Addressable LED Comparison

A while ago I started collecting details of different addressable LED types. This list is by no means complete, nor 100% correct, but I never found a similar comparison overview elsewhere:

LED PWM Frequency ct/LED1 All-white current Quiescent Current Colors Voltage Notes Datasheet
WS2811 400 Hz 3   ~1 mA RGB 12 V2   PDF
WS2812B 430 Hz 5   0.6 mA RGB 5 V   PDF
WS2812C 2 kHz   5 mA 0.3 mA RGB 5 V   PDF
WS2813 2 kHz 8.5     RGB 5 V - Backup data pin
- Integrated capacitor
PDF
WS2815 2 kHz 7.5     RGB 12 V - Backup data pin
- Directly 12V compatible, although inefficiently
PDF
WS2816B 10 kHz     0.7 mA RGB 5V - Backup data pin
- 16 bit resolution per color
- Additional 4 bit gamma
- Only available in small SMD packages and no strips currently available
PDF (English, auto translated)
PDF (Chinese)
SK6812 1.1 kHz     1 mA RGB 5 V   PDF
SK6812RGBW 1.1 kHz 9.5   1 mA RGBW 5 V   PDF
SK6812WWA 1.1 kHz     1 mA W/WW/A 5 V   PDF
APA102 19.2 kHz (RGB)
580 Hz (global)
10.5 24.5 mA 1 mA RGB 5 V - SPI protocol
- Protocol Quirks
PDF
SK9822 4.7 kHz (RGB)
CC (global)
11.5 20 mA 1 mA RGB 5 V - Constant current global brightness
- APA102 Comparison
PDF
APA107 9 kHz       RGB 5V - APA102 SPI protocol
- Constant current global brightness (probably)
PDF
HD107S / NS107S 27 kHz     1 mA RGB 5V - APA102 SPI protocol
- Constant current global brightness (probably)
PDF
HD108 / NS108 27 kHz     0 mA? RGB 5V - SPI protocol
- 16 bit color + 5 bit CC per color
PDF

If you want to expand or correct this list, please send a pull request or issue.

Other niche LED types

  • UCS2904
    • Like WS2811 IC, but RGBW and for higher voltages out of the box
    • Probably SK6812 RGBW protocol
  • BS0815 / LC8808 / GS8205
    • Like WS2815 (12V), but 12 bit PWM with internal gamma table (still 8 bit data)
    • 8 kHz RGB PWM
    • Internal test patterns
    • LC8808 PDF
    • GS8205 PDF
  1. Rough estimation based on prices of 5m 60 LEDs/m IP20 strip on AliExpress 

  2. When used in 12V-strip configuration (3 LEDs per IC), only addressable in groups of 3 LEDs