Dimming LED-strips

The technique behind dimming LED lighting is PWM (Pulse width modulation). The DC voltage is converted into a square wave signal whose pulse width and period is adjusted. In fact, turning the power on and off very quickly, making the lighting seem to burn softer. An LED strip can therefore not be dimmed by lowering the supply voltage.

A PWM dimmer or controller must be placed between the 12/24 V power supply and LED strip. RGB controllers are available for RGB strips with which many colors and effects can be set. This is also PWM control. Dimmers can be controlled by a rotary knob or remote control. RGB controllers generally have a remote control.

The WS2812 LED strips have an integrated PWM controller in the strip itself and externally use a completely different type of data controller.