User Manual

DotStarMatrix Library

The Adafruit_DotStarMatrix library builds upon Adafruit_DotStar to create two-dimensional graphic displays using

DotStar LEDs. You can then easily draw shapes, text and animation without having to calculate every X/Y pixel position.

Small DotStar matrices are available in the shop. Larger displays can be formed using sections of DotStar strip, as

shown above.

In addition to the Adafruit_DotStar library (which was already downloaded and installed in a prior step), DotStarMatrix

requires two additional libraries:

1. Adafruit_DotStarMatrix (https://adafru.it/iZA)

2. Adafruit_GFX (https://adafru.it/cBB)

If you’ve previously used any Adafruit LCD or OLED displays, you might already have the latter library installed.

Installation for both is similar to Adafruit_DotStar before: using the Arduino Library Manager (in recent versions of the

Arduino IDE) is recommended. Otherwise, if you manually download: unzip, make sure the folder name matches the

.cpp and .h files within, then move to your Arduino libraries folder and restart the IDE.

Arduino sketches need to include all three headers just to use this library:

Layouts

Adafruit_DotStarMatrix uses exactly the same coordinate system, color functions and graphics commands as the

Adafruit_GFX library. If you’re new to the latter, a separate tutorial explains its use (https://adafru.it/aPe). There are also

example sketches included with the Adafruit_DotStarMatrix library.

We’ll just focus on the

constructor

here — how to declare a two-dimensional display made from DotStars. Powering the

beast is another matter, covered on a prior page.

The library handles both

single

matrices — all DotStars in a single uniform grid — and

tiled

matrices — multiple grids

combined into a larger display:

#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>

#include <Adafruit_DotStarMatrix.h>

#include <Adafruit_DotStar.h>