How to make an LED module with your own hands. DIY LED screen - is this task feasible? Is it worth taking on assembling the screen yourself?

In this article we will inspire you with various ideas for creating lamps with your own hands. And most importantly, we will offer light sources that can be easily and conveniently designed into the most unusual design solutions. You won't need to think about where to find LEDs, a platform for gluing them, soldering wires and other technical things. We have already thought for you and are freeing up your time for imagination and bright ideas for decorating a lamp!

They realize incredible ideas with their own hands from wood, metal, fabric, paper, plastic or thread. An example of creating a lamp from plastic cups:

DIY floor lamp made from paper cups and garlands.

DIY table LED lamp made of cardboard. There is a LED light bulb hidden inside.

DIY antique ceiling lamp.

DIY LED wall lamp made of paper (origami).

LED wall lamp made of plywood.

The use of decorative homemade lamps

Homemade lamps perfectly serve as decorative lighting. They are rarely used for main lighting. For manufacturing, materials that do not transmit light well are used, and light sources are limited in size or power. To avoid damage to the structure, it is recommended to use low-heat LED lamps or strips as a light source, which, unlike incandescent lamps, do not pose a fire risk.

Homemade lamps as main lighting

Homemade lamps are increasingly used as main lighting thanks to technologically advanced, powerful and safe light sources.

Homemade lamp based on Armstrong 595x595 LED lamp.

LED lamp for main lighting.

DIY ceiling lamp made of paper. safe as a light source in this design,because it doesn't heat up.

How to make an LED lamp with your own hands?

Homemade LED lamp based on the Armstrong 600x600 LED panel.

Steel is a powerful alternative for making lamps with your own hands from improvised materials. A variety of sizes and shapes allows you to create floor, wall, ceiling or pendant lamps of unusual design and high power. Used to repair an old lamp or to develop your own unique lighting design.

for repairing and replacing an old lamp or creating a new lamp with your own hands.

LED module with light temperature control and remote control remote control.

The driver and all the necessary electronics are already built into the . Unlike LED strips, the matrix (module) is connected directly to a 220 volt network. The OPPLE LED module is compact in size, has clever cooling, and each LED on it is equipped with its own lens for the most uniform distribution of light.

Lens on each LED for the most even distribution of light.

A small 12 W module (analogous to 95 W) is suitable for homemade decorative lamps:

Decorative LED lamp made of antique wood.

DIY pendant lamp made of paper (origami kusudama).

For the brightest solutions, designed (600 W analogue) with a remote control, brightness adjustment (built-in dimmer) and variable light temperature from warm light (3000 K) to cold light (6000 K).

How to make a bright LED lamp from scrap materials with a remote control, adjustable brightness and light temperature from warm to cold.

It became possible to make original lamps technologically advanced and even more unusual thanks to various light settings. Now you can play with the temperature of the light (from yellow to white) and adjust the brightness of the light.

It is important that OPPLE LED modules have a well-thought-out cooling system and they hardly heat up. This makes it possible to create design solutions from your favorite materials: lamps made of wood, pendant lamps made of paper, wall lamps made of plywood, floor lamps made of scrap materials. Now it’s easier than ever to create homemade LED lamps with your own hands.

DIY table lamp (night light) made of wood (plywood).

Homemade LED (LED) lamp made of paper.

DIY ceiling pendant lamp in loft style.

Light-emitting diode (LED) screens have been widely used in the household and other spheres over the past twenty years. A modern LED screen is a laptop or TV display, an advertising installation on the street, and big screen at the concert venue. If the first option is extremely difficult to construct on your own, then you can assemble a large LED screen for advertising or broadcasts yourself.

What is the screen made of?

The modular assembly of an LED screen involves the creation of a large canvas from many individual modules. These are standard-sized blocks that consist of several dozen LEDs that act as pixels, and electronic circuit management. The control board controls the joint glow of the module, and also has cables and connectors for connecting with other modules. This kind of puzzle potentially makes it possible to assemble a screen of any size.

