Over the previous few years, we’ve seen on-line marketplaces carrying massive video panels that each one use the same protocol, generally referred to as HUB12. These panels are paying homage to the type used to construct big out of doors shows, and so they are available quite a lot of colors and LED pitch (from very superb to fairly massive). These panels are able to displaying content material at 60 frames a second, making them very helpful for video shows, however they can be used to show static photos or utilized in different unconventional methods. Nonetheless, driving these panels might be considerably difficult — one thing the Raspberry Pi HUB12 Hat goals to enhance!

This hat accommodates three separate connectors utilizing the de facto normal pinout of those modules. As a result of this Hat helps HUB12, it’s particularly designed for monochrome panels (the HUB75 protocol is used on the RGB panels). With massive screw terminals to provide present to the panels, the ability provide circuitry is completely separate from the Pi itself. It additionally features a built-in fan to assist cool each the Hat and the Pi, serving to stabilize the system when driving panels for lengthy intervals of time.

It could simply drive 3 panels, and sure with some tweaks to the Hat, they might probably be stackable, permitting extra panels to be managed. Hopefully, we’ll see some extra documentation and instance code, although to get began Adafruit has a library for driving the RGB shows from a Pi that may very well be used to get began.