Adafruit
16x8 1.2 LED Matrix+Backpack UltraBright Round YellowGreen LEDs
The 16×8 1.2" LED Matrix + Backpack combines two ultra-bright round yellow-green 8×8 LED matrices on a single, compact driver board. The classic round pixel ...
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The 16×8 1.2" LED Matrix + Backpack combines two ultra-bright round yellow-green 8×8 LED matrices on a single, compact driver board. The classic round pixel design gives a retro dot-matrix aesthetic — ideal for scrolling text, small animations, or status displays in your projects.
Powered by the HT16K33 driver chip, this backpack handles all the multiplexing over a simple I2C connection — no complex wiring or extra GPIO pins required. With 16-step brightness control and constant-current drivers, you get consistent, vibrant colour at any dimming level.
Key Features
- HT16K33 Driver – Handles all LED multiplexing over I2C with a built-in oscillator
- 16-Step Dimming – Adjustable brightness from barely visible to full intensity
- Constant-Current Drivers – Ensures uniform brightness across all 128 LEDs
- Chainable – Three address-selection jumpers allow up to 8 backpacks on a single I2C bus (addresses 0x70–0x77)
- Round Pixel LEDs – Classic dot-matrix appearance
- Compact Design – Two 8×8 matrices on one board, controlled with just 2 I2C pins
Ideal For
- Scrolling text and message displays
- Small animations and pixel art
- Status indicators and dashboards
- Wearable electronics and costumes
- Interactive art installations
Package Contents
- 1× Fully assembled and tested 16×8 1.2" LED backpack
- 2× Ultra-bright round 8×8 yellow-green LED matrices
- 1× 4-pin header
Resources
- Adafruit LED Backpack Tutorial – Wiring, soldering, and code examples
- Adafruit LED Backpack Arduino Library – GitHub repository
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- GPIO
- General-purpose input/output pins are microcontroller pins you can set in software to read signals, switch devices on and off, or connect to peripherals. The number of GPIO pins matters because it limits how many buttons, LEDs, sensors, and other parts you can wire directly to the board.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that runs a stored program and controls connected inputs and outputs such as buttons, sensors, displays and communication interfaces. In a device built around one, it is the part that executes the code and coordinates the device's behaviour.
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adafruit led backpack
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Guides, code examples, and more
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
