Build a giant scrolling LED text display for about $15 per foot

[@bigjoshlevine]

Check out an updated version of this project with live scrolling data from your computer or phone! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6nddHWYZcyViqM

[@Miguel-Del]

I was just going to ask about this! Thank you!

[@shaun8566]

Amazing. Thank you for keeping us updated.

[@jamesevans6086]

Yeah, I definitely have to build one of these. Great design for generating the pixels on the fly to get around buffer memory issues. Thanks for sharing!

[@StickmanDude2009]

This would be very cool for a gaming room

[@Conservator.]

Wow, I’m very impressed by your project. That’s some lean programming on an Arduino. Also like the msc as a reference ;-) and the synchronization with the music is just awesome. I’ve read your code(s). Thank you for sharing!

[@ivanbergamo8815]

I wonder how many amps would be needed to make every LED white at max brightness

[@942hartley]

Just read your article and viewed on YT. Would love to build one of these or maybe one shorter for my Shrine Unit. We raise money for children's hospitals and need portability of information to present to our potential donors. You state this is easy. I haven't found that part yet. I have worked with addressable rgb lights for my family Christmas light show, however this is different as I use pc software program to control the pixels as opposed to the arduino which I have never used. Where can I find more information that is is layman's terms about programming a script to scroll? This seems a bit over my head.

[@nealehutson2009]

Dude i love this sign. Is there anyway I can use this exact design for a sports ticker? I could use some help thank you. Great sign love it.

[@bigjoshlevine]

Yes, check out.... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@bigjoshlevine]

Each pixel can draw about 60mA when 100% white, so about 160 amps for the full sign. I've accidentally melted the insultation off AWG12 wire with big Neopixel displays in the past.

[@DisgruntledPigumon]

Do you happen to know if there are similar "warm to cool" white LED strips similar to these? I’d like to set up a day to night lighting system for my parent's kitchen.

[@Zoetpils]

Really awsome project! I am going to save this project and try to replicate it when I got the time for it!

[@Dev_Everything]

Nice can you turn the brightness down? I was looking at the code, its been a while since I have done any inline asm lol

[@knightsun2920]

Look for this line in "SimpleScroll" line 376 and change numbers after 0x for red , green, blue like I did. sendString( m , step , 0x00, 0x05 , 0x10

[@Dev_Everything]

@@knightsun2920 thanks. i will check it out

[@اسامهزياد-ي2ر]

Excuse. If i make it how can i change the text ??

[@Learnduino]

is it possible to convert the code so that the panel shows the bitcoin rate?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Yes, please see: wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/#more-7943:~:text=computer.-,BITCOIN%20BLOCK%20CLOCK

[@joylynalforque7042]

Sir can you help me. I cannot put long text its always stop on the meddle of the text

[@bigjoshlevine]

Maybe try this newer version of the project here and see if that helps... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@joylynalforque7042]

@@bigjoshlevine Thank you sir.. Its working... I hope you can make other tutorial project using ardruino nano..

[@carpediem1975mx]

I have all the components to do the sign, but I need to display Russian text (Cyrilic) is there a code to be able to do this with arduino? so far I have not found anything. Any help will be appreciated.

[@DRCE777]

SO COOOOL! I WAN'T TO MAKE ONE SOMEDAY AS WELL!

[@jasoncline6393]

Portable version of this using a 20amp bec and a 2s lipo, how long of a scrolling display do you think this could run? 60/m density, 7 rows just like yours. Would it still be readable at 30/m? The bec gets pricy once you go higher than 20a

[@williampkerr]

Full disclosure: I know very very little about this fascinating tech. My question is: Are arduino outputs reprogrammable on-the-fly? For instance, I drive for Uber. I want to build a scrolling text arduino that displays the name of my riders on a customer by customer basis. Is this feasible in short time frames (between drives)?

[@Coaslip]

Check this out , should suit you perfect. www.indiegogo.com/projects/ototok-your-voice-on-the-road-car-bluetooth#/ (not yet delivered , still waiting for mine)

[@onevlog2570]

yes

[@bigjoshlevine]

You could now very easily do this with an Arduino phone running Tasker and this... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@Flassh81]

Is it possible today to have this pull stock and crypto info in real time to scroll? It would be a fun project for my fire station since a few guys are always talking stocks.

