Addressable RGB LED 2020 - Worldsemi WS2812B-2020

Worldsemi WS2812B-2020: 2020 addressable RGB LED, 800 kbps single-line cascade, 16 mA per channel in the first datasheet (V1.0, 2018) that this page's specs come from; Worldsemi's later revisions (V1.2 on, Dec 2018) rate it 12 mA. Adom stocks the WS2812B-2020-V6 (LCSC C52917434) as its Basic Part, see Ordering. Worldsemi also sells it as WS2812B-2020-V6, -V7, WS2812C-2020-V6 and WS2812E-2020, all on this same footprint (see Ordering variants).

Top	Underside

Top: cropped from Worldsemi's WS2812B family photo. Underside: cropped from LCSC's product photo of WS2812B-2020 (C965555), showing the four pads, the castellations and the mint-green polarity stripe with the Worldsemi logo. Worldsemi publishes no underside photo.

Key specs

Spec	Datasheet
Control IC and RGB chips integrated in one 2020 MOLDING package, 2.20 × 2.00 mm body, 4 pads (1 DO / 2 GND / 3 DI / 4 VDD) with a polarity mark; a complete addressable pixel	p.1, p.2
Single shared supply for LED and controller, absolute-maximum VDD +3.7 to +5.3 V; electricals characterized at VDD 4.5-5.5 V, TA −20 to +70 °C	p.1, p.2, p.3
16 mA operating current per channel, from a voltage-programmable constant-current drive, no external ballast resistors	p.1, p.3
Per-colour output at the 16 mA test condition: red 300-500 mcd at λd 620-630 nm, green 800-1500 mcd at 515-525 nm, blue 200-300 mcd at 465-475 nm	p.3
256 brightness levels per channel, 16,777,216 colours, at a 2 kHz scan frequency (no flicker on HD video)	p.1
Single-line NZR data at 800 Kbps, 24-bit GRB (high bit first): T0H 220-380 ns, T1H 580 ns-1 µs, T0L 580 ns-1 µs, T1L 220-420 ns, RESET frame >280 µs	p.3, p.4
Built-in signal reshaping re-drives DO at every pixel, so waveform distortion does not accumulate, cascade length limited only by data speed: ≥1024 pixels at 30 fps refresh, up to 3 m between any two points with no extra circuitry; built-in power-on and power-lost reset	p.1
Operating junction temperature −25 to +85 °C, storage −40 to +105 °C	p.2
Moisture sensitivity MSL 6, take out of the sealed moisture-proof bag and use immediately (re-bake 70-75 °C before any later SMT pass)	p.7
Supplied on 8 mm carrier tape, 4000 pcs per reel, in an aluminium moisture-proof bag with desiccant	p.5, p.6

Notes for designers

WS2812B-2020 is a complete addressable pixel, not a bare LED: the constant-current controller and the three RGB dies share one 2.20 × 2.00 mm 2020 package and one supply pin. (p.1) Four pads, DI in, DO out, VDD, GND (p.2), and data is the only design work: a single-line NZR stream at 800 Kbps, 24 bits per pixel in GRB order, high bit first. (p.1, p.4) Each pixel latches its first 24 bits, then reshapes and re-drives the rest downstream, so distortion does not accumulate and cascade length is limited only by data rate, ≥1024 pixels at 30 fps, up to 3 m between any two points with no extra circuitry. (p.1)

The numbers you design against: each channel is driven at a constant 16 mA, (p.1, p.3) returning 300-500 mcd red, 800-1500 mcd green and 200-300 mcd blue. (p.3) Bit timing is T0H 220-380 ns / T1H 580 ns-1 µs, and the reset frame is a generous >280 µs low, long enough that an interrupted MCU will not false-reset the string. (p.1, p.3) Refresh is scanned at 2 kHz, so it holds up on HD video. (p.1) The typical application circuit wants a 100 nF filter capacitor on VDD at the pixel. (p.4)

Two limits are tighter than instinct suggests. Supply: the absolute-maximum rating is +3.7 to +5.3 V, this is a 5 V part with less headroom than a plain LED, and logic thresholds track the rail (VIH = 0.7 VDD), which matters when driving it from 3.3 V logic. (p.2, p.3) Moisture: it is rated MSL 6, the most sensitive class, solder it immediately after opening the bag, and re-bake before any second reflow. (p.7) Junction temperature is bounded at −25 to +85 °C. (p.2)

Design-in guide for the whole family (which variant a 3.3 V MCU can drive directly, chain power budgets, decoupling, the pinout trap when substituting another maker's 2020 LED): the eda-addressable-rgb-leds skill in the EDA Skillpack.

Pinout

WS2812B-2020 datasheet V1.0 p.2 (PIN Configuration and PIN Function). The symbol, footprint, Fusion/EAGLE library and adom-lbr part on this page use these numbers.

