TM1814 vs SK6812, What Is The Difference

Our website has published a lot of addressable strip comparison blogs (you can see at the bottom of this post), this article will help you better understand the difference between TM1814 and SK6812, thus you can choose the more suitable strip lights to your projects.

Table-1: TM1814 VS SK6812

Subject	TM1814	SK6812
IC Type	External IC	Built-in IC
Voltage	DC12/24V	DC5V
Color	RGBW	RGB/W
LED Quantity	60led/m	60led/m
Cut Size	12V: 3LED 24v: 6LED	1LED
Power Consumption	14.4w/m	14.4w/m
Break Continue	No	No
PWM Rate	1000HZ	1200HZ

What is the difference between TM1814 LED strip and SK6812 LED strip?

Picture-1: TM1814 vs SK6812

TM1814 LED Strip

The pixel protocol was designed by Titan Micro Electronics in China. It is an improved design of its predecessor, TM1804, offering RGBW functionality as well as faster PWM. The control circuit adopts SOP8 package, which can choose LED more flexibly. TM1814 LED strip Specification.pdf

Features of TM1814:

1) Addressable DC12/24V TM1814 RGBW LED Strips, long life span more than 50,000 hours

2) Super bright 5050 SMD top LED, high intensity and reliability.

3) Absolutely addressable, TM1814 IC built outside.

4) TM1814 has 3 wires input and output: Data, GND and Power+

5) PWM 2KHz/m, Data transmit up to 800kbps, 256 grayscale effect

TM1814 LED Strip Applications:

1) Light up colorful home life, like DIY corridors, stairs, paths and windows.

2) For hotel decoration, theaters, clubs, shopping malls, festivals and performances.

3) Architectural decorative lighting like arches, canopies and bridge edge lighting, security lighting and emergency lighting.

4) Widely used in signage back lighting, concealed lighting and advertising sign lighting.

SK6812 LED Strip

SK6812 RGBW LED strip is individually addressable, it has an extra white channel total 4 channels besides RED, BLUE and GREEN, 256 gray levels and 8 bit color display each color. This programmable RGBW is compatible with Arduino platform. SK6812 LED strip specification.pdf

We have RGBW, white, warm white SK6812 individully controlled LED strips to choose. 

Features of SK6812:

1) SK6812 has the same function as WS2812B with built-in IC that could be independently addressable, with extra white channel, you can set them to any color or animation you want

2) SK6812 support many controllers such as Arduino, FastLED library, Raspberry Pi, Fadecandy, T1000S, K1000C etc

3) 30leds 60leds 72leds and 144leds per meter are available for option.

4) 32-bit color control (8-bit PWM per channel);

5) Designed with 3pin JST-SM connectors on both ends for easy connection

SK6812 RGBW LED Tape Light Video Display:

SK6812 LED Strip Applications:

1) Widely used for home decoration use like hotels, clubs, shopping malls

2) KTV Bar Amusement decoration lighting.

3) Advertising sign illumination

4) Decorative lights for holiday, event, show exhibition

5) Applicable for automobile and bicycle decoration, border or contour lighting

Advantage and disadvantage of TM1814

TM1814 advantages

1.Up to 32V, allowing long cable lengths

2.High PWM rates allow these pixels to be captured with cameras up to 34fps

3.The presence of white LEDs allows for higher brightness and more color mixing options

TM1814 disadvantages

1.Data-only limit The refresh rate is limited by the speed of the protocol, which is generally slower

2.Only 8 bits of data per color makes the dimming curve less smooth

3.No data redundancy

Advantage and disadvantage of SK6812

SK6812 advantages

1.The high PWM rate of 1.20KHZ allows to capture pixels at 30fps.

2.Driving 4-color LEDs enables hues that were previously difficult to achieve with a single RGB strip.

3.RGB and white can be controlled independently, allowing us to create bolder, more vibrant colors than RGB alone.

4.Integrated with 5050 LEDs, it can provide high-density single-control RGBW light strips.

SK6812 disadvantages

1.8-bit color resolution, 256 levels of grayscale per color, making the dimming curve less smooth.

2.The refresh rate of the No Clock data line is limited by the speed of the protocol, which is generally slower.

3.Compared to external IC chip solutions, integrated LEDs have poor heat dissipation capabilities.

4.Limited to 5V, greater voltage drop.

Conclusion

If you are looking for high quality and affordable led strip for your project or interior decoration, feel free to contact us at sales@suntechleds.com.

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