Today you can buy modules for assembly in electronics stores, in specialized departments on the market, or order them on international online platforms like AliExpress. In all three cases, the block will most likely be made in China, but this does not mean low quality by default. Good products come from the land of dragons. To choose it, you should consult with experts and read reviews about certain brands.

Basic functional characteristics of P10 modules:

size: length – 320 mm, width – 160 mm, thickness – 20 mm;
weight – from 600 to 700 g;
pixel pitch – 10 mm;
number of pixels per m 2 (resolution) – from 256 ˟ 192;
screen brightness – from 6000 to 7000 cd/m2;
working life – up to 50,000 hours;
half brightness angle – 120˚;
comfortable viewing distance – 7 meters or more;
maximum power consumption for street use is 500 W/m2.

In the basic version, LED blocks for assembling screens are protected from dust, moisture, and mechanical damage.

An alternative to electronic LED blocks is LED strip. It can also be laid out as a screen to broadcast images. However, this material has characteristic disadvantages. First, installing a large number of tapes in the form of a screen is more difficult, since they are not originally designed for this purpose. Secondly, LED strips do not have sufficient resistance to destructive environmental factors: temperature changes, contact with dirt, moisture and dust, and ultraviolet radiation.

Installation of LED screen from blocks

The manufacturing process begins with assembling a metal frame to house the LED units next to each other. The load-bearing metal structure is something like a wall with cells. As a rule, it is made from a square profile pipe or a perforated metal profile. Considering the characteristics of the environment of use, the material must have an anti-corrosion coating. An example of a traditional design for placing modules, power supplies, controllers, drivers and other circuit components is shown in the following photo.

Next, to assemble the LED screen, the P10 electronic modules are placed in their cells and connected to each other using a standard male-female cable-to-female connection. Most often, the blocks themselves are attached to the metal base using magnets, and therefore do not cause problems. Thanks to this, the process of installation, dismantling and repair of mobile LED screens is significantly simplified.

On back side The structure contains power supplies and electronic elements that receive information about the transmitted image and distribute it in parts: the general circuit is divided into modules, and the modules are divided into pixels.

More often, the back wall is always assembled from a composite aluminum panel or sheet of metal. General assembly and placement diagram functional elements screen is shown in the following image.

Assembling a screen from tape

For LED strip, unlike P10 modules, the ability to bend and fold is available, which provides one of the advantages - it can be used to create flexible and foldable screens. To create them, you need diode strips, holders for them with a clamping head, aluminum panels for placing LEDs, fasteners, power supplies and a microcontroller.

How to assemble an LED screen from an LED strip:

Cover the work surface with colored film using liquid glue (the color should be black, because the LEDs do not light up when it is displayed). The surface must be perfectly flat.
Trim excess film around the edges.
Fasten the ribbons in rows. They need to be positioned so that the distance between the LEDs is the same, both along and across. The LEDs should go in even rows both along and across the base so that the image is not skewed. Staples are used for fastening. The distance between them is determined so that there is no sagging or displacement.
Connect LED strips to each other by soldering or through standard connectors. A DMX controller is connected to the input of the first tape in the chain. If one device is not enough for operation, subcontrollers are installed. They are connected to each other by a network cable.
Connect power supplies. There are several important nuances here: power is supplied from both ends, the maximum consumption of a strip with 72 LEDs is 20W, modular power supplies are almost always connected in pairs, and not paralleled at the output.

Power supply circuits for LED strips for those who assemble an LED screen with their own hands:

The final step in assembling the screen is to seal the power supplies, controllers, and connections to protect them from moisture. A good option is an aluminum cable channel into which the ends of the tapes are inserted and filled with sealant, and the power supplies are hidden.

How is the image displayed?

The selection of video footage and its replacement for broadcasting to the LED screen is carried out via Wi-Fi or USB. In the first case, information is received via network card controller, and in the second - through a cable from a computer connected to the system. The controller converts the video into a digital stream and distributes the voltage across individual LEDs. The quality and order of display depends on the type of control system:

synchronous control implies the simultaneous display of one picture on the screen and the source device, that is, live broadcasting. It is often used during sports broadcasts and concerts. To operate, a transmitter card operates on the source device, and one or more receiver cards connected to each other on the screen;
Asynchronous display of information on the screen is associated with preliminary loading of information in the microcontroller memory. Loading is carried out from a computer via a cable or from a flash drive. The asynchronous system operates independently of the control computer and is equipped with several microcontrollers (depending on the size of the display).

