Flex vs SS Colors

[mikedbom]

So I finally got around to getting my flex strings running and found that the colors are on a different cycle when I test them using xlights.  I have two Smart Strings and 1 flex on right now cycling through RGB.  The flex is out of sync.  for example, i have red on the SS and blue on the flex, then green on the SS and red on the flex and so on.  I am using the SS utility and have programmed the flex SSC as a flex string and the SS's as strings.  Am i missing something?

[Steve Gase]

change the pixel type in the smart string utility until you find the right order. (ie. try square, flex, smart string, etc. -- even if you have a flex strip)

typically, you want the result to be  R-G-B order.

not all strings or flex strips are alike, so it will require experimentation.

[mikedbom]

So try another option like rectangles or even strings?  Got it.

[mikedbom]

okay so i experimented with all the pixel types in the smart string utility and have not found one that matches...

*string is RGBW

programming the flex strip gave the following outputs

GRBW - Rectangles
BRGW - Rigid
BRGW - Flex
RBGW - Squares
BGRW - String

any ideas?

[arw01]

Try Rigid if you have the Ray Wu WS2611 flex strings.  And that is the only one I changed.

Alan

[mikedbom]

I did try rigid. However I didn't change the one ss. Should I be programming both to rigid?

[mikedbom]

Anyone else running flex strips and strings?  Are your colors matching cycles?  These are all strings from Ray, straight out of the wiki links.

[arw01]

post a shot of your smart string utility screen and I will compare it to the thread I had trying to get them going.  I know FLEX string certainly did not work for me, and I left the nodes along up towards the top, I didn't change the type there either.

Alan

[zwiller]

It would not surprise me China has changed the color order yet again this year.  I know RJ was working on the new programming utility that has all rgb color order options but not sure when it is to be released.

My flex strips liked the rectangles setting. 

[jnealand]

My flex and colors all matched from last year.  I have not put up any of my new flex side by side with last years yet.  The key is to pick the color that work for you the new utility will not specify type of light, just color order.  As far as I know there is nothing specific to each light type in the utility other than color order.

[Steve Gase]

My flex and colors all matched from last year.  I have not put up any of my new flex side by side with last years yet.  The key is to pick the color that work for you the new utility will not specify type of light, just color order.  As far as I know there is nothing specific to each light type in the utility other than color order.

At one point I understood that light type also controlled the max number of pixels, smart string was 128 and flex was 120.  maybe with the ability to select by order and not type, the max pixels will be consistent.

[mikedbom]

the software asks for the number of pixels so that should eliminate that.  I have only tried matching the smart string to the flex strip by reprogramming the flex strip only.  I was going to try to program the SS to something else and try again with the flex strip.  hope that makes sense. 

question..i have checked my terminations and they match what is in the wiki.  would a crossed wire cause the colors to be out of order?  I wasnt thinking so but had to ask.

[Steve Gase]

there is a max configurable number of pixels defined in firmware.
if you say "250", then firmware will top it off at 128 -- for the smart string pixels.
I recalled that firmware will top off the max to 120 for flex... despite what you specify in the UI.
 
the real value that specifying a string length in the UI is to define behavior for the reverse ordering.  If you select reverse and a length of 100, then the first pixel gets 100, the second pixel is 99, etc. 

[mikedbom]

i see.  so programming them differently may not help or could cause other problems.  seems like only the green and red are different.  i guess i will have to live with it for now.

[Steve Gase]

i see.  so programming them differently may not help or could cause other problems.  seems like only the green and red are different.  i guess i will have to live with it for now.

The square, rectangle, flex, rigid, and pixels all have a color order based on the original products offered by ray at the time.   If the products from ray have changed, you might find a different string type in the list that matches your needs... try them all to find what works.
 
RJ was soon to release new firmware (for the SSCs) and a new utility (for Zeus and the latest SSCs) that allowed all permutations of color order to be selected.  It was also supposed to define a standard string max length -- presumably 128 -- so that color selection no longer affected the max pixel selection.