Arduino only addresses 3 LED at a time

Question

I am running the following sketch on an Arduino Uno using Arduino 1.6.8. Strip is a WS2811 12V.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#define PIN 6
Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(30, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

void loop (){
   strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 255);
   strip.show(); 
}

The problem is that the LED’s light in (Green) groups of three and what I want is individual control.

strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 255); Illuminates Pixels 0,1,2
strip.setPixelColor(1, 255, 0, 255); Illuminates Pixels 3,4,5
strip.setPixelColor(2, 255, 0, 255); Illuminates Pixels 6,7,8

And so forth.

Although this code uses NeoPixel I get exactly the same issue if I use the equivalent in FastLed.

Any pointers to what I am doing wrong would be appreciated.

Answer 1

LED strips with WS2811 and 12V are the ones with one driver and 3 RGB LEDs on it. These are interconnected so you just can't control less than whole group of three.

If you need individual control, you have to get 5V variant with WS2812.