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An LED matrix display controller for Raspberry Pi that drives RGB panels using either a native Rust or C++ binding driver, featuring a web interface for configuring animated text displays with effects like scrolling, borders, and color transitions.

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RPi LED Sign Controller

LED matrix display controller for Raspberry Pi with web-based configuration.

Features

  • Control RGB LED matrix panels connected to Raspberry Pi GPIO
  • Web-based configuration interface
  • Text scrolling with customizable speed and colors
  • Two driver options: native Rust or C++ binding
  • Support for various LED matrix panel configurations

Quick Install

To quickly install or update the LED Sign Controller on your Raspberry Pi, you can use this installer:

# Download the installation script
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paviro/rpi-led-sign-controller/main/scripts/install.sh -o install.sh
# Run it with sudo
sudo bash install.sh

This will download and run the installation script, which will check for an existing installation, install/update dependencies, build the application, and help you configure your LED panel.

Screenshots

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Installation

Prerequisites

  • Raspberry Pi (tested on Pi 4)
  • LED matrix panels compatible with the HUB75 interface
  • Rust toolchain (rustc, cargo) (if not using quick install)

Building from Source

First compile the frontend and copy output files into the /static dir. You can find the frontend here.

After that you can move on to the backend, the frontend files will be embedded in the final binary.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/paviro/rpi-led-sign-controller.git
cd rpi-led-sign-controller

# Build the project
cargo build --release

Usage

The application provides a web interface accessible at http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:3000 for configuring the display content.

Run the application:

# Basic usage with native Rust driver
sudo ./target/release/rpi_led_sign_controller --driver native --rows 32 --cols 64 --chain-length 1

# Using the C++ binding driver
sudo ./target/release/rpi_led_sign_controller --driver binding --rows 32 --cols 64 --chain-length 1

Driver Selection

The application supports two different LED matrix drivers:

  1. Native (--driver native): Pure Rust implementation from rpi_led_panel
  2. Binding (--driver binding): C++ binding to Henner Zeller's rpi-rgb-led-matrix library

CLI Arguments

Argument Type Description Default Supported By
--driver, -d Option Driver type: "native" or "binding" (REQUIRED) - Both
--rows, -r Option Number of rows per panel 32 Both
--cols, -c Option Number of columns per panel 64 Both
--parallel, -p Option Number of chains to run in parallel 1 Both
--chain-length, -n Option Number of daisy-chained panels 1 Both
--limit-max-brightness Option Maximum brightness limit (0-100). The UI's 100% setting will equal this value 100 Both
--hardware-mapping Option Display wiring configuration "regular" Both
--limit-refresh-rate Option Limit refresh rate in Hz (0 = unlimited) 0 Both
--pi-chip Option Raspberry Pi chip model (e.g., "BCM2711") auto Native
--pwm-bits Option PWM bits for color depth (1-11) 11 Both
--pwm-lsb-nanoseconds Option Base time-unit for the on-time in LSB 130 Both
--gpio-slowdown Option GPIO slowdown factor (0-4) auto Both
--dither-bits Option Bits for time dithering 0 Both
--panel-type Option Panel initialization type (e.g., "FM6126A") - Both
--multiplexing Option Multiplexing type - Both
--pixel-mapper Option List of pixel mappers ("U-mapper;Rotate:90") - Both
--row-setter Option Row address setter type "direct" Both
--led-sequence Option LED color sequence "RGB" Both
--interlaced Switch Enable interlaced scan mode Disabled Both
--no-hardware-pulse Switch Disable hardware pin-pulse generation Disabled Binding
--show-refresh Switch Show refresh rate on terminal Disabled Binding
--inverse-colors Switch Invert display colors Disabled Binding

Environment Variables

All CLI options can be set via environment variables with the LED_ prefix.

Environment Variable Equivalent CLI Argument
LED_DRIVER --driver
LED_ROWS --rows
LED_COLS --cols
LED_CHAIN_LENGTH --chain-length
LED_PARALLEL --parallel
LED_LIMIT_MAX_BRIGHTNESS --limit-max-brightness
LED_HARDWARE_MAPPING --hardware-mapping
LED_LIMIT_REFRESH_RATE --limit-refresh-rate
LED_PI_CHIP --pi-chip
LED_PWM_BITS --pwm-bits
LED_PWM_LSB_NANOSECONDS --pwm-lsb-nanoseconds
LED_GPIO_SLOWDOWN --gpio-slowdown
LED_DITHER_BITS --dither-bits
LED_PANEL_TYPE --panel-type
LED_MULTIPLEXING --multiplexing
LED_PIXEL_MAPPER --pixel-mapper
LED_ROW_SETTER --row-setter
LED_SEQUENCE --led-sequence
LED_HARDWARE_PULSING --no-hardware-pulse (inverted)
LED_SHOW_REFRESH --show-refresh
LED_INVERSE_COLORS --inverse-colors

Hardware Mapping Options

The --hardware-mapping parameter depends on how your LED matrix is connected to the Raspberry Pi.

