ESP32 RMT LED Strip

This is a component using the ESP32 RMT peripheral to drive most addressable LED strips.

light:
  - platform: esp32_rmt_led_strip
    rgb_order: GRB
    pin: GPIOXX
    num_leds: 30
    chipset: ws2812
    name: "My Light"

Only for Arduino platforms (and ESP-IDF <5 which was used until ESPHome 2025), the RMT channel must be defined.

light:
  - platform: esp32_rmt_led_strip
    rmt_channel: 0
    ...

Configuration variables

  • pin (Required, Pin): The pin for the data line of the light.

  • num_leds (Required, int): The number of LEDs in the strip.

  • chipset (Required, enum): The name of the chipset used; determines signal timing. Not required if specifying the timings manually.

    • WS2811

    • WS2812

    • SK6812

    • APA106

    • SM16703

  • rgb_order (Required, string): The RGB order of the strip.

    • RGB

    • RBG

    • GRB

    • GBR

    • BGR

    • BRG

  • is_rgbw (Optional, boolean): Set to true if the strip is RGBW. Defaults to false.

  • is_wrgb (Optional, boolean): Set to true if the strip is WRGB. Defaults to false.

  • max_refresh_rate (Optional, Time): A time interval used to limit the number of commands a light can handle per second. For example, 16ms will limit the light to a refresh rate of about 60Hz. Defaults to sending commands as quickly as changes are made to the lights.

  • use_psram (Optional, boolean): Set to false to force internal RAM allocation even if you have the the PSRAM component enabled. This can be useful if you’re experiencing issues like flickering with your leds strip. Defaults to true.

IDF configuration variables:

  • rmt_symbols (Optional, int): The amount of RMT memory allocated to this component. Memory is shared by all receivers and transmitters. On variants other than ESP32 and ESP32-S2 only half the symbol memory is available to transmitters. Each symbol is 32 bits and contains two values.

    ESP32 Variant

    Memory Size

    Block Size

    ESP32

    512 symbols

    64 symbols

    ESP32-C3

    192 symbols

    48 symbols

    ESP32-C5

    192 symbols

    48 symbols

    ESP32-C6

    192 symbols

    48 symbols

    ESP32-H2

    192 symbols

    48 symbols

    ESP32-P4

    384 symbols

    48 symbols

    ESP32-S2

    256 symbols

    64 symbols

    ESP32-S3

    384 symbols

    48 symbols

  • use_dma (Optional, boolean): Enable DMA on variants that support it. If enabled rmt_symbols controls the DMA buffer size and can be set to a large value.

Arduino configuration variables:

  • rmt_channel (Required, int): The RMT channel to use. Each LED strip needs to use a unique channel.

    ESP32 Variant

    Channels

    ESP32

    0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

    ESP32-C3

    0, 1

    ESP32-S2

    0, 1, 2, 3

    ESP32-S3

    0, 1, 2, 3

  • All other options from Light.

Manual Timings

These can be used if you know the timings and your chipset is not set above. If you have a new specific chipset, please consider adding support to the codebase and add it to the list above.

  • bit0_high (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line high for a 0 bit.

  • bit0_low (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line low for a 0 bit.

  • bit1_high (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line high for a 1 bit.

  • bit1_low (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line low for a 1 bit.

  • reset_high (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line high after writing the state. Defaults to 0 us.

  • reset_low (Optional, Time): The time to hold the data line low after writing the state. Defaults to 0 us.

See Also