power injection on pixel grid

[897sma]

I watched your tutorial video on pixel grid (video 8 at 1:12)which states you may need to power inject additional strips on large pixel display. Excuse my ignorance if it's a stupid question but is this just a larger power supply feeding the controller?

[Craig]

Hi

Yes you need a large power supply to run all your pixels in the grid. Note that sometimes you need to chain multiple power supplies together for large grids, especially for 5v pixels or strips where the current required is higher.

With regards to power injection, this means running extra power cables directly from the power supply to the start of the next strip or pixel string. Ideally you do this for every strip or string of pixels. Basically this is required because by the time the power has reached the end of one strip it is not enough to properly power the next strip or pixel string in the chain, hence extra power need to be 'injected' to boost the power going into the next strip etc. Power is taken from the power supply directly rather than the controller directly to avoid high current going through the controller. Power injection is normal with pixels in Grids, Mega Trees, arches etc. Its essential with 5v, but you can usually do it less frequently with 12v ones.

Craig.