Mapping Value Alternate Names Description Driver Support
regular Standard GPIO mapping (default) Both
adafruit-hat AdafruitHat Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT Both
adafruit-hat-pwm AdafruitHatPwm Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT with hardware PWM Both
regular-pi1 RegularPi1 Standard GPIO mapping for Raspberry Pi 1 Both
classic Early version of matrix wiring (not recommended for new setups) Both
classic-pi1 ClassicPi1 Early version for Pi 1 Rev A Both

Both kebab-case (adafruit-hat) and PascalCase (AdafruitHat) naming styles are supported for backward compatibility with both drivers.

Row Setter Options

The --row-setter parameter controls how the row address is set on the LED matrix. The following options are supported:

Option Value Alternate Name Description
direct default Direct row selection (default)
shiftregister ab-addressed Shift register selection (AB addressed panels)
directabcdline direct-row-select Direct ABCD line selection
abcshiftregister abc-addressed ABC shift register selection
sm5266 abc-shift-de SM5266 with ABC shifter + DE direct

The row setter determines how the GPIO pins are configured to address different rows on the LED panel. The correct value depends on your specific LED panel type and wiring configuration.

Multiplexing Options

The --multiplexing parameter determines how the display is electrically multiplexed.

Multiplexing Value Description
Stripe Traditional line-by-line multiplexing (default for binding driver)
Checkered, Checker Alternate pixels are on different scan lines
Spiral Panel using spiral of matrix segments
ZStripe, ZStripe08 Z-stripe with 8 pixel intervals
ZStripe44 Z-stripe with 4x4 pixel intervals
ZStripe80 Z-stripe with 8x0 pixel intervals
Coreman Multiplexing used in some Colorlight controllers
Kaler2Scan Scan pattern used in some Kaler panels
P10Z P10 outdoor panels with Z layout
QiangLiQ8 QiangLi Q8 panels
InversedZStripe Inverted Z-stripe pattern
P10Outdoor1R1G1B1 P10 outdoor panel variant 1
P10Outdoor1R1G1B2 P10 outdoor panel variant 2
P10Outdoor1R1G1B3 P10 outdoor panel variant 3
P10Coreman P10 panels with Coreman multiplexing
P8Outdoor1R1G1B P8 outdoor panels
FlippedStripe Stripe pattern with flipped orientation
P10Outdoor32x16HalfScan P10 32x16 outdoor panels with half-scan

The correct multiplexing option depends on your specific panel type. Most common panels use either Stripe or Checkered.

Web Server Configuration

The application includes a web server for configuration and control of the LED matrix. You can customize where this web server binds using the following options:

Web Server Options

Option Description Default
--port Web server port 3000
--interface Network interface to bind to 0.0.0.0 (all interfaces)

Environment Variables

These settings can also be configured using environment variables:

  • LED_PORT - Set the web server port
  • LED_INTERFACE - Set the binding interface

CLI Usage Notes

Options vs. Switches

This application uses two types of command-line parameters with different behaviors:

1. CLI Arguments

  • Options require a value: --rows 32, --cols 64
  • Switches are flags with no values:
    • To enable: include the switch (e.g., --interlaced)
    • To disable: omit the switch entirely

2. Environment Variables

All parameters (including switches) accept values when set as environment variables:

  • For normal options: LED_ROWS=32, LED_COLS=64
  • For switches:
    • To enable: LED_INTERLACED=true or LED_INTERLACED=1
    • To disable: LED_INTERLACED=false or LED_INTERLACED=0

This difference in behavior between CLI switches and environment variables is due to how environment variables fundamentally work - they must always have a value, whereas CLI flags can be present or absent.

Special Case: Hardware Pulsing

Note that the environment variable LED_HARDWARE_PULSING is inverted from its CLI counterpart --no-hardware-pulse:

  • CLI: --no-hardware-pulse (disables hardware pulsing)
  • ENV: LED_HARDWARE_PULSING=false (also disables hardware pulsing)

This reversal exists because the CLI flag is a "negative" switch.

Disclaimer

This project was developed with significant assistance from AI (specifically Claude). While efforts have been made to ensure code quality, the implementation may contain inefficiencies or non-idiomatic patterns. Contributions and improvements are welcome! I am not a Rust developer 🙈

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An LED matrix display controller for Raspberry Pi that drives RGB panels using either a native Rust or C++ binding driver, featuring a web interface for configuring animated text displays with effects like scrolling, borders, and color transitions.

Topics

raspberry-pi led-controller led led-matrix hub75 led-matrix-panel

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