recommend a ready-to-go board or adapter that makes wiring as easy as plugging in the cables and powering with 5V.
We recommend the Matrix Portal ESP32-S3 for a Wi-Fi-enabled powerful plug-and-play board
The original Matrix Portal with SAMD51 is also a great plug-and-play board if you happen to want a Cortex M4 as a main processor (we recommend the S3 version, above, as it is faster and has more memory)
For many Arduino-shaped boards, you may be able to use our RGB Matrix Shield (check the product page and tutorial for which Arduino-like boards can be used)
We also have RGB Matrix FeatherWings for many Feather boards (check the product page and tutorial for which Feather boards can be used)
For Raspberry Pi computers, our RGB Matrix Bonnet is fully plug-and-play for powerful Linux-controlled displays.
Adafruit also have a great Protomatter library that works in Arduino and CircuitPython for quick usage of many chained matrices.
Please note: These panels are remainder stock from factories that make huge light boards. For that reason, the look and size might vary from batch to batch, even though the basic operation, codebase, and tutorial is the same.
Features
16 x 32 RGB LED matrix panel with 512 bright LEDs
Chainable design with input/output IDC connectors
1:8 scan rate with 12 16-bit latches
Requires approximately 1600 bytes of RAM
Compatible with high-speed microcontrollers: SAMD21, SAMD51, ESP32
Not compatible with Arduino UNO or ATmega32u4
Requires 13 GPIO pins for control
Power consumption up to 4A per panel
5V power requirement
Pre-white balanced with uniform LED brightness
Manual PWM control via screen redrawing
Includes Protomatter library support for Arduino and CircuitPython
Factory remainder stock with possible batch variations
Specifications
Dimensions: 192mm x 96mm x 12mm
Panel weight with IDC cable and power cable: 170g
5V regulated power input, 2.5A max (all LEDs on)
5V data logic level input
~2000 mcd LEDs on 6mm pitch
Compatible with M3 mounting screws
1/8 scan rate
Indoor display, 140 degree visibility
Displays are 'chainable' - connect one output to the next input - but our Arduino example code does not support this yet
Revision History
As of August 11, 2020 - We no longer include Magnetic Feet with this product.
