Exposes USB high speed serial port at 2Mb baud for driving led strip using NeoPixelBus library. It's intended to replace slow Arduino solutions (level shifter 3.3V to 5v may be required). Data integrity check (Fletcher's checksum) included in new 'Awa' protocol for HyperHDR. So no more random flashing caused by serial transmission errors. That option must be checked in HyperHDR to make system works as on the screen below.
Make sure that your serial chip on the ESP32 can handle 2Mb speed: for example CP2102 can't as its max speed is 1Mb and you can compile a version for that speed but I think that's not the point, cheap CH340G can do it without any problems. CH9102x also should work for you, even at 4Mb speed.
There is also my fork named HyperSerialWLED available with the support for the AWA serial protocol at @2Mb speed for both ESP8266 and ESP32: https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperSerialWLED Can't guarantee it will work as stable as HyperSerialESP32 because WLED has a lot of other things to do in the backgrounds (ex. handling Wifi) and timing control for the serial port could be at danger for larger number of LEDs. But you don't need to abandon all the benefits offered by the WLED which can be a big advantage for some users.
RGB to RGBW conversion is calibrated for the neutral white channel BTF SK6812 but it can be easily changed (for cool and warm temperature) in the code. Search for "color calibration". In HyperHDR use "1.5" gamma for red, blue and green for best effect in the "Image Processing" tab.
| LED strip / Device | HyperSerialESP32 |
|---|---|
| SK6812 cold white | yes |
| SK6812 neutral white | yes |
| WS281x | yes |
| SPI (APA102, SK9812, HD107...) | yes |
ESP32 MH-ET Live (CH9102x/CP2104) and ESP32-S2 Lolin mini (CDC)
Why the data integrity check was introduced which causes incompatibility with other software? Because at 2Mb speed many chip-makers allow few percent error in the transmission. And we do not want to have any distracting flashes. Broken frames are abandon without showing them. At 100Hz for 250 leds approximately 1-5% of the frames are broken.
Recommend to use esphome-flasher
ESP32-S2 lolin mini requires special firmware version (also provided)
Generic ESP32:
For RGBW LED strip like RGBW SK6812 NEUTRAL white choose: firmware_esp32_SK6812_RGBW_NEUTRAL.bin
For RGBW LED strip like RGBW SK6812 COLD white choose: firmware_esp32_SK6812_RGBW_COLD.bin
For RGB LED strip like WS8212b or RGB SK6812 variant choose: firmware_esp32_WS281x_RGB.bin
For SPI driven RGB LED strip APA102: firmware_esp32_SPI_APA102_SK9822_HD107.bin, WS8201: firmware_esp32_SPI_WS2801.bin
If you want to disable your first LED because it's used as a sacrificial level shifter, please use HyperHDR v19
For the RGBW firmware the white channel is automatically calculated and R,G,B channels are corrected.
Make sure you are using HyperHDR v19beta2 or above.
Set Refresh time to zero, Baudrate to 2000000 and you enabled HyperHDR's AWA protocol.
Enabling White channel calibration is optional, if you want to fine tune the white channel balance of your sk6812 RGBW LED strip.
ESP8266/ESP32 handshake could help you to properly initialize the ESP device and enables statistics available in the logs (you must stop the LED device first to get them).
Currently we use PlatformIO to compile the project. Install Visual Studio Code and add PlatformIO plugin. This environment will take care of everything and compile the firmware for you. Low-level LED strip support is provided by the https://github.com/Makuna/NeoPixelBus library.
But there is also an alternative and an easier way. Just fork the project and enable its Github Action. Use the online editor to make changes to the platformio.ini file, for example change default pin-outs/speed or enable multi-segments support, and save it. Github Action will compile new firmware automatically in the Artifacts archive. It has never been so easy!
