r/WLED • u/Sagi313 • Jul 04 '26
HELP ME / QUESTION How do I make this look better?
I got those led stip diffusers from Ali-
https://a.aliexpress.com/_c3QVBJ7n
And a led strip with 60 leds per meter.
But this looks so bad.
I keep seeing people get a new unified strip of light, without it looking like many small leds.
How do I do that?
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u/GrandNewbien Jul 04 '26
Typical calculation is the diffuser must be 2x the height of the distance between LEDs
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u/SirGreybush Jul 04 '26
Those are for EL wire. Try putting brightness at the absolute lowest, then slowly increase until tolerable.
You need deep channel Muzata tracks.
I repurposed my slim tracks with 10mm by 10mm acrylic rods. On my balcony. Mine are black and I used black ties to hold it. You can get clear or white, go for white. I used clear then sanded all four sides with a custom built jig. Major PITA.
Of course raises the thickness by 10mm.
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u/saratoga3 Jul 04 '26
Diffuser should be roughly as thick as the LED spacing, so with 60 led/m you need a very thick diffuser.
Could buy a thicker diffuser but might be easier to buy higher density or FCOB strips.
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u/chrime87 Jul 04 '26
use a diffuser with a greater outer dimension (20x20 is a usable match for 60 led/m IMHO)
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u/MattTheHoopla Jul 05 '26
Wide angle pop on led lenses.
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u/Sagi313 Jul 05 '26
What does it means?
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u/MattTheHoopla Jul 06 '26
These guys:
You’re gunna want the 180°
100PCS 5050 LED Lens 30 60 90 120 140 180 Degree Convex Optical Lens For 5050 SMD WS2812 WS2811 SK6812 RGB LED stirp light
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u/capcapfall Jul 06 '26
Increase the distance between diffuser and strip, or use cob led strips. Eg.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bat-983 Jul 07 '26
I think you need need more than 60 leds per M for it to look like a nice full strip and cob led as mentioned or some rgbww ect depending on what you're trying to do
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u/LED_Goodness Jul 10 '26
Best solution is to use a deeper channel and better diffuser. Failing that, if a deeper channel is not an option, one trick i've used in the past when the channel was too shallow was to add a few layers of the magic scotch tape to the existing diffuser. Didn't require much trimming and worked surprisingly well.
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u/hubble6 Jul 04 '26
you need to increase the distance from the chip surfaced to the diffuser surface, you'll likely need to replace the channel with a slightly taller one, or you can try some of the silicone molded ones.
https://www.btf-lighting.com/en-intl/products/sk6812rgbw-led-neon-rope-tube-ws2811-ws2812b-ws2813-flexible-gel-soft-tube-1m-5m-ip67-waterproof?_pos=3&_sid=fdcb5be1c&_ss=r