Hello!
Please tell me whether it is possible to make a design similar to the devices on Govee Curtain Lights - Customize Your Own DIY Light Show on a WLED device assembled on ESP8266, or ESP32, or https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005300319300.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.1858aepZaepZ2d&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40000.327270.0&scm_id=1007.40000.327270.0&scm-url=1007.40000.327270.0&pvid=8a9f286c-daf8-4f4d-b0c4-f9a38a19e1b0&_t=gps-id:pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40000.327270.0,pvid:8a9f286c-daf8-4f4d-b0c4-f9a38a19e1b0,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238111%231996&pdp_npi=4%40dis!GBP!112.98!33.25!!!972.33!!%4021165f1216982977279314399ef694!12000032546636443!rec!UK!!AB , or Indoor Led Christmas App Control Color Changing Plug In String Fairy Lights Twinkle Wall Curtain Lights With Music Sync - Buy Curtain Lights Hello Fairy App Aoycocr Fairy Curtain String Lights,Room Accessories Christmas With Lights,Led Lights For Bedroom Music Sync Curtain Lights Product on Alibaba.com . These devices have 20 separate strips of 20 LEDs per strip, i.e. only 400 LEDs. The signal is supplied to these strips ONLY from above! At the bottom the strips are not connected to each other, i.e. This is NOT a snake connection! Moreover, these devices can be connected in 2, 3, etc. Those. LEDs can be made 400,800, 1200… If you use data input to each strip, then you need 20 outputs from the controller, but, it seems, in the picture there are not 20 wires with data. Is it possible to somehow implement this design on the WLED?
Take a look at a current project exploring this issue: Modular Matrix build It’s quite a well thought out approach.
Yes you can use this with WLED.
You would use 1 data pin.
If you want the WLED fx to look correct I think you would have to create a custom LED Map for the matrix. Mapping - WLED Project
I use one of these curtains connected to WLED in 1D with xlights controlling it. I have attached a pic of my xlights custom model. It should help you to create an LED Map for WLED to control the fx.
*If looking to use xlights to supply the fx you can just leave WLED set as 1D and just enter the total LED count of 400.
divsys, thank you very much for your answer. I will study. This is completely new information for me.
Profile - Jinx - WLED, thanks for the answer. So far I have no idea what “xlights” are). I’ll try to figure this out.
Profile - Jinx - WLED, did I understand correctly that your example uses a 4-wire tape with data return? And in this case, at the bottom of each piece of tape, the data transmission wire and the data return wire are connected together, and then from the 20 LED goes up (purple wire in the figure) and connects to the 21 LED? And then everything repeats until the last 20th tape? Is the diagram in my drawing correct?
My approach that divsys linked to has exactly that. An embedded 4th wire that takes the signal back up and to the next strand. All of the prebuilt curtains I’ve seen have used 10cm pitch (4” spacing). You can build your own with 4x as many lights for less.
Thanks for the answer. How does the fourth wire work? I can’t find the electrical diagram. Does it seem to go right through? Those. you can test it with an ohmmeter, and it will show 0 ohm, i.e. Is there a short circuit in the area from the first LED to the last? Can you tell me where I can see this?
There’s a picture in the previous link:
And yes, the return line is effectively just one more wire bonded to the normal set of 3.
You can use it for anything you want, but it works well as the data return.
My example xlights model was using a curtain like you linked to. Those curtains do not have a 4th return data wire. They either have a little circuit at the top of each drop that strips off the data needed for its 20 LEDs Or it may work like the seed pixel icicle lights work where the first LED of each drop has a fixed address.
The seed pixels with a 4th return wire are from Artacus’s Modular Matrix build
divsys, thank you very much for your detailed answer. I will study. If possible, please send me a link to the store where the 4-wire tape is sold.
Jinx, thank you very much for your answer. A lot of new information. The diagram with the controller at the top is interesting, but inaccessible to me. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to program. But the information on “pixel icicle lights” is very interesting, but I still don’t understand how it works. Is this some kind of special strip in which the LEDs have specific addresses? And will it be possible in this case to control such a tape using VLED? So far I have not found any information about such tapes. If possible, please send a link to information on such feeds.
Seed pixels 5cm pitch with data return ~$96/2000 LED
This is a link to my last post talking about them and my findings.
Thank you! I saw this post. All that remains is to figure out what is written there. 
The short answer is yes the curtain and icicles will work with WLED. You can not chain more than one together. If you have more than 1 set you would have to use a different data pin for each.
I don’t know how difficult it is to do this technically, but it would be great if the developers added a “zigzag” mode to the matrix settings to simplify the user’s work with different matrix configurations. This would greatly simplify the matrix setup when using a tape with 4 wires ( return wire on the tape).
Are trying to deal with this as a single string or a 2D matrix?
For 2D, I’m pretty sure that’s what non-serpentine (don’t check the Serpentine box) does.
For single string (1D), an ledmap will easily do what you want and reorder the pixels in order.
You can use the setup both ways.
divsys, did I understand you correctly that if you don’t put the “serpentine” mark in 2D, then the sequence will be the same as on my screen (zigzag)? Those. the last LED in the first column, then the 1st LED in the second column, and then in the same order through all columns?
That’s my understanding for a 2D matrix setup and effects.
For 1D, you’ll need ledmap.
Understood! Thanks again!