Hi all,

I'm working on a Christmas light project containing a 16 x 400 matrix of multicolor LEDs. It covers an area of roughly 5" x 10' using 2.3" 8x8 matrix cells. I know Christmas has just past, but this project has already taken much longer than expected.

My problem is... How do I power this thing?

The 16x400x2 LED matrix includes 12800 LEDs. If all LEDs drew 20mA and were on, that would take 2560 Amps. The typical PC power supply only gives about 30Amps at 5 or 12v. This would take 85 PC type power supplies to run this.

Normally, only about 5-10% of the leds will be on, but there may be times when 50% or more can be on. Say I reduce the output to 10mA/led and allow a max of 50% lights on, that still requires 640Amps (21 PC type supplies.)

Are my calculations or assumptions wrong?

Another problem is seems to be power cables. I don't want a bunch of power supplies real close to the display area.

How do the big boys power their huge and bright RGB color displays? The power requirements seem extremely high. Mine is only a fraction of the size of a big display.

Any ideas?

BTW: Since this is a Christmas project, I'm calling it the "Jesus LEDs Us" project.

<>< Lance.