Updated tutorial: 36mm LED Pixels @ The Adafruit Learning System.

RGB Pixels are digitally-controllable lights you can set to any color, or animate. Each pixel contains four RGB LEDs and a controller chip in a sturdy metal housing. The pixel is then ‘flooded’ with epoxy to make it waterproof. These are fairly large pixels but they have a lot of nice mounting options, such as two metal flanges on the side and a 0.15″/4mm diameter hole in the middle so you can screw them directly onto a surface. They’re typically used to make outdoor signs. Compared to our other LED dots, these are much bigger and much brighter, good for larger scale installations.

At 12 volts, they draw a maximum of 120 milliamps per pixel: 40 mA each for red, green and blue.

The LED pixels are spaced along a strand of ribbon cable, with about 3 inches (75mm) between pixels. If additional distance is needed you can cut the ribbon cable and solder 4 wires to extend the gap to the desired length.

Learn more.