Pin	Symbol	Function
1	DO	Control data signal output
2	GND	Ground, data and power grounding
3	DI	Control data signal input
4	VDD	Power supply

Footprint: the datasheet p.2 "PCB Solder Pad" land pattern: four 0.70 x 0.70 mm pads, 1.13 mm between the pad columns and 0.40 mm between the pad rows (pad centres at x = +/-0.915, y = +/-0.55 mm). Pin 1 (DO) is top-left in the footprint (the datasheet top view turned 180 degrees), marked by the silkscreen corner bracket; on the part the polarity mark is the stripe on the underside beside the pin 1/2 column (p.1 back view; drawn dark, printed mint green on the real part).

3D models

Every 3D file on this page, what makes each one different, and what it was built from: the STEP tab holds the CAD models for board tools (with top and underside previews), the GLB tab the meshes for viewers and renders. AIs: read models.json (schema adom/models@1) rather than guessing from file names.

3D model provenance

Worldsemi publishes no 3D model for this package and KiCad's 3D library has none, so the STEP is AI-generated from the Worldsemi WS2812B-2020 datasheet with OpenCascade. Printed dimensions are used as printed: body 2.20 x 2.00 mm, height 0.84 mm with a 0.28 mm substrate, clear moulding 1.45 mm wide over the full 2.00 mm, terminals at 1.00 mm pitch, 1.13 mm between the bottom pads. Undimensioned features were measured off the Mechanical Dimensions drawings at 350 px/mm against the printed edges: bottom pads 0.535 x 0.78 mm, castellation radius 0.20 mm, the four top-side terminal shapes (traced from the Top View), and the underside polarity stripe beside pins 1/2. Overlaid on the datasheet drawings at the same scale, the model matches the Back View and Top View.

The drawings leave out some of what the real part shows, so those features come from the photos above:

Feature	Seen in	Modelled as
Four metal lead-frame stubs on the long faces	Worldsemi photo	0.41 mm long, 0.11 to 0.52 mm in from each end, 0.06 mm proud. Height cannot be read from a top photo: placed at the top of the base, 0.10 mm thick (estimated)
White top outside the moulding	both photos	white surface over the top-side terminal metal, which stays modelled beneath it
IC die size and position	Worldsemi photo	0.53 x 0.29 mm (the datasheet sketch shows 0.67 x 0.52)
Mint-green polarity stripe	LCSC underside photo	sRGB (123, 242, 203), beside pins 1/2 as every drawing shows
Worldsemi logo on the stripe	LCSC underside photo, perspective-corrected	ring-and-WS mark 0.875 mm across on a white disc, outline traced from Worldsemi's own logo file
LED dies	Worldsemi photo, by their bond wires	three in a row 0.37 mm below the IC: a round single-wire die in the centre (red) with a rectangular two-wire die each side, green and blue in the datasheet's G R B order

The underside photo shows no pin cue besides the stripe, so the logo's small offset along the stripe and the way it reads up are taken from the photo's framing, not from a pin.

Pin 1 orientation, checked end to end

A rotated LED is a scrapped board, so the orientation chain is checked against every drawing:

Check	Result
Footprint pad 1	(-0.915, -0.55) mm, the upper-left pad in KiCad's top view; the silkscreen L marks that corner
Model pin 1 (DO)	the same corner; pins 1 to 4 run counter-clockwise seen from the top, as in the datasheet Top View (the footprint is that view turned 180 deg)
Polarity stripe	on the underside beside pads 1/2, 0.05 mm from them, as the Back View and the PCB Solder Pad drawing show; the LCSC photo puts it on the same side
Top-side cue	the IC sits toward the pin 2/3 edge in the datasheet Top View, Worldsemi's photo and the model

The part number is marked in dark grey on the clear moulding's front wall (pins 2/3 side), so the window over the dies stays clear; a light mark would not read on the white housing. The real part carries no printed marking. WS2812B-2020-uncoloured.step is the same package without the die patches and without the mark. Builder and traced shapes: provenance/tools/.

Footprint

Arav's land pattern already matches the datasheet (within 0.02 mm), so the pads are unchanged; only the corners follow the rule below.

Source: Land pattern from Worldsemi WS2812B-2020 datasheet V1.0, p.2 (PCB Solder Pad).

mm	Datasheet	KiCad standard	Previous	This page
Pad length (along the part)	0.7	-	0.7	0.7
Pad width	0.7	-	0.7	0.7
Gap between pads	1.13	-	1.13	1.13
Centre to centre	-	-	1.83	1.83
Overall	-	-	2.53	2.53
Corner radius	not specified	-	0.175 (ratio 0.25)	square (as drawn)
Corners: square, as the datasheet draws them. The datasheet does not call for rounded corners, so the footprint does not add any.

Why the pads are smaller than the metal under the part

Looking at the 3D model from underneath, each bottom terminal is longer than the copper pad it lands on, and the copper runs past the package edge. Both come straight from Worldsemi's datasheet:

• The terminals: the Back View (p.1 Mechanical Dimensions) is drawn to scale. Its printed dimensions (2.20, 2.00, 1.13 and 1.00 mm) all measure 350 px/mm, and at that scale each bottom terminal is 0.535 x 0.78 mm, on a 1.00 mm pitch.
• The pads: the PCB Solder Pad figure (p.2) prints 0.7 x 0.7 mm pads with a 0.40 mm gap between rows, so the pads sit on a 1.10 mm pitch. KiCad's own LED_WS2812B-2020_PLCC4_2.0x2.0mm footprint uses the same pads (0.7 x 0.7 at x +/-0.915, y +/-0.55).

