LEDs are the long-lasting, energy-saving, cool-to-run light sources that will light up our world long into the future. LEDs might not excite the average passer-by but the tricks and new control over these tiny light-emitting-diodes will be sure to ‘WOW’ plenty. RGB lighting is one of those tricks that is trending upwards in usage for a variety of applications from under-cabinet accent lighting to PC Gaming Lights.

RGB Stands for Red, Green and Blue. Color changing led strips are made up of 3 primary colors (Red, Green & Blue). With these 3 colors, you can create any color on the spectrum by combining different values of each color.

Numerous RGB LEDs are mounted on the strip, usually with 4 wire traces, 3 for each color and one for a common anode. The strips typically come with a standard 4-pin connector on the end (technically called a 4 connector) that will plug into an RGB LED controller…more on those in the next section.

How Can You Control RGB LEDs and Strip Lights?

To make precise colors from your RGB light you will need an RGB LED controller, they are sometimes referred to as 3-channel controllers as they basically control the 3 primary color ‘channels’. This will make it easy to automatically tune the 3-LEDs to make the light you want. Take a look at a few different types below that we typically use:

1. Single-Zone RGB LED Controllers

These controllers are commonly used to control LED Strip lights. These come with a simple receiving unit that goes in between your power and RGB strips with a handheld controller that lets you control from 20-30 meters away.

You will find these with RF connection or IR.These controllers easily control all the LED lights connected to it, the downside is you cannot control different sections independently.

2. Wifi / Bluetooth Multi-Zone Smart RGB Controllers

These SMART controllers connect to your smart devices via an included phone app. There is also an option to include a remote if you want two options to dim. The Multiple-Zone support lets each RGB remote (or smart device app) connect to multiple receivers, therefore allowing you to control multiple zones/rooms in your house. Easily control your office, living room and bedroom all from the same RGB controller.

These controllers also allow you more range of colors as you can adjust your Red, Green and Blue LEDs manually from 0-256 within the phone app if you would like.

3. DMX Controller for RGB LEDs

A DMX controller gives you unlimited choices to control RGB lighting and is truthfully what could possibly give you 16.7 million different colors. DMX controllers used to be way too big and bulky to be feasible in a small RGB application. However, with the increase in technology, DMX controllers today can be small touch panels, wall controllers or even smart phone applications.

DMX controllers are usually used for larger jobs or anywhere that specific, numerous colors are needed. Choosing the DMX controller for you will ultimately come down to how many strips you are running and how much you want to spend. Some DMX controllers can manage thousands of channels at once.

What’s the difference between RGB and RGB+W LED Strip Lights?

RGB LED Strip Lights

Armacost Lighting’s RGB+W LED Strip uses a 3-in-1 5050 LED chip that is made up of red, green, and blue LED diodes. These LED strips can produce a wide range of colors by mixing the three, including an almost white look when LED colors are at full brightness.

RGB+W LED Strip Lights

The RGB+W LED Strip features red, green, and blue LEDs, but adds a dual LED chip design that features a white 2835 LED that is paired with each of the RGB diodes. With the additional white LED chip, the RGB+W LED strip light can produce a wide range of vibrant colors, along with soft-bright (3000K) white, or a combination of white and RGB.

While RGB can produce color that is close to white, the dedicated white LED chip provides a pure white tone that is better for task and accent lighting, when color is not needed. The extra white chip also allows the LED strip to produce a unique mix of RGB and color lighting.

Which is Better?

RGB+W tape light is undoubtedly a much more flexible option than standard RGB LED strips. The 24 Volt RGB+W tape light is slightly more expensive than RGB but is better for a broader set of installations and improved functionality. 12 Volt RGB tape light is generally more cost effective. This is a good lighting option for those looking for vibrant colors, where pure white would not be necessary or for customers with budget constraints.

RGB vs RGBIC vs RGBCCT LED Strip Lights

RGBIC LED Strip Lights

RGBIC (RGB + a built-in Independent Chip) strip light is a higher level of the RGB strip light. It has the same color options, over 16 million colors, like RGB and RGBW strip light. RGBIC LED strip lights' built-in independent chip could display a rainbow-like lighting effect.

RGBCCT LED Strip Lights

The term RGBCCT consists of RGB and CCT. CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) means that the color temperature of the led strip light can be adjusted to change between warm white and white. Thus, RGBWW strip light is another name of RGBCCT strip. Please go to the RGBWW strip light part whenever you want to get to know the features.

RGBWW LED Strip Lights

RGBWW (RGB + White + Warm White) LED strip uses either a 5-in-1 LED chip with red, green, blue, white, and warm white for color mixing. The only difference between RGBW and RGBWW is the intensity of the white color.

RGB light strip with extra warm white will create more of a softer yellow-white. It is suitable for decorating a cozy space like a bedroom.

Wrap up

You may be considering which strip light you should buy. That depends on your budget and lighting requirement. But before you place the order, we most suggest you can try sample first to compare them.