5v, 12v, bullets OH MY - EVO? DUO.... which pixels to buy?

5v, 12v, bullets OH MY - EVO? DUO.... which pixels to buy?

In this video I discuss some of the differences I have encountered for the following type of pixels:

5V WS2811 bullets (Rextin)

12V WS2811 bullets (Wally's shown, but similar to Your Pixel Store and Mattos Designs)

12V WS2811 EVO pixels (Mattos)

12V YPS DUO bullet pixels, which are AKA GS8208 (Your Pixel Store)

I discuss the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each. This is not a recommendation for or against any of these pixels. As a quick synopsis:

5V bullet pixels take less power and voltage issues are immediately identifiable but require a significant amount of power balancing/injection. If you buy true Rextin brand pixels from Amazon (our experience in our personal show) - they may just be the most reliable pixels available.

12V bullet pixels require almost zero power balancing/injection. They really live up to "Mo Volts Mo Betta", allowing upwards of 45ft of extensions and 400+ pixels without any need of power balancing. However when they don't have enough voltage they can have frustrating issues of flickering and getting stuck on white, not always immediately noticeable.

EVO pixels are a new comer and are 12v native - they have huge advantages in weight and space savings, along with a better reach in props on their 4" spaced pixels. They seem to be limited to 300 pixels and/or 20ft extensions before requiring power balancing, using spiker T adapters. They also have a continuous constant current draw unlike the other pixels - whether displaying lights/colors or not. While it wasn't mentioned in the video, the pricing of the EVO's is also better than all other options on the table today.

YPS DUO (GS8208) pixels are 12V native and "new" to the hobby - but have been used pretty regularly in commercial settings for over a decade. Their huge advantage over all others is having the backup data line - allowing a failure to happen without knocking out the rest of the string. In simple testing 200 pixels seem to be the max before issues presented in odd/different ways.

Each of these pixels have advantages and disadvantages when comparing to every other pixel discussed. What is important to you may not matter to someone else - so we can't definitively state which you should buy. What is best for your show is what you're comfortable with for your repair abilities/desires, power balancing/electrical comfort, power usages, weight/space savings, and more.

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