This pixel protocol was designed by Taiwan company. APA104 is one of the most common protocols for pixel lighting displays. The control circuit and LEDs are integrated in a 5050 SMD package, which provides a small physical footprint for each pixel, same protocol with SK6812/WS2812B.
PixLite Support
Are you looking for APA104 pixel drivers that work with Art-Net or sACN? All PixLite Mk2 products support APA104 as an available Pixel IC type, so get in touch with us to find out how the lighting specialists at Advatek can support you in your pixel lighting project.
Technical Specifications
| Clock Type | Data-Only |
| Color Resolution | 8 bits |
| Physical Package | SMD5050 with integrated LEDs |
| RGB | Yes |
| RGBW | See APA109 |
| Output Pixel Voltage | 5 - 12V |
| PWM Rate | 1.2KHz |
| Suitable Camera | Unsuitable for cameras, see Refresh Rate and PWM Rate |
| Data Transfer Rate | 800kbps |
| Redundant Data Line | No |
Color Specifications
| Color | Brightness | Wavelength |
| Red | 390 – 420 mcd | 620 – 625 nm |
| Green | 660 – 720 mcd | 522 – 525 nm |
| Blue | 180 – 200 mcd | 465 – 467 nm |
APA104 Advantages
- Up to 12V, allowing for long cable lengths
APA104 Disadvantages
- Low PWM rate makes theses pixels unsuitable for cameras
- Data-only restricts refresh rates to be limited by the speed of the protocol, which will generally be slow
- Only 8 bits of data for each color makes dimming curves less smooth
- No redundancy in data
