DIY LED light panel. It looks fun! Which voltage regulator to use?

[Anthony_Starfield]

Good Day,

I'm looking at building this LED light panel. Matthew steps through the project. He did a fine job, but I'm a beginner and I don't know the lingo on voltage regulators.

Here is the project:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-super-bright-LED-light-panel-for-vid/

Matthew used a voltage regulator, along with a resister and a 22,000 ohm potentiometer.

There are some bad reviews for that voltage regulator on Amazon. One of the reviewers even had a capacitor that blew up and burned a his forehead! And it comes from China. So it will probably be 2 weeks in the mail. Plus it would by handy to use one that has a readout panel for the voltage.

In the video, Matthew said the voltage regulator has a direct current output of 6 to 12 volts.

Can I use this direct current voltage regulator?

Yeeco 4.0-40V to 1.25-37V LM2596 DC to DC BUCK Converter step-down Car Motor power supply Voltage Regulator with LED voltmeter DC 36V to 24V to 12V to 5V


http://www.amazon.com/Yeeco-Convert...&sr=1-18&keywords=step+down+voltage+converter

The first line starts with:

Yeeco 4.0-40V to 1.25-37V

Does this mean the input is 4.0 to 40 volts, and the output can be adjusted from 1.25 volts to 37 volts?

And if I use this voltage regulator, could I do without the resistor and 22,000 ohm potentiometer? Or do I still need them to be sure the minimum voltage never drops below 6 volts?

And for input power, can I use a power adapter from a notebook computer that has an output voltage of somewhere between 4 and 40 volts?

Thank you much for your help. A bonnie fine day to you, Anthony

 

[Gryd3]

Those LED strip lights most likely operate on 12V.. I did not look at the datasheet for that particular string.
Most strings operate with a particular voltage, and the string contains resistors for the LEDs to limit the current. As long as you provide 12V, you will have a working LED strip.*
Anything lower and the strip will go dim, the response will not be linear, and they leds may dim unevenly. Additionally the lowest working voltage will entirely depend on how the strip is made.
You should also note that longer strips consume more current. This will determine how many mA or A your voltage regulator must supply.
So... let's throw away that instructables garbage and teach you how this works so you can make your own informed decision.

How bright do you want your panel? Do you want the brightness to be adjustable?
Does 'PWM' work for you? (This may cause flickering when recording video if the pwm frequency is too low)
Does it need to be portable?