Almost finished my led window display

Dai_trying · 2017-12-02 17:23

Just thought I'd give Q4OS a message on my (almost) finished led display.

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 17:59

Pretty cool!

Dai_trying · 2017-12-02 18:03

Thanks, it will be better when I replace the bits of wood on the front for holding the screen in with some clear acrylic pieces and then I just have to work on the animations for christmas

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 19:56

I came out of the era when computers were in wooden boxes so Im right at home,

Dai_trying · 2017-12-02 22:05

I thought they were in brick buildings back then

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 22:14

You havent lived till youve seen home brewed computers with wooden cases with keyboards sticking up in the front. I actually built one from a kit, guess my age is showing a bit.

Dai_trying · 2017-12-02 22:17

I built a wooden surround for a Pc case once, I really like the look of wood so it was (IMO) much better looking than a plain grey/black plastic/metal case

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 22:20

They make custom wooden pc cases today butIi agree they looked pretty good and a lot better than the terrible plastic enclosures they had
back then. Metal cases were far preferable to plastic. Wood was easy to make changes and adjust to your needs given the state of systems back then.

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 22:24

Take a look at this one, https://makezine.com/2016/3/24/wooden-computer-case/

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 22:27

Heres a system I use to own in the old days, www.ebay.ie/itm/201442700245

q4osteam · 2017-12-02 22:44

@Dai_trying
Yes, this is a cool one What will the display be primarily intended for ?

crosscourt · 2017-12-02 22:57

Id like to try something like that Dai, maybe to advertise Q4OS at a friends computer shop.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-12-03 02:48)

Dai_trying · 2017-12-03 01:37

@Q4OS Team
It's primary function is to display Christmas animations and messages for the upcoming festive season, and I will likely use it for Halloween too with some funny/scary graphics.I also have other led strips that I will be using all over the house instead of "normal" Christmas lights, due to being able to control the colour sequences, brightness and speed of change easily by utilizing some Arduino's and using the FastLED library (which is awesome by the way).

@CC
It would be ideal for anything like that, I have made this one 42 x 18 pixels, although I could have gone a little bigger but I'm out of time for the build now so it will stay this size for this year and maybe get an upgrade before next year. I have thought about using the more densely packed led strings but the controller I have is only good for 2048 pixels and with the 60 pixels/metre I would have around 3024 at it's current size. There are so many different possibilities with these strings that the only limit is imagination and funds so far this one has cost around 100 GBP but I have spent around 200 GBP with all the mistakes (wrong led string types and low power PSU's) I made along the way, but luckily the mistakes I did make will be used for other lighting effects.

crosscourt · 2017-12-03 02:51

Thanks, Ill look into it as Ive never tried a project like this and I like a challenge.

Dai_trying · 2017-12-03 10:26

There are lots of YouTube videos about it, I watched quite a few of them before I started the project as they all have slightly different ways of setting them up.
One thing I will say is make sure your power supply is at least +25% of the maximum power that can be consumed (always use redundancy, especially if you use cheap chinese PSU's) and you want to put a separate power feed every 100 led's or so (mine is every 84 pixels/2 lines) this will ensure you don't get fading power at the end of the strings. And remember with rgb leds (I used ws2812b's) the can use 60 milli-amps each when displaying white so for my 756 I needed a minimum 45 Amps @ 5volts (226.8 watts) so eventually purchased 300 watt PSU. And make sure your power lines can handle the current going through them, but if you use my example for feeding power (100 leds) you only need to supply 6 amps (max) per feed so cabling requirements are lower.

And probably most importantly with anything electrical make sure you have good connections and always "err on the side of caution", it's better to double/treble check before turning the power on than to end up with a dangerous display. And if you are not confident with wiring electrics then get a professional to advise or do the job. (general advise for anyone reading as I'm sure you (CC) are ok with wiring)

crosscourt · 2017-12-03 17:58

Between my maintenance background and pc work, wiring I can handle. Already looking into videos and a few other sources.

JimW · 2017-12-04 01:13

Ok, all I get from your link "View My Video" is:

This video requires Flash 9 or newer. Click here to get it!

even when I use Chrome! In Chrome I get advertisements whereas in Firefox I don't.
I have clicked the "Click here to get it!" and nothing happens.

SO, what am I doing wrong this time??

Last edited by JimW (2017-12-04 01:14)

crosscourt · 2017-12-04 02:00

Make sure Flash- ask me first is enabled in both Firefox and Chrome, then you may have to add the site to the allowed list to view it.

I really hadnt noticed as I used IE11 to watch it while I was working on a project.

crosscourt · 2017-12-04 02:10

Just tried it with Firefox 52.5 ESR and the video ran fine.

On a side note to Dai, we ended up buying a kit that had everything needed for the display and this is a large display 4ft by 4ft, so should look good in the store window. Now to set up the message once we decide.

Dai_trying · 2017-12-04 02:14

There is a flash installer/updater bash script that I made for updating to the latest version available, you could use that, the post is here

crosscourt · 2017-12-04 02:16

It ran fine for me with Firefox ESR/Quantum as well as with Chrome. Why this site is using Flash is beyond me given the huge acceptance of HTML5.

It asks for Flash 9 or higher and presently isnt Flash for Linux at verision 12?

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-12-04 02:19)

Dai_trying · 2017-12-04 02:22

It's probably not been updated in a long time! I rarely use it but needed to host a video somewhere and they came up first... I will have a look tomorrow for a better host, of maybe just link it to my site.

crosscourt · 2017-12-04 02:25

It actually works fine and only requires Flash 9 at the minimum. They do have an ad connected to the post that kicked me out the first time.

tlmiller76 · 2017-12-04 04:33

Yeah, I can't watch due to the flash dependency. I've long since moved on from flash, completely disabled on all my systems, all my OS's.

Last edited by tlmiller76 (2017-12-04 04:33)

JimW · 2017-12-04 19:26

Ok, finally got to see it, on my Android Tablet by installing the app FoxFlash.
Looks neat - but a lot of work!

Q4OS Forum

#1 2017-12-02 17:23

Almost finished my led window display

#2 2017-12-02 17:59

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#3 2017-12-02 18:03

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#4 2017-12-02 19:56

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#5 2017-12-02 22:05

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#6 2017-12-02 22:14

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#7 2017-12-02 22:17

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#8 2017-12-02 22:20

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#9 2017-12-02 22:24

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#10 2017-12-02 22:27

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#11 2017-12-02 22:44

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#12 2017-12-02 22:57

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#13 2017-12-03 01:37

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#14 2017-12-03 02:51

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#15 2017-12-03 10:26

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#16 2017-12-03 17:58

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#17 2017-12-04 01:13

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#18 2017-12-04 02:00

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#19 2017-12-04 02:10

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#20 2017-12-04 02:14

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#21 2017-12-04 02:16

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#22 2017-12-04 02:22

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#23 2017-12-04 02:25

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#24 2017-12-04 04:33

Re: Almost finished my led window display

#25 2017-12-04 19:26

Re: Almost finished my led window display

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