Update alert! The new ShiftBrite V2.0 is a redesigned and improved verson of the original ShiftBrite. Here are the major differences:
- New mounting ears and large mounting holes for easier construction of ShiftBrite projects
- New silkscreen with better indication of polarity and data direction on both top and bottom
- Larger power traces for improved power handling and chaining
- Snazzy deep black solder mask
- Additional power filtering capacitor
All for the same great price!
The ShiftBrite is a high-brightness LED module containing red, green, and blue elements. It uses a simple clocked serial interface to receive a 10-bit brightness value for each color, resulting in over a billion possible colors. Each input is buffered and output on the other side of the module. This allows each ShiftBrite to repeat the signal to the next, allowing longer cable runs between elements without excessive loading of microcontroller I/O pins. The six input and six output pins are 0.1" headers spaced 0.6 inches apart, allowing a ShiftBrite to fit on a breadboard or wide DIP IC socket for testing.