We strongly recommend a maximum wire length of 3 meters between your pixel controller and the first pixel. This distance limitation is a precaution to minimize any interference being picked up on the unbalanced data line that addressable LED’s require to operate, and to minimize the impact of voltage drop. This recommendation and protocol limitation applies to all brands that output pixel protocols.
As a manufacturer, we air on the side of caution when recommending maximum wire lengths. This helps us ensure that your installation is stable and allows us to have confidence that any user can make the system work without any issues. Our competitor’s recommendations may differ from our own, if you can keep interference at a minimum (no mains power cables running near/past it and using a good quality cable such as 3/4 core 2.5mm TRS in order to minimize the impact of voltage drop) some Pixel installation has been able to achieve distances higher than our recommendation.
If you wish to go beyond our 3-meter maximum wire length recommendation, ENTTEC suggests you test the equipment in the same environment, to make sure you are happy with the results prior to installation.