Feature Request: Smart Dimming with Dynamic LED Distribution

unterdrueckt commented 3 days ago

Feature Request: Smart Dimming with Dynamic LED Distribution

Description

Currently, WLED does not support dynamic dimming where only a subset of LEDs are lit at low brightness levels. At 1% brightness, all LEDs remain on, which can result in excessive brightness. A more efficient approach would be to selectively light a fraction of the LEDs at low brightness settings, improving both aesthetics and energy efficiency.

Proposed Solution

Low Brightness Control:
- At low brightness levels (e.g., 1%-10%), only a subset of LEDs should be lit (e.g., every 5th LED).
Dynamic LED Distribution:
- At higher brightness levels (e.g., 60%-100%), all LEDs should be fully lit, as they currently are.
- At mid-range brightness levels (e.g., 30%-50%), a mix of fully lit and selectively dimmed LEDs should be used to balance brightness and ensure smooth transitions.
Improved Low-Light Dynamic Range:
- This would allow for better light and color control at low brightness levels.

Additional Considerations

This feature should be optional and configurable via the WLED settings, allowing users to control how many LEDs are grouped for dimming.
The transition between LED states should be smooth to avoid flickering or abrupt brightness changes.

Thank you for considering this feature!

willmmiles commented 3 days ago

I, for one, can relate to dynamic range issues at low brightness levels - for several of my projects I've been wishing for dimmer LEDs!

Spatial brightness distribution could potentially be implemented as an option at the segment level when grouping > 1. Probably we'd want some kind of LED performance model to decide how to map energy to pixels.

DedeHai commented 3 days ago

This would be quite easy to do as an FX. There then are even sliders to control the min/max point to enable this "dithering". You can then overlay it using overlapping segements.

DedeHai commented 3 days ago

@unterdrueckt if I were to make this into an FX: since I have no setup to test this I need some hints. Here is what I am thinking:

create an FX that has a slider setting, if brightness goes below the threshold, leds will be turned to black -> how? which ones? in what pattern(s)? (could make different patterns and have them selectable with another slider)
default would be just like the "solid" FX but with added feature
if "overlay" checkmark is set, it will not draw anything but just set certain LEDs to black, so it can be used as overlay segment to any other FX

Aircoookie / WLED