[@bigjoshlevine]

Yes, check out... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@thomasmann665]

Hi Josh. Many thanks for your display. I ordered 5 led 5m 60 led/m and 2 power supplies. I think to cut in the middle and I'll have 2.5 m 10 lines. But I have a question: Are you sure that the plywood is 1/16". It's very thin. Thank you again for your video.

[@bigjoshlevine]

My plywood was very thin, that's why I added the aluminum channels on the top and bottom to stiffen it up.

[@teeteearrr]

Can the vertical spacing between the LEDs be reduced? The horizontal spacing is nice and tight. Vertical is not.

[@bigjoshlevine]

You can stick the stripes down however you like if you can get them to physically fit. I picked this spacing to have square pixels, with the same density in both vertical and horizontal directions.

[@teeteearrr]

I see. In theory if the density is square shouldn't the spacing be the same on both axis? I think I understand what you're saying though, I can just glue them a bit closer together (possibly overlapping the pcbs a bit) and the letters should look more even.

[@dave_dennis]

I think the hardware is not so hard. The development of the software would be the time consuming part! Great Job. And thanks so much for referencing the Medium size child. I was really thrown off by the scale up to that point. :-)

[@patrickmaartense7772]

I would say contrary the coding is very simple, the hardware and electronics is the "harder" part

[@johnduong5448]

what was the song name, in this video?

[@jasoncline6393]

Trying to figure out how to do a scrolling text tow banner to tow behind a large slow rc airplane. I have plenty of addressable LEDs, a 6 channel arduino pro mini, and most of the power infrastructure, just no idea how to get there from here, I'm not a programmer. Looking for 4-6 feet long and 6 lines high. Any tips for adapting this? Will likely run on a 2s 5000mah hardsided lipo pack.

[@bigjoshlevine]

Should be no problem! You likely want to use one of the smaller Arduinos, and then just need to find a way to hold the LED strings together. Maybe mount them to some kind of light netting?

[@jasoncline6393]

Planning on using doculam in a sandwich config actually. Do you know of any fonts that will run on a 6 line display? the arduino I'm most familiar with using is 6 channel pro mini type, though I may have a more full featured version somewhere in a kit.

[@antreasdimas]

hi ..... you programm leds with software??? or just arduino??

[@jxx965]

please share specifics. like where to get leds.. etc

[@jessiefeng3269]

Hi Creative. we supply the RGB led strip. learn more please contact [e-mail] Phone/what's app:0086+15676178187

[@alextrezvy6889]

Fantastish! The Future happens! I never mind the LEDs can be so smart!

[@hobby-cnc-openfree6040]

hi nice i did build one and got in some trouble @bigjoshlevine I DO SEE TAILING LED im using a NANO is there a other Timing setup to be used in the ASM Section its NOT the Speed if i go down with delay 100ms to the next step it works to see no Tailing led sideways nut then ists so slow display is 42x7 LED PLEASE Help

[@bigjoshlevine]

So are you able to see good text on the display with the longer delay?

[@hobby-cnc-openfree6040]

Now it workes Fine the Delay "_delay_ms(150);) must go below the m++ had it to the wrong statment and now im Fine beside the const char PROGMEM got fancy non Ascii where it shoudt have spaces not even and not in all the string table list of 15lines by38 chars i did need to clean the charbuffer on some entries tried alot of things to get over this changing list position changing position in codeplacement Rewriting the line nothing and it also seams not the same fancy pixels all the time in the same place maybe short of memory now at 200byte left on the NANO V3 Clone BUT it WORKES

[@electronic7979]

Excellent project

[@Guraba_AzE]

Hello Thank you for your great work. Can you please help me. Trying add some "const uint8_t Font5x7[] PROGMEM = { when i adding for example 0x1E, 0xA8, 0x28, 0xA8, 0x1E, // Ä this not working. What i dooing wrong?

[@seanwilliams2867]

Where can I get this?

[@bigjoshlevine]

You can build it! wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@janeznovak2597]

Hello. I like your work very much. The reason is because I have to display some special characters (CP852 - like ccaron, zcaron, scaron...) and your code is very simple to change the characters). I have a Chinese RGB WS8212B matrix 32x8. I would like to change your code to fit my LED matrix. What should I change in the code? I know there should be only one data output from arduino to WS8212. I do not know how to transform data from 7 output pins from arduino to one data pin for matrix (in the code). I would be very appreciated for any help.

