An addressable LED strip – often sold in the UK as pixel tape or digital LED tape – has a tiny control chip at every LED or every short section, so each point can show its own colour and brightness. That is what makes chasing light, rainbow waves and stair lighting that follows you up the steps possible; ordinary colour-changing tape can only show one colour along its whole length.
The LEDs themselves are much the same as on standard tape. What changes is the electronics around them, and that affects the controller you buy, how you wire the run and how carefully you plan the power.
Standard RGB tape has four conductors: a common positive and separate red, green and blue channels. The controller dims each channel along the entire length, so the colour changes everywhere at once. Addressable tape carries a data line instead. The controller sends a stream of instructions; the first chip keeps its share and passes the rest down the line, and so on to the end.
The smallest piece you can control is called a pixel, and it is not always a single LED. On 5 V tape it usually is. On 12 V tape a pixel is one LED or a group of three, and on 24 V tape it is often three, six or more. Longer pixels make animations look steppier up close, which hardly matters along a staircase or in a ceiling cove but shows on a strip behind a monitor.
Three broad families exist. Single-wire chips use one data line and three conductors in total and are by far the most common. Dual-signal chips add a backup data line, so one failed pixel does not black out the rest of the run. Clocked tape adds a separate clock wire and refreshes very fast, which is why it is used for video effects and anything filmed on camera.
| What to check | Typical options | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Voltage | 5 V, 12 V or 24 V DC | Lower voltage gives finer pixels; higher voltage runs further between power feeds |
| Pixel size | 1 LED (5 V), 1 or 3 LEDs (12 V), 3–6+ LEDs (24 V) | How smooth effects look at close range |
| Density | 30, 60 or 144 LEDs per metre; COB versions with a continuous line | Visible dots versus an even glow |
| Colour | RGB, RGBW, single white | RGBW gives a usable white for everyday light |
| Run before a power feed | roughly 1–2 m (5 V), 5 m (12 V), 10 m (24 V) | Prevents the far end fading and turning pinkish |
| Ingress protection | IP20 indoors; IP65–IP67 silicone for damp areas and outdoors | Bathrooms, kitchens, gardens |
Power use climbs quickly at low voltage. A typical 5 V pixel draws about 60 mA at full white, so a metre of 60 LEDs needs around 3.6 A – roughly 18 W. Effects normally draw less, but size the driver for full white with a 20–30% margin.
Simple controllers come with built-in effects and work from an RF remote or a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi app, often with a music mode. Programmable units store custom shows on an SD card, and DMX is the norm for bars, theatres and shop fronts. For stairs there are dedicated controllers with a motion sensor at the top and bottom plus a daylight sensor, so the steps light in sequence only after dark. The low-voltage side is a reasonable DIY job; connecting the driver to the mains is work for a qualified electrician, and in England and Wales some of it falls under Part P of the Building Regulations.
Stairs are the obvious one: a strip under each tread or along the string, lighting step by step in the direction you walk. Beyond that, think ceiling coves with a slow wave, TV and monitor backlighting that follows the picture, kitchen plinths, shelving, gaming desks and festive displays. Single-white digital tape, frequently COB, gives the same sequential effect without any colour at all – a calm choice for hallways and landings.
Green where you expect red means the controller is sending colours in the wrong order; switch RGB to GRB or BRG in the app. A run that goes dark from one point onwards usually has a failed pixel – cut it out and rejoin, or choose a dual-signal chip next time. Only cut on the marked pads, which on many 12 V tapes means every three LEDs. For permanent installs, mount the tape in an aluminium profile with a diffuser: it carries heat away, protects the chips and turns a row of dots into a clean line.
The voltage is usually printed on the tape next to the cut marks or on the reel label. Pixel size is another clue: one LED per pixel usually points to 5 V (though some 12 V chips also drive single LEDs), while groups of six suggest 24 V.
No. A standard RGB controller only dims three channels; addressable tape needs a digital controller that speaks its chip’s protocol.
Look for a stated chip type, a thick copper circuit board, a clear power figure per metre, a backup data line for long runs and a decent colour rendering figure (CRI 80 or higher) if the tape also provides white light.
Single-colour, tunable white, RGB and RGBW colour-changing, and addressable pixel tape. Addressable versions exist in single white, RGB and RGBW.
Plan power feeds before you start, keep polarity and data direction right, and leave every mains connection to a qualified electrician.
Yes, at the marked pads. Each cut piece keeps working as long as its DI end receives data, either by solder or a matching connector.
More on drivers, profiles and fitting for LED tape in general: LED strip lights. If you only need whole-strip colour changes, read about RGB LED strip lights.