So, per Worldsemi:

	Terminal on the part	Pad on the board
Length along the pin column	0.78 mm	0.70 mm
Pitch	1.00 mm	1.10 mm
Outer end	at the package corner side	lines up with the terminal's outer end
Inner end	0.11 mm from the centre line	0.20 mm from the centre line
Beyond the package edge	0	0.165 mm (copper under the castellation)

The pad covers the outer 0.70 mm of each terminal and leaves the inner 0.08 mm off the copper; the 0.40 mm gap between rows is what keeps adjacent pins from bridging at this size. The extra 0.165 mm of copper beyond the body is where the solder fillet climbs the half-round castellation, which is also how the joint is inspected. The footprint follows the datasheet's pad figure exactly rather than centring the pads on the terminals.

Chip outline

The part's 3D outline in the standard pose (pad 1 toward the viewer), drawn from the STEP by Adom's OpenCascade service; the part number sits where the laser-etched mark is on the 3D model and reads the same way.

Symbol options

The default symbol is built by adom-symbol with the chip's 3D outline baked into the middle of the body, in KiCad, the Fusion library and the Altium export, so the part's real shape shows on the schematic. Its source is provenance/tools/WS2812B-2020-create.json. WS2812B-2020-plain.kicad_sym is the same symbol without the outline. The widget below builds other layouts in the browser and never changes the default.

Ordering variants

Worldsemi sells several parts in this exact 2020 package. They all use the same package drawing and the same PCB land pattern, so this page's footprint, symbol and pinout fit every one of them; they differ electrically and optically. This page's specs come from the original WS2812B-2020 sheet (V1.0, 2018).

Part	LED current	Brightness	Notes	Datasheet
WS2812B-2020 (original)	16 mA (V1.0, 2018); 12 mA (V1.2 on)	green 800-1500 mcd (V1.0); 500-700 mcd (V1.3)	this page's specs come from V1.0; Worldsemi revised the brightness and electrical figures through V1.3 (2019)	in ds/ (V1.0)
WS2812B-2020-V6	12 mA	green ~850 mcd typ	3.3-5.3 V, 1 uA standby; direct successor to the original	V6
WS2812B-2020-V7	16 mA	green 1500-2600 mcd	about 2x V6; green shifted to 525-530 nm	V7
WS2812C-2020-V6	5 mA	green ~320 mcd typ	low power, dim	C-V6
WS2812E-2020	12 mA	green ~760 mcd typ	lower cost; data high needs 0.7 x VDD (a 3.3 V MCU cannot drive it directly), 65 C max, blue 449-454 nm	E

All current sheets ask for a 100 nF capacitor per LED and show the R, G and B dies in G-R-B order.

Ordering

MPN	WS2812B-2020
Manufacturer	Worldsemi
Adom stock	WS2812B-2020-V6, LCSC C52917434, confirmed by Adom receiving on 2026-10-05. Design to the V6 sheet: 12 mA per channel, 3.3 to 5.3 V, data high 0.55 x VDD (a 3.3 V MCU can drive it directly).
Other sources	adom-parts-search compares Mouser, DigiKey and JLCPCB

Downloads

File	What it is
WS2812B-2020.kicad_sym	KiCad symbol with the chip outline (the page default)
WS2812B-2020-plain.kicad_sym	KiCad symbol without the chip outline
WS2812B-2020.kicad_mod	KiCad footprint (datasheet land pattern)
WS2812B-2020.step	3D STEP with the part number laser-etched (default)
WS2812B-2020-uncoloured.step	3D STEP before the colour and etch passes (the bare KiCad model)
WS2812B-2020.glb	3D GLB of the etched model (board use)
WS2812B-2020.lbr	Fusion 360 / EAGLE library
WS2812B-2020.adom-lbr.json	adom-lbr part (converts to Altium, KiCad, EAGLE)
ws2812b-2020-datasheet.pdf	Worldsemi datasheet V1.0 (the revision this page cites)

Provenance

• Datasheet: WS2812B-2020, Intelligent control LED integrated light source, V1.0 revised V1.0 'New-Official release', 2018-07-25 (English edition; filename-style 'V10' = V1.0), Worldsemi (WORLDSEMI CO., LIMITED). md5 1ebe0db441706c68747ba97185d7057d
• Footprint: Land pattern from Worldsemi WS2812B-2020 datasheet V1.0, p.2 (PCB Solder Pad). Pads kept from the previous footprint.
• 3D model and symbol: unchanged by the footprint pass; the etched STEP adds a flat virtual part-number mark (an identification aid, not the maker's marking).
• Earlier passes: provenance/ and CHANGES.md.

More

• Datasheet pages: the 9 datasheet pages as images.
• Assembly animation: the part dropping onto its pads, and Adom's pick-and-place picking it from tape.