As beautiful as regular RGB are, for proper color rendition a white channel is necessary. That’s where the SK6812 RGBW LED comes into play.

It looks like any other addressable strip, but instead of 3 channels of color (24 bit), you load in an additional 4th channel for the white for a total of 32 bits per LED. This sort of data load may require careful use on microcontrollers with little RAM (460 LED limit for an Arduino UNO).

These are sold by the meter.

Specifications:

• SK6812 5050SMD RGBW LED, 120° viewing angle
• 5VDC
• 15W maximum draw per meter at full white (3A @ 5V)
• 30 LEDs per meter (32.2mm spacing)
• 10mm wide PCB (black)
• 5 meters per roll comes complete with 3 pin JST SM male & female connectors with extra power-injection lines
  • Connector pinout:
    • Red – 5VDC aux power (+)
    • Yellow – Common aux power (-)
    • Red – 5VDC (+)
    • Green – Data
    • Yellow – Common (-)
• IP65 water resistant (silicone sleeve)
• -40 to 60°C operating temperature

These are sold by the meter! You may or may not get a power connector pre-soldered to the end of your strip. The only way to be sure is to order a full spool (5M length). A set of 3-wire connectors may be a good idea.

NOTE: Being RGB/W means many standard Arduino addressable LED libraries are not entirely compatible. Until then, keep an eye on these libraries that do support it:

• Adafruit’s Neopixel library
• Sonyhome’s FAB LED