The IC of SK9822 and APA102 are different, but SK9822 can share the IC protocol of APA102 in most cases (it is not compatible with lower PWM frequency protocol).
What is the difference between APA102 and SK9822 addressable LED strip lights?
1. LED chip size: SK9822 LED chip size is 0.65 square millimeters, APA102 LED chip size is 1 square millimeters, SK9822 has a smaller chip space occupancy rate
2. Update type: SK9822 updates the PWM register in the first cycle after the next start frame, and APA102 updates the PWM register immediately after receiving the data; SK9822 updates the data at the same time, while APA102 criss-cross updates the data。
3. PWM update frequency: The update frequency of SK9822 is 4.7KHZ, and the update frequency of APA102 is 19KHZ. Therefore, the color delay effect of APA102 is shorter and the stroboscopic phenomenon is weakened.
4. Global brightness control: SK9822 uses a programmable controlled current source to set the global brightness. This is the opposite of APA102. If the global brightness is not set to the maximum value, APA102 will superimpose a lower frequency PWM mode (PWM below 440KHZ)
The price of SK9822 addressable LED strip is lower than that of APA102 addressable strip, so if you pay more attention to the price, SK9822 may be a good choice, but the PWM update frequency of APA102 addressable LED strip And the transmission speed is faster, so the color delay effect and stroboscopic phenomenon are less.