Who Needs an LCD When You Can Build a Giant Sound-Reactive LED Matrix Instead?

Once upon a time, there were CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors and TVs. They had low resolutions, but their analog nature reduced pixelation. Then came LCDs (Liquid-Crystal Displays) with increased resolutions, but also noticeable pixelation. Over the years, the pixel density of LCDs grew to the point where individual pixels were too small to be seen by the human eye. Some of us miss pixels though, which is what makes this huge RGB LED matrix music visualization display so great.

An LED matrix is simply an array of LEDs that have been arranged on a 2D plain. For decades, they’ve been popular as low-costs readouts when resolution wasn’t an important factor. These days, they’re becoming less common as the prices of LCD, OLED, and E-ink display prices go lower and lower. But, nostalgia and bright, colorful lights are strong motivators, which is probably why Redditor TFK1410 put together four LED matrix panels to build this giant display.

Each panel has a matrix of 64x32 RGB LEDs, which brings the resolution of the entire display up to 128x64 pixels. The panels are housed in a custom sheet metal enclosure, and controlled with a Raspberry Pi 3. TFK1410’s code uses the Raspberry Pi to monitor a music source to show frequency levels on the display, and adds simple beat detection. The result is a hypnotizing visualization of music in all the pixelated glory that today’s fancy high-res displays lack.