Is a Teensy 3.6 with two octobords possible?

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harald25

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I would like to to have more than 8 parallel LEDstrip outputs, and I'm wondering if it's possible to connect two octo boards to one Teensy 3.6?
 
What I'm thinking about is using FastLEDs functionality for multiple outputs, and then just wiring the output pins of the Teensy to input pins on the octo boards.
That should work right? Unless there is some special communication the Teensy does with the Octo adaptors that requires you to use the octows library?
 
The Octows2811 boards are just fast Level shifters that take the teensy 3.3v output to 5v logic that the pixels expect. That being said you can connect as many octo boards you need to accommodate pins you configure in FastLED. The one major thing to consider is how many pixels do you plan to drive? If you don't use the octows2811 library then you loose the efficiency to drive many pixels and instead utilize the CPU for generating the pixel outputs. going the CPU route will reduce your overall pixel capability and may defeat the purpose of using more output pins. If you stick to the octows2811 library then you are using the dedicated 8 outputs but with high pixel counts. If your want an adventure in hacking you could allocate more pins to the octows2811 library and get more outputs. One project called ackalyte on github has gone up to 15 outputs by hacking the octows2811 library.
 
The Octows2811 boards are just fast Level shifters that take the teensy 3.3v output to 5v logic that the pixels expect. That being said you can connect as many octo boards you need to accommodate pins you configure in FastLED. The one major thing to consider is how many pixels do you plan to drive? If you don't use the octows2811 library then you loose the efficiency to drive many pixels and instead utilize the CPU for generating the pixel outputs. going the CPU route will reduce your overall pixel capability and may defeat the purpose of using more output pins. If you stick to the octows2811 library then you are using the dedicated 8 outputs but with high pixel counts. If your want an adventure in hacking you could allocate more pins to the octows2811 library and get more outputs. One project called ackalyte on github has gone up to 15 outputs by hacking the octows2811 library.

What I want want to do is 16 strips with 150 LEDs each.
Would it be better then to use 8 outputs, and chain two and two strips you think?
My main reason for not wanting to do that is that I have to make some significant changes in my code to make it work.
 
Then again I use an ethernet module to drive my 5440 pixels and I need every bit of CPU to keep on top of the buffers. If your just animating fastLED effects and not taking in alot of data then you should be fine to use CPU and parallel the output. I recall in the fastLED library that you can use 16 pins for outputs. Its one of those things to try and see what the outcome is
 
Then again I use an ethernet module to drive my 5440 pixels and I need every bit of CPU to keep on top of the buffers. If your just animating fastLED effects and not taking in alot of data then you should be fine to use CPU and parallel the output. I recall in the fastLED library that you can use 16 pins for outputs. Its one of those things to try and see what the outcome is

I know about FastLEDs ability for 16 outputs, which is what I hope to use.
I am almost only animating FastLED-effects, and only taking in data in the form of OSC-messages from my ipad that I use to control my setup.
Do you have any tips for how I should proceed if I want to check how much of the CPU capacity I am using?
 
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