Adafruit
Adafruit TSL2591 High Dynamic Range Digital Light Sensor
The Adafruit TSL2591 is an ultra-high-range digital light sensor with a massive 600,000,000:1 dynamic range. It features both infrared and full-spectrum phot...
The Adafruit TSL2591 is an ultra-high-range digital light sensor with a massive 600,000,000:1 dynamic range. It features both infrared and full-spectrum photodiodes, allowing you to separately measure infrared, full-spectrum, or human-visible light for accurate lux calculations across an enormous range from 188 µLux to 88,000 Lux.
An upgrade from the TSL2561, the TSL2591 offers a wider measurement range and configurable gain/timing settings. It communicates over I2C with a built-in ADC, so no analog pins are needed. Power consumption is extremely low — about 0.4mA when sensing and less than 5µA in power-down mode, making it ideal for battery-powered data logging.
Key Features
- 600,000,000:1 Dynamic Range – Exceptional range from 188 µLux to 88,000 Lux
- Dual Photodiodes – Separate infrared and full-spectrum diodes for accurate human-visible light measurement
- Configurable Gain and Timing – Adapt to different lighting conditions on the fly
- I2C Interface – Digital output with built-in ADC, no analog pins needed
- Ultra-Low Power – ~0.4mA active, <5µA in power-down mode
- Precise Lux Calculation – Library-supported conversion from raw readings to calibrated lux values
Ideal For
- High dynamic range light measurement
- Low-power environmental data logging
- Display brightness auto-adjustment
- Greenhouse and agricultural light monitoring
- Astronomy and low-light sensing applications
Package Contents
- 1× Adafruit TSL2591 High Dynamic Range Digital Light Sensor Breakout
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- ADC
- An analogue-to-digital converter reads a changing voltage and turns it into a number the microcontroller can use. It matters when connecting analogue sensors such as light, sound, or variable-resistor sensors.
- breakout
- A breakout is a small circuit board that makes a tiny or hard-to-solder component easier to connect to with standard pins. It matters because this OLED module can be wired into a microcontroller project without needing to solder directly to the display’s fine contacts.
- dynamic range
- Dynamic range describes how wide a span of values a sensor can measure, from very low to very high. For a light sensor, a wide dynamic range means it can work in dim indoor settings as well as bright sunlight without changing hardware.
- 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.
- I2C address
- An I2C address is the number a device uses so a microcontroller can tell it apart from other devices on the same I2C bus. It matters because two devices with the same fixed address may conflict if used together.
- lux
- Lux is the standard unit for measuring how much light falls on a surface, similar to how a light meter reports brightness. A sensor that outputs lux gives readings that are easier to compare between rooms, outdoor conditions, and different projects.
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