Tutorial: https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperSerialESP32/wiki
ESP32:
LED output (non-SPI): GPIO 2
LED output (SPI): GPIO 4 for Clock, GPIO 2 for Data
Proposed example of building a multisegment:
- Divide a long or dense strip of LEDs into 2 smaller equal parts. So
SECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEXin the HyperSerialESP32 firmware is the total number of LEDs divided by 2. - Build your first segment traditional way e.g. clockwise, so it starts somewhere in middle of the bottom of frame/TV and ends in the middle of the top of frame/TV
- Start the second segment in the opposite direction to the first one e.g. counterclockwise (
SECOND_SEGMENT_REVERSEDoption in the HyperSerialESP32 firmware configuration must be enabled). So it starts somewhere in the middle of the bottom of the frame/TV and ends in the middle of the top of the TV/frame. Both segments should be connected at the top but only 5v and ground ( NOT the data line). - The data line starts for both segments somewhere in the middle of the bottom of the TV/frame (where each of the LED strips starts)
- Configuration in HyperHDR does not change! It's should be configured as one, single continues segment. All is done in HyperSerialESP32 firmware transparently and does not affect LED strip configuration in HyperHDR.
You also must configure data pin (and clock pin for SPI LEDs) in the platformio.ini. Review the comments at the top of the file:
SECOND_SEGMENT_DATA_PIN- These is data pin for your second stripSECOND_SEGMENT_CLOCK_PIN- These is clock pin for your second strip (SPI LEDs only, not for sk6812/ws2812b etc)
You add these to your board's config. Be sure to put -D in front of each setting.
Examples of final build_flags for 288 LEDs divided into 2 equal segments in the platformio.ini:
[env:SK6812_RGBW_COLD]
build_flags = -DNEOPIXEL_RGBW -DCOLD_WHITE -DDATA_PIN=2 ${env.build_flags} -DSECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEX=144 -DSECOND_SEGMENT_DATA_PIN=4 -DSECOND_SEGMENT_REVERSED
...
[env:WS281x_RGB]
build_flags = -DNEOPIXEL_RGB -DDATA_PIN=2 ${env.build_flags} -DSECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEX=144 -DSECOND_SEGMENT_DATA_PIN=4 -DSECOND_SEGMENT_REVERSED
...
ESP32 MH-ET LIVE mini is capable of 4Mb serial port speed and ESP32-S2 lolin mini is capable of 5Mb. But to give equal chances all models were tested using the default speed of 2Mb.
Multi-segments can double your large sk6812/ws2812b setup refresh rate for free. All you need is to properly project & construct the LED strip and use HyperSerialESP32 v8.
| LED strip / Device | ESP32 MH-ET LIVE mini |
|---|---|
| 300LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz SECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEX=150 |
93-97 |
| 600LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz SECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEX=300 |
78-79 |
| 900LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz SECOND_SEGMENT_START_INDEX=450 |
55-56 |
| LED strip / Device | ESP32 MH-ET LIVE mini HyperSerialESP32 v6.1 |
ESP32 MH-ET LIVE mini HyperSerialESP32 v8 |
|---|---|---|
| 300LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz |
81-83 | 80-83 |
| 600LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=60Hz |
39-40 | 41-42 |
| 900LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=40Hz |
21-26 | 26-28 |
| LED strip / Device | ESP32 (CH340C) HyperSerialESP32 v6.1 |
ESP32 (CH340C) HyperSerialESP32 v8 |
|---|---|---|
| 300LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz |
72-78 | 81-83 |
| 600LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=60Hz |
33-38 | 39-42 |
| 900LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=40Hz |
21-25 | 26-28 |
| LED strip / Device | ESP32-S2 lolin mini HyperSerialESP32 v8 |
|---|---|
| 300LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=100Hz |
80-84 |
| 600LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=60Hz |
42 |
| 900LEDs Refresh rate/continues output=40Hz |
27-28 |
You use it on your own risk.
Don't touch these firmwares if you don't know how to put the device in the programming mode if something goes wrong.
As per the MIT license, I assume no liability for any damage to you or any other person or equipment.