[@bigjoshlevine]

Hmmm.. since the main purpose of this project is to simultaneously drive multiple, very long LED strings then it is probably not a good fit for your display of 1 short sting! Instead it would probably be easier for you to try to transplant the font code from this project into one of the many fine other projects that are designed for driving displays like yours. Note that improved the font code in this newer project here so probably better to start with that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6nddHWYZcyViqM

[@janeznovak2597]

@@bigjoshlevine Thank you for your answer. I tought there is some minor changes or even commented line to switch different displays. I know now that there should be significant changes to code. I think I will buy Led strip and follow your story. Thanks again and keep up excelent work. Thumbs up for you.

[@calebperez3362]

Could you make a stock ticker out of this?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Yes, you could make a very nice one!

[@umop3plsdn]

@@bigjoshlevine how would you go about updating the values though? would it be better to use a raspberry pi for that?

[@AshishJayan]

Lol @ the "a medium sized child is shown here for scale". hahah Nice project, I was looking for something of a similar project for a train to go around in loop. Its feasible, but I might not go with it. I'll just pursue for a clock instead.

[@johnrobertd748]

But how to build it????

[@bigjoshlevine]

Full article here... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@torreydion]

Nice job man!

[@Conservator.]

Haha, watched it again, still just as much impressed!

[@jayprajapati2207]

hi bro i need to know that how to write the string at run time in this scrolling display

[@kouderuivy]

If you have that code just find the jabber text delete it and replace it with your own txt. Save and upload done.

[@MichaelBrown-mf9df]

Which Pro Mini do you use... it looks like the 5 v. Also, is there any additional wiring that needs to be purchased? if so, what type goes from the power supply to the Arduino? Thanks

[@bigjoshlevine]

5V better because then you can use the same power supply for the LEDs (which take 5V) and the Arduino. The wire from the power supply to Arduino is not critical since the Arduino uses very little power compared to the LEDs. Just don't get the positive and negative switched! :)

[@bigjoshlevine]

5V to match the power supply for the neopixels, which also use 5V. I used some random scraps of wire to make connections between the power supply and the strips.

[@chowrites6179]

Would certainly love to make something like this for my Twitch Stream to add some flair in the background! The tough part would be syncing the text for a new follower's/sub's name and other real-time info with this setup.

[@knightsun2920]

Dose Twitch Stream have a way to send serial data to a COM port?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Check out.... wp.josh.com/2021/04/21/build-a-live-scrolling-tickertape/

[@flamanzi]

I made half a meter can you slow down the running speed? runs fast

[@bigjoshlevine]

You can either add a delay() inside the loop(), or just make the #define PIXELS larger than it really is so each update takes longer.

[@nazirumbangba7530]

Hi Josh, I've been watching your project over and over again because I fell in love with it. Trying to copy your project but I'm having problem with the code. If you wouldn't mind please kindly share it with me, thanks.

[@bigjoshlevine]

There is a link to the full article with more info and all code in the youtube description above.

[@nazirumbangba7530]

@@bigjoshlevine thanks man, I'm most grateful

[@Dancopymus]

Greetings friend! How would I do in the code to display a message (let's say HAPPY NEW YEAR) in 7 or 8 strips with 60 Leds per meter? Thank you

[@bigjoshlevine]

Take a look at the full article - it is linked in the description above!

[@ME1D]

What's the Soooooonng? 😫

[@santoshvirkar2857]

hi i need to build similar project with 70 feet long and wifi connectivity can you give me some suggestions how can i do it ?

[@jessiefeng3269]

Hi, we can help you. learn more please contact [e-mail] or give me your email and i will contact you

[@vyrtualtecnologia]

Foot?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Foot! (1/3 meter)

[@nates2948]

out of anything you could choose to demo it with, you choose Jabberwocky pretty smart tho

[@RafaSzmitke-RafalSzm]

Music?

[@akroutsamo]

this is impressive but can it handle 14 pixels tall or more ?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Not with the current code on an Arduino UNO. Maybe with something like a Mega, but you would have to code very carefully!

