First built at the BalCCon2k17 conference in Novi Sad, Serbia, this project is meant to be as easy to build as possible. This project grew by the community and is meant to provide people who would like to recreate it with a starting guide.
This BalCCon Video Wall installation was designed with the following priorities in mind:
- Cost effective as possible
- Minimal use of special equipment (some soldering required)
- Easy and fast to deploy and dismantle
- Having fun building it
The following project was the inspiration for the BalCCon Video Wall. https://github.com/jaseg/matelight
The base for the wall consists of 8x15 0.5l bottle crates (each crate holding 4x5 bottles). The crates provide stability and if only needed temporarely, might be borrowed or rented at a local beverage supplier. 2400 seperately adressable LEDs (Type WS2811), controlled by a single Teensy 3.2 microcontroller board on a OctoWS2811 adapter. The OctoWS2811 supports 8 channels, so in this setup, each row of crates corresponds to one channel.
Please check out: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html
| Part | Cost per Unit | Link | Amount | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LED Strips: 5V, 50pcs, 12mm WS2811 Square Pixels | 16 | LINK | 48 | 768.00 |
| Power Supply: 5V, 60A, 300W Power Supply | 27 | LINK | 4 | 108.00 |
| Teensy 3.2 | 22.80 | LINK | 1 | 22.80 |
| Teensy 3.2 OctoWS2811 Adaptor | 10.00 | LINK | 1 | 10.00 |
| Stereo Speaker Wire (used as power cables) | 0.2 | LINK | 40 | 8.00 |
| Wire Connectors 10pcs (with 3 or 4 connections) | 1.77 | LINK | 3 | 5.31 |
| Lots of 4x300mm Zip-Ties (100pcs/lot) | 3.34 | LINK | 10 | 33.40 |
| White Papers 24cm x 27cm (custom cut) alternatively use any paper available | N/A | 2400 | ||
| Ratchet Strap Tie (to secure the wall) | 7.43 | LINK | 3 | 22.29 |
| Empty Bottle Crates (4x5) with a center hole! | N/A | 120 | ||
| Baking Paper 20pcs (white, used as diffusors) | 2.69 | LINK | 6 | 16.14 |
| TOTAL | 993.94 |
Before you start, check that you got the right crates! This version was built with crates, that have a centric hole at the bottom. This makes mounting the LED a breeze and you wont need any tape or other means of securing the LED!
Lay out the first 15 crates on the ground and connect each crate to the next. It might be a good idea, to assemble the first row at the final position of the wall, as moving it at the end is kind of tricky. Once you are happy with the position of the wall, start with the second row. Attach each crate you add not only with the one next to it but also with the one below. You might need to use two zipties in the front to connect the two layers with eachother.
At the end, your wall should look something like this:
Once the wall stands, attach the LEDs in the back. They should stay in place by pressing them gently into the holes (given that the crates have one)
Be sure, to mount them correctly as shown in the following image:
For more information about wiring and layout visit:
https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html
In the picture above, you see, how one "channel" or row of crates is wired. So per crate-row you will need 6 LED strips with each strip counting 50 LEDs all connected to one big strip as shown in the picture. Do not connect the end of the LED-"snake" to the next crate row!
At the end it should look like this:
**If you do not have any experience in electronics please ask someone to do the wiring for you! Wrong wiring can lead to damage to you and the electronics! **
Some Math:
2* 300 LED/row => 600 LEDs
Worst case each LED draws 60 [mA] = 0.06[A]
Max current draw:
600 LEDs * 0.06 [A] = 36 [A] Total
In our case we are using 60[A] power supplies so this works fine and not put too much strain on the supplies.
The power requirements of the LED should not be underestimated! In the current design, each power supply is responsible to power two rows of crates.
Connect the existing power wires two rows of LED using the wire connectors and from there a speaker cable to the power supply Where Red connects to 5[V] and Black to Ground
For wiring the teensy board, please check out:
https://www.pjrc.com/store/octo28_adaptor.html
Program your teensy with your prefered software:
Examples: