Which Teensy to replace an Arduino Mega for more memory?

d333gs

Member
Hi all
I am currently working with an Arduino mega to control 1536 WS2812 LEDS or Six 16X16 WS2812 panels.But this is the limit for the mega.

I have no problems at all EXCEPT I need to control EIGHT panels = 2048 WS2812 LEDS

My question is: Which Teensy would be the best for this purpose?

I would be using the Teensyduino setup on the Arduino IDE .

Thanks!

John
 
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Teensy 3.5 or later. Component supply shortages have it that T3.2 - T3.6 are impossible to source so that leaves T4x.

Be mindful that T4x pins are not +5v tolerant so be careful how you hook things up.
 
You might consider using the OctoWS2811 shield.

https://www.pjrc.com/store/octo28_adaptor.html

It gives you the 3.3V to 5V buffer so you get a better 5V signal sent to the LEDs. It's also much more resilient if you accidentally touch the signal wire to the 5V power.

As far as which Teensy, unless you need a lot of extra pins for other stuff, I'd go with Teensy 4.0. On Teensy 4.0 and 4.1, you can use the pin list feature of OctoWS2811 to output exactly 6 streams (or any number you want) rather than the fixed set of 8 streams used with older Teensy 3 boards. OctoWS2811 is non-blocking, so you get all the CPU time available do compute the next frame or do other stuff while the LEDs update. Of course, the CPU is so much faster than with Arduino Mega, so maybe not a big deal, but nice to have if you decide to do more complex animations.
 
Please, don't search for a clone...
You can find distributers on this page, on the rightside column.

Paul
 
PJRC seems to be out of stock for the no 4.....Are there any usable clones out there?
TIA

Check the T_4.0 and 4.1 product pages. There are units inbound, perhaps mostly destined for distributors as noted. And distributors do, or will, have stock on both in coming days/weeks.

No usable work-alike 1062 Teensy - unless you consider the Teensy MicroMod sold by Sparkfun, which is a PJRC joint production.
 
Teensy 4.0 will be back in stock soon. They're in production now.

The cost of the chips & other parts have all increased recently, so we're going to need to raise the price soon. Likewise for Teensy 4.1. We've kept the prices at the original level as long as possible. Inflation isn't fun, but neither is ignoring reality and going out of business.

Teensy 4.1 seems to have low stock, but it's is also in production, with about half the batch already shipped and the rest has orders pending from many distributors. PJRC is slowing low stock because almost all incoming from production will ship to distributors as we complete it. But distributors are showing out of stock because recently finished Teensy 4.1 are still in transit and the ones still in manufacturing will be completed and shipped to them over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, we can't put more into production until July. Waiting on more chips from NXP. So at the rate things are going, if you want one from direct from PJRC, order it as soon as possible. Soon they'll all be at distributors. Hopefully that supply will be able to last until July, but if you know you will need it, safest to buy before they run out.
 
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
"Inflation isn't fun" No it is not........

I am a Canadian artist in France, the T4 here is about 30euros/31.50US tax included.

BTW This is what I am doing. No, they don't sell !lol!
I am still working on the site
https://www.johnfrancis-art.com
 
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