A popular tool for programming and controlling LED screens is the Arduino hardware and computing platform. It has connectors and ports through which you can connect a variety of devices to create simple and complex automated systems, including LED screens. Arduino is programmed in C/C++ languages.

Question: “Is it possible to make an LED with your own hands?” It will certainly cause surprise among ordinary craftsmen. It would seem, why invent something that has long been invented and mass-produced? However, there is a category of people who love to make something unusual. For them, designing an LED is an opportunity to repeat the experiments of O.V. Losev, held about a hundred years ago, and a chance to prove to yourself and friends the reality of creating an LED at home.

What you will need

The main structural material is a piece of silicon carbide. You can’t buy it in a regular store, but if you try, you can find it on the Internet among private advertisements. In addition, you will need a pin needle, connecting wires, two furniture nails with a wide head and an adjustable voltage source (0-10 volts). You will also need some solder and some skill with a soldering iron. For parameter measurements homemade LED A simple multimeter will do.

Preparatory work

The first step is to find an area on the surface of the silicon carbide that is capable of emitting light. To do this, the source material will have to be crushed into several pieces 2-5 mm in size. Then each of them is placed in turn on a metal plate connected to the plus of a power source with a voltage of about 10V. The second electrode is a sharp probe or needle connected to the minus of the power source.

Then the piece under study must be pressed against the plate with tweezers, and its upper part must be probed with a sharp needle in search of a luminous area. Thus, the crystal with the highest brightness is selected. It is worth noting that silicon carbide can emit light in the spectrum from orange to green.

Making an LED

For ease of installation, it is better to take a nail 10-15 mm long with a large head and tin it well. It will serve as the base and heat sink for the crystal. Using a soldering iron, the tin on the cap is brought to a liquid state and the prepared carbide specimen is slightly pressed down with tweezers. Naturally, the emitting section should be directed upward. After the solder has solidified, you need to make sure that the crystal is securely fixed.

To make a negative electrode, you will need the sharp part of a pin and a single-core copper wire. As can be seen from the photo, both parts are tinned and reliably soldered together. Then a loop is made on the wire to give it the properties of a spring. The free end of the wire is soldered onto the head of the second nail. Both studs are attached to the circuit board on a short distance from each other.

At the final stage, power of the appropriate polarity is supplied to the legs of the nails. Closes electrical circuit with a needle, which is fixed at the point of the crystal with maximum luminescence. By gradually increasing the supply voltage, you can determine the value at which the brightness stops increasing rapidly. As a result of the measurements, the voltage drop was 9V, and the forward current was 25 mA. When the polarity is reversed, silicon carbide stops emitting light, which partially explains its semiconductor properties.

I wouldn’t be surprised if experienced radio amateurs express their negativity towards the resulting unusual design, reminiscent of simplest LED. However, sometimes collecting such things yourself is interesting and even useful. An example is amateur radio clubs for schoolchildren, in which children become familiar with the properties of different materials, learn to solder and learn the basics of semiconductors.

Making an LED module with your own hands

The first stage is matrix assembly

You will need a set of RGB LEDs controlled by addressable chips like WS2811. Depending on the size and resolution of the assembled screen, you will need from hundreds to several thousand.

There are 4 options for choosing components:

LEDs in bulk, which are connected manually. Advantages - there is no reference to the distance between elements. Disadvantages: painstaking work of connecting cables using a soldering iron (this tool must be mastered to perfection).
These are the same LEDs, with already soldered cables. Available in sets of 50 or 100 pieces. The price is a little higher, but installation is much easier. There are restrictions on the length of the cable between LED elements.
LED strips. Installation is very simple, but for outdoor use you will need a sealed housing. In addition, at a short distance, such an LED screen does not look aesthetically pleasing (when turned off).
SMD LED matrices. This is a ready-made module with the correct geometry. All that remains is to solder (pointwise) the connecting contacts - and the screen of any size is ready. Protection is also required for outdoor installation.

