The run
This example is an indoor television set. About 15 metres of white light covers a reception desk, a short kitchen run, and the light behind wall graphics. The white has to move from warm to cool, and an HD camera has to accept the picture.
What tunable white means
Each LED on this strip is a 2-in-1 SMD3527. One die is warm white and one is cool white. The controller mixes the two, so the light can sit anywhere from 2700K to 6500K. The result stays white.
The reel is 24 V, with 120 chips a metre and 19.2 W a metre. That 19.2 W is the total for both whites together. At 24 V the common wire carries 0.8 A a metre, and a 5 metre reel is 96 W. The same point, for any colour-changing strip, is in our note on common anode current.
Three reels, one light
The light is the same on all three. The difference is the sealing. On an indoor set a covered reel is often chosen, so the LEDs stay protected while the set is dressed and moved. Fifteen metres is three 5 metre reels.
Flicker is set in the controller
The strip does not flicker by itself. The shade of white is made by switching the warm die and the cool die very quickly. That switching is the PWM frequency of the controller. If it is too slow, an HD or broadcast camera records it.
For this run the controller is the DMX512 decoder HL-D4-E. Its PWM can be set from 250 Hz to 16,000 Hz. At the low end a camera will see the mix. For television, set every decoder to 16,000 Hz.
One driver, three decoders
Fifteen metres at 19.2 W a metre is 288 W. One 500 W 24 V driver, HL-500W-24V-IP20-EC, feeds all three decoders. Set the driver's switch to 100% output. The decoders do the dimming and the white mix. The driver is for indoor use.
Use one HL-D4-E for each 5 metre reel. Each reel draws about 4 A at 24 V, inside the 8 A rating of a channel. Set every decoder to 2-channel mode, and set the DMX start address on all three to 001. The reels then follow the same two channels, so the whole 15 metres stays one shade and one brightness.
A wall panel, or a desk that is already there
If the set already has a DMX512 desk, use that. Put the warm white and the cool white on channels 1 and 2, and leave the three decoders on address 001.
If it does not, one wall panel is enough for the whole run: HL-T12-W. The panel takes its power from the mains, not from the 24 V driver. For this job, use its wired DMX512 output. Connect that output to the first decoder, and link the decoders on from there. Zone 1 on the panel is channels 1 and 2, which matches address 001. The panel can also work by radio. That side is left unused here.
Set this way, the desk, the kitchen and the graphics all change together. If one of those needs its own shade, give that decoder a different start address and use another zone on the panel.
The mains driver and the wall panel should be installed by a qualified electrician.
