Reddit mentions of KAPATA Digital RGB Strip Individually Addressable LED Strip WS2812B WA2812 5m 30IC-30LED/M White PCB Waterproof Dream Color DC5V

I'm trying to make a large LED grid (23x10 with 4inx4in squares), and I've been experimenting with what the cheapest way to do it is. I can make one of these for around 75 cents USD. The layers are:

1. Balsa square backplane: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MM185Q2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
2. Reflective aluminum tape (helps increase the brightness a bit)
   
3. Single WS2812B RBG LED: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014QKWJDU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
4. Soldered on connectors: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EV70C78/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
5. 4x4 housing square made from gluing together 3 4x1s from home depot
   
6. Tracing paper square
   
7. Nylon Silk cloth square: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XSBDWXX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   It's pretty easy to construct (the hardest part is soldering on the connectors), but I have several complaints I'd love cheap alternatives to.
   
   

• The frame is thicker than I'