Anyone ever bought their stuff from AliExpress?
I bought this:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806177226619.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt
for this board:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806989086119.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.1b541802L5Xe5C&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
But I cannot get them to work with a PiZeroWH…anyone ever tried?
Sorry to see this so late…
The big source of uncertainty is that interface board that’s making a straight connection between the Pi’s 3.3V GPIO Signal and the 5V logic chips on the panel. The specific parts used on the panel or even the temperature might make a difference…
You might try cheating the voltage to the panel down to toward 4.5V to bring down the logic chip thresholds a bit.
Virtually all the other bonnets have logic level shifting chips that match the 3.3 and 5V parts.
Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet looks like a fair size match to the Pi Zero ( part 3211)
You night find 1st class mail option from Digikey save a couple of dollar on the Adafruit shipping cost.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/adafruit-industries-llc/3211/8t535237?s=N4IgTCBcDaIIYBM4DMBOBXAlgFwAS4GYwBGYkAXQF8g
The Pi Zero 2W would be a big power upgrade, 4 cores for $14.95
The source of uncertainty in the direct connection between the Pi 3.3V GPIO pins and the 5V panel logic chips. The specific chips used in the panel or even the temperature could make a difference. Virtually all the other bonnets have logic level shifting drivers
Cheating down the supply voltage to the panel down near 4.5 volts might lower the threshold of the chips.
The Adafruit RGB MATRIX BONNET looks like a fail size match to the Pi Zero.
You might save a bit on postage ordering it through digikey (with first class mail option)
The source of uncertainty is that cheap board directly connecting the Pi 3.3v GPIO pins to the 5V panel. Cheating down the panel supply voltage a bit may make a difference.
Almost all the other interface boards have logic level shifting driver chips.
Electrodragon makes a super cheap board that conforms to hzeller specs. There are 2 different connector versions, the newer one has side connectors making a lower profile.
https://www.electrodragon.com/product/rgb-matrix-panel-drive-board-for-raspberry-pi-v2/
You will find the shipping is more than the board cost, you might consider adding a spare to the order. (I have ordered from them twice, they appear legit)
I just posted documentation on that cheap 2-string passive interface board.
The sage advice from the 7 year old 3 string passive board docs:
LED panels that have 74HCT245 (as opposed to just 74HC245) in their input stage, can deal properly with the 3.3V logic levels.
sorry that these messages got stuck, just fixed that.
the adafruit adapter is ok-ish but only one channel. Electrodragon is about to come out with a small 3 channel passive adapter that fits well on an rPi0 2w (I have a beta one in my hands).