Important! Diodes on addressable chips can be powered by 5V or 12V. So, be careful when choosing components.

Every 50-100 diodes (along the chain) it is necessary to duplicate the power supply (in parallel) so that there is no attenuation in brightness.

An Arduino controller is connected to control the screen. We simply connect the diode panel with the required contacts. To use an external information source (video card, DVD player, etc.) you will need an additional module.

Second stage - programming

Typical software environment: Arduino Software (IDE). Control programs, so-called sketches, are written in it. For convenience, there are ready-made libraries: AdafruitNeoPixel, FastLED, etc. They can be embedded in your sketch, or converted at the discretion of the program developer.

The Arduino control and programming language is simple. Any novice amateur can easily figure out the logical commands.

Based on materials from the website Apex-led.ru.

Faced with the need to acquire an LED screen, many may think of assembling it themselves. Strong arguments for this decision can be the low quality of the equipment offered, frequent breakdowns and malfunctions.

As a result, we hope to get a high-quality screen at a low cost. In addition, it becomes possible to create your own product design suitable for specific purposes.

Inspired by the expected benefits of the work done, we begin to go into detail and assemble components. At a certain stage, difficulties may arise due to lack of knowledge in this area.

Is it worth taking on the screen assembly yourself?

To understand this, you need to consider the main points that may arise when you need to assemble an LED screen with your own hands:

It may be necessary to invite assistants, because working alone is inconvenient and takes a long time. Due to the low level of qualifications of workers, some components may be damaged, broken, etc.
Working without a project, there is always a risk of purchasing components that may not be suitable. Selling them can be a challenge.
It is better to entrust the electrical part of the equipment to an experienced specialist, because if it is assembled incorrectly you can get a short circuit and all the work will be in vain.
For work, you will need a specially equipped room of sufficient size to accommodate all the components.
You need to think about the tools that will be needed for assembly (screwdriver, fasteners, etc.).

After carefully analyzing all the points, do right choice. Only if these requirements are fully met can you make an LED screen with your own hands.

Important points

If your decision to proceed with self-assembly is undeniable, we will focus on important recommendations, which may be useful during your work:

Before assembly, determine the power of the structure, because if there is insufficient power, the screen may not work correctly.
Decide on appearance finished product.
Make sure the equipment you use is safe and in good working order.
You will need a diagram for connecting the lamps, power supply and control board.
When installing, try to mount the power supplies in such a way that they can be easily replaced with new ones in case of breakdown (use liquid glue).
Consider how information will be supplied to the monitor. There are two options - using a microcontroller or a computer. In any case, you need at least minimal programming knowledge.
In addition to the screen itself, you need to prepare the frame or mountings. It is necessary to calculate so that the structure is stable.

If you are unsure of your abilities, start with a simple design, for example, install a ticker.

If the result is positive, you can start making an LED screen with your own hands.

Pros and cons of self-assembly

The advantages include:

Experience gained while working with electronic equipment.
Possibility to create a device according to an individual design.
Opportunity to obtain ready-made equipment at the lowest cost.

Now let's look at the cons:

Self-production narrows the range of applications for such a screen; a homemade LED screen is most likely not suitable for street use.
There is no warranty service.
Without certain knowledge, it is difficult to achieve required parameters Images.
Assembly may take an indefinite period of time due to the lack of any parts, which entails a loss of profit.
There is no guarantee that it will last long.
It is difficult to assemble a large device.

It is possible to make an LED screen with your own hands if you are a specialist in this field and you have prepared a detailed project for manufacturing the product, describing the installation method, the number of LEDs, size, etc.

Many believe that the most the best option manufacturing will include LED strips and a microcontroller.

Whether you start manufacturing yourself or use the services of experienced specialists, in any case, your decision to have an LED screen will be justified by its numerous advantages:

Attracting the attention of a large number of people;
Spectacular and bright design for various events;
Ability to transmit various types of information;
Minimal maintenance costs;
An opportunity to stand out among competitors.

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