Adafruit 16x8 LED Matrix Driver Backpack (HT16K33 Breakout)

This is the magic sauce in our 7-segment and matrix backpacks, now available in a breadbox-friendly breakout board format. The HT16K33 is a nice little chip that has the ability to control a multiplexed 16x8 matrix (that's 128 individual LEDs). The communication protocol is I2C, so only 2 pins are used, and you can utilize up to 8 selectable I2C addresses, allowing for a total of 8 matrices, each with 16x8 LEDs, for a total of 1024 LEDs.

Unlike our LED matrix/segment backpacks, this breakout does not have holes for an existing LED module. Instead, we break out all 16 anodes and 8 cathodes, as well as the I2C and power pins. You will need to wire the anodes and cathodes by checking your matrix datasheet and lining up the pins. Wire any matrix you like and use our handy library to describe the display to your liking. Note that the driver can turn LEDs on and off but does not have the capability to PWM dim them individually. This chip is robust, has Arduino and Pi example code written for it, and is easy to use.

The chip also supports reading a 3x13 keyboard matrix, but we do not have example code for that in our library. For more information, refer to the datasheet for details on the keyboard functionality.

Dimensions:

* 35.77 mm x 20.37 mm x 20.37 mm x 4.03 mm / 0.15".