[@akroutsamo]

+Josh Levine what about ur script version can u share it

[@1evolvingsoul]

I am also interested in you making one for me. I play in a band and I think it would be a creative stage piece and a great marketing/promotional tool.

[@bigjoshlevine]

It is not hard to make. Check out the article on josh.com and let me know if you have any specific questions or problems!

[@Sicnus]

Hey man, I ride a Motorcycle and I'm sure if you created say a 20" version of this that had a remote (and it would need to be waterproof) . You could effectively write your own million dollar check. I commute every day of the week (50 miles) and it would be amazing to have something that could be programmed to some simple messages: Back Up Please Thank You Caution Ahead STOPPING! Or who knows... whatever sort of message one might choose to program in. Cars could use this too if it were battery powered. Having an option between a harness and battery would be nice. Anyway.... I would bet you anything you'd make at least a million dollars ;)

[@tehbluemuppetz6363]

Awesome project! Is that really 60 LED/m? It looks very dense.

[@tehbluemuppetz6363]

Never mind, I just saw you're using 96/m.

[@Lasseu]

what do you use it for?

[@bigjoshlevine]

Just as a practical demonstration for this programming technique.... wp.josh.com/2016/05/04/parallel-processing-arduino-style-make-massive-neopixel-displays-with-nanoscale-concurrent-computing/ It also made an appearance at Maker Faire as a High Striker... kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKDOaYCdbMd5l5Y

[@Lasseu]

i only got 5050 leds, time to hunt down some 2811 for next chrismas decoration to make our neighbour jealous. They have all kind of cool Led statues

[@AnandKumar-on9hu]

I need one of these for my clinic hording. Please guide me to make it

[@AnandKumar-on9hu]

8519999991 india

[@bcf9588]

"A MEDIUM SIZED CHILD.." - sub'd because cool tech and funny joke

[@vancouverizer]

Why the "wasted" LEDs on the back? Presumably because your project design was set at 12' and you didn't want to extend it to 13? Or maybe you didn't want to cut the strips until after all your testing was completed?

[@bigjoshlevine]

The materials I used come in multiples of 6 feet, and the strips come in multiples of 1 meter. So I wrapped the extra strip ends around the edges. It is easy and looks really cool!

[@vancouverizer]

I see. I guess I'm too cheap. ;-) I would probably have cut them so I could use the 12 or so LEDs from that one end (x 7) for some other project.

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

I don't even have 12 feet of space.

[@AstroSam66]

She was selling a sock for some LEDs :-) Anyway its pretty cool! Thumbs up!

[@any123-og]

You could us adafruit metro M4 32 BIT ARM CORTEX M4 VS 8 BIT AVR 120MHZ vs 16MHZ NATIVE USB (NO USB TO SERIAL CHIP) you could get the airlift lite version WIFI ADDED there are some better specs on the metro m4

[@giovannivaccalluzzo4627]

I made it, fantastic. But mine is not rigid, it's rollable

[@ishtiaq1ahmed]

so nice great work.

[@waltercheng5707]

nice and lovely!

[@taurenllipau4479]

Very nice!

[@muhammadsameer883]

awesome

[@h3miunu]

A medium sized child is shown here for scale

[@bogdanapetkova7790]

Amazing!

[@iN0F]

For my car

[@lourencequeiroz6017]

tottaly cool!! Thanks for share.

[@jumpoffa5011]

I LOVE IT!!!!

[@blackeyes3098]

We need to talk !

[@israelruiz-vega765]

can you make one for me and I will pay you

[@bigjoshlevine]

Where do you live?

[@parvishnagrani]

Hi Josh I am currently in Indianapolis usa. Can I also pay you to make one for me plus shipping?

[@bigjoshlevine]

No way to ship one of these, but maybe you can have this one if you are willing to come pick it up. Check out the updated article for info!

[@subodhashokbansode2944]

Awsome

[@Lennypl1]

Greate project :-)

[@antoniocignozzi1477]

100 like is mine :D

[@jonamiki]

Thank you Josh! Just built it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6iUm5agpaiglbc

[@lezardmotors]

funny socks girl :p

[@gabilumina]

1.000.000.000 like