XIAO RP2350 has RGB LED but "IS_RGBW true" in code

[manno]

According to the schematic and the pcb, the XIAO RP2350 has a RGB LED.
But in the RGB Blink example code there is a line #define IS_RGBW true.
This seems like a contradiction.
Does anybody know, why it’s not #define IS_RGBW false?

Maybe the RGB LED forgives the extra 8 bits without pause, but the code is still misleading.
I don’t own a XIAO RP2350 yet, so I can’t test.

[PJ_Glasso]

Hi there,

So They sent me one of these and I thought to check it out.
First you will need SUN GLASSES

This thing is BRIGHT. So looking at the Schematic you see the signal goes thru a 1-Bit Bidirectional Voltage level Translator UM3301DA, NO inversion takes place.

Xiao RP2350 SUN BRIGHT RGBW Neopixel

HTH
GL PJ

Merry Christmas

[manno]

The question is, if it is RGB or RGBW.

And if it is RGB, why does the code is RGBW?

In the video because of brightness I am not able to really distinguish all the colors.

[manno]

upload://rJZ21AlBllQrtb8WGAOe6wsQNnf.jpeg

[PJ_Glasso]

Hi there,

I didn’t get that from the post, sounded like a logic question. but whatever…
SO YES it’s an “RGBW”, and YES it is Very Bright.

GL PJ

[manno]

Interesting.
How did you find out it’s an RGBW?

[PJ_Glasso]

HI there,

Oh’ that is a need to know basis only, suffice to say
I got a Mole/Frank in Seeed Engineering…

GL PJ

Arise! Go Forth and Conquer

[Love4yzp]

As you can see, the example code is a fork of pico-examples/pio/ws2812/ws2812.c at master · raspberrypi/pico-examples

Just ignore the Macro.

[manno]

@ PJ_Glasso Thanks to you and to your mole

@ Love4yzp Ignoring the macro doesn’t make sense to me.
See line 16 in your link.

[manno]

Meanwhile I’ve got a XIAO RP2350 and when I send white only the RGB-LED doesn’t emit any light. So actually it is a RGB-LED (and not a RGBW-LED).
With

void put_rgbw(uint8_t red, uint8_t green, uint8_t blue, uint8_t white)
{
    uint32_t mask = (green << 24) | (red << 16) | (blue << 8 | white);
    pio_sm_put_blocking(pio0, 0, mask);
}
...
    while (1)
    {
            put_rgbw(0xff, 0, 0, 0);
            sleep_ms(750);

            put_rgbw(0, 0xff, 0, 0);
            sleep_ms(750);

            put_rgbw(0, 0, 0xff, 0);
            sleep_ms(750);

            put_rgbw(0, 0, 0, 0xff);
            sleep_ms(750);
    }

I see red-green-blue-nothing looping.

[PJ_Glasso]

Hi there,

Well I got WHite SO Bright you need to wear SHADES…

Try this does it run ?

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define LED_PIN   12     // GPIO12 (D12) controls the onboard WS2812
#define NUM_LEDS  1

Adafruit_NeoPixel led(NUM_LEDS, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  led.begin();          // Initialize the LED strip
  led.show();           // Turn off all LEDs initially
}

void loop() {
  // Red
  led.setPixelColor(0, led.Color(255, 0, 0));
  led.show();
  delay(1000);

  // Green
  led.setPixelColor(0, led.Color(0, 255, 0));
  led.show();
  delay(1000);

  // Blue
  led.setPixelColor(0, led.Color(0, 0, 255));
  led.show();
  delay(1000);

  // White
  led.setPixelColor(0, led.Color(255, 255, 255));
  led.show();
  delay(1000);
}

LMK

GL PJ

note: and yes, the onboard WS2812B LED is still controlled via GPIO 12, just like on the standard RP2040 version. the Seeed XIAO RP2040 has a built-in WS2812B RGB LED (usually on pin D12 / GPIO 12), and you can control it using the Adafruit_NeoPixel library.

Chart on WiKi:
2340 1 user LED(3 colors), 1 power LED, 1 RGB LED
2350 1 user LED, 1 charge LED(Battery Charging Indicator)，1 RGB LED

[manno]

A RGB-LED has red, green and blue, so 3 leds in one.
A RGBW-LED has red, green, blue and white, so 4 leds in one.
And sure you can let a RGB-LED shine white, but that does not make it a RGBW-LED.
upload://bAe0XRlViOLIXWFuszuGx20mzOd.jpeg
Unfortunately the forum doesn’t let me post links or pictures.