SK6812MINI-E

3535 · smd · SK6812 · OPSCO Optoelectronics

Also sold as SK6812 MINI-E, SK6812MINI E, reverse mount SK6812

Channels
RGB
Wires
1-wire
Dimensions
3.5 × 3.5 × 1.5 mm
Pins
4
Max current
60 mA
Supply
3.7–5.5 V

The reverse-mount SK6812MINI, designed to be soldered on the back of a board and shine through a hole in it - which is why it is ubiquitous in custom mechanical keyboards.

Critically, it is NOT a drop-in for the SK6812MINI: to line up VDD and VSS when mounted the other way up, DIN and DOUT end up swapped. Boards laid out for one part will not work with the other. This is the clearest case in the catalogue of two parts sharing a package, a protocol and almost a name while being physically incompatible.

Variants

One row per orderable SKU. Everything not listed is inherited from the part above.

Order codeFaceLensWhite PinsSiliconStatusFirst seenDatasheet
SK6812MINI-E white clear 4 active unknown

Pinout

SK6812MINI-E
top view1. VDDPWR2. DININ3. VSSGND4. DOUTOUT
  1. 1 VDD power
  2. 2 DIN data in
  3. 3 VSS ground
  4. 4 DOUT data out

Protocol — SK6812

Timings shown from datasheet. Other sources disagree; see the protocol page.

hilo012002400T0H 300nsT1H 600ns0 bit1 bit
T0H 300 / T0L 900 · T1H 600 / T1L 600 · period 1200 ns · reset 80 µs source: datasheet

Compatibility

  • drop in WS2812B

    Timings overlap enough that WS2812B code drives it without changes, and the 5050 footprint and pinout match. The differences that matter are better PWM frequency and a shorter required reset. source ↗

  • protocol compatible of this SK6812 RGBW

    Identical timing, but four channels rather than three. Driving it with an RGB library shifts colours down the strip, because every pixel consumes one extra byte.

  • electrically similar of this SK6822

    Same family and single-wire scheme, but a 1750 ns bit period against the SK6812's 1200 ns. Not interchangeable at the same timings.

Dating evidence

Nobody announces these parts, so this records what we can actually cite rather than a release date. Library support proves only that the part existed by that date.

  • 2015-07-08 datasheet revision OPSCO SK6812 specification rev. 02, dated on its cover page day
  • 2015-10-02 first library support FastLED — first commit introducing SK6812 day
  • 2018-01-10 first library support WLED — first commit introducing SK6812 day