Adafruit RGB Matrix + Real Time Clock HAT for Raspberry Pi
Overview
You can now create a dazzling display with your Raspberry Pi with the Adafruit RGB Matrix HAT or Bonnet. These boards plug into your Pi and makes it super easy to control RGB matrices such as those we stock in the shop and create a colorful scrolling display or mini LED wall with ease.
The RGB Matrix HAT works on any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header — Zero, Zero W/WH, Model A+, B+, Pi 2, 3 and 4. It does not work with older 26-pin boards like the original Model A or B. Note with the Pi Zero you may need to solder a header on the Pi board; it’s normally unpopulated on that model (except the “Zero WH”).
This HAT is our finest to date, full of some really great circuitry. Let me break it down for you:
- Simple design - plug in power, plug in IDC cable, run our Python code!
- Power protection circuitry - you can plug a 5V 4A wall adapter into the HAT and it will automatically protect against negative, over or under-voltages! Yay for no accidental destruction of your setup.
- Onboard level shifters to convert the RasPi's 3.3V to 5.0V logic for clean and glitch free matrix driving
- DS1307 Real Time Clock can keep track of time for the Pi even when it is rebooted or powered down, to make for really nice time displays
Works with any of our 16x32, 32x32 or 32x64 RGB LED Matrices with HUB75 connections. The latest “Rev C” HAT also supports 64x64 matrices by soldering a small jumper on the PCB. You can even chain multiple matrices together for a longer display - we've only tested up to 32x128 but it works just fine. The bigger the display the harder it is on the Pi, so keep that in mind if you're using a lower-powered Pi Zero.
Please note: this HAT is only for use with HUB75 type RGB Matrices. Not for use with NeoPixel, DotStar, or other 'addressable' LEDs.
Each order comes with a HAT PCB with all surface mount parts assembled, a 2x20 female socket connector, a 2 pin terminal block, and a 2x8 IDC socket connector. A CR1220 coin cell is not included to make air shipping easier, please order one seperately if you do not have one and would like to use the real time clock.
A 5V power supply is also required, for power the matrix itself, the Pi cannot do it, to calculate the power, multiply the width of all the chained matrices * 0.12 Amps : A 32 pixel wide matrix can end up drawing 32*0.12 = 3.85A.