DMX Basics for LED Users

DMX Basics for LED Lighting

DMX512 (Digital Multiplex with 512 channels) is the industry standard protocol for stage and entertainment lighting.

Key Concepts

Universe: A single DMX universe contains 512 channels. Each channel is a value from 0-255.

Channel: A single control parameter. For an RGB fixture:

• Channel 1 = Red (0-255)
• Channel 2 = Green (0-255)
• Channel 3 = Blue (0-255)

Address: The starting channel of a fixture. A 3-channel RGB fixture at address 1 uses channels 1, 2, 3.

DMX for Pixel LEDs

To control pixel LEDs with DMX, each pixel needs 3 channels (RGB) or 4 (RGBW). For 100 pixels:

100 pixels × 3 channels = 300 channels per universe

This means one DMX universe can control ~170 RGB pixels (512/3).

For larger installations, use Art-Net or sACN which support multiple universes over Ethernet.

DMX Hardware Options

DMX Software

• QLC+ — Free, open-source DMX control with pixel mapping
• xLights — Free, focused on pixel LED sequencing
• LightKey — Paid, professional lighting control
• Chamsys MagicQ — Free up to 64 universes

Full DMX512 Protocol Guide →