Pico W Smart LED Matrix 16x16 256 pixels

Pimoroni's space Unicorns are very beautiful, all-in-one, RP2040 powered LED matrices perfect for conveying information fabulously (or for sprucing up your desktop, makingspace or imaginarium). There's a ton of features aboard, here are some of our favourites!

Loads* of RGB LEDs, all with individual colour and brightness control. We're in mad love with these big bright squircular LEDs with their rounded apertures and built in diffusion.

Looks great on video - invoking RP2040 magic means we can update the LEDs really quickly (we measured around 300 fps at 14-bit precision). This means there's no nasty strobing, artifacting or brightness stepping when it's filmed, so it's perfect for adding to the background of your streaming setup.

2.4GHz wireless connectivity (courtesy of the Raspberry Pi Pico W) so you can use it to display all sorts of interesting data from the internet.

There's also an onboard amp and little speaker for bleepy alerts and *futuristic noises* and a battery connector so you can power it without it having to be tethered to a USB port. Every Unicorn comes with a pair of sleek little metal legs so it can stand up on its own (and has a selection of mounting holes if you'd prefer to do something else).

Use it to make a very fancy clock, a very fancy weather display or a very fancy output for sensors (other very fancy use cases are available).

Features

• Raspberry Pi Pico W Aboard
  • Dual Arm Cortex M0+ running at up to 133Mhz with 264kB of SRAM
  • 2MB of QSPI flash supporting XiP
  • Powered and programmable by USB micro-B
  • 2.4GHz wireless
• 256/583/1024 RGB LEDs in a 16x16/53x11/32x32 grid
  • 3.5mm LEDs with rounded square apertures
  • 6mm LED spacing
  • Driven by FM6047 constant current LED drivers
• MAX98357 3.2W I2S Mono Amplifier (with 30mm 1W speaker)
• Phototransistor for light sensing
• 9 tactile user buttons
• Reset button
• 2x Qw/ST (Qwiic/STEMMA QT) connectors
• JST-PH connector for attaching a battery (5.5V max)
• Fully assembled
• No soldering required.
• C/C++ and MicroPython libraries
• Schematics - Stellar / Galactic / Cosmic

Kit includes

• Stellar Unicorn (with speaker attached)
• 2 x metal legs
• USB A to micro-B cable

Software

MicroPython

• (Learn) Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico
• Download pirate-brand MicroPython
• Examples - Stellar / Galactic / Cosmic
• Unicorn function reference - Stellar / Galactic / Cosmic
• Picographics function reference
• MicroPython FAQs (and troubleshooting)

C/C++

• Examples - Stellar / Galactic / Cosmic
• Unicorn function reference - Stellar / Galactic / Cosmic
• Picographics function reference

Experimental

• Blunicorn Bluetooth speaker firmware, with fancy FFT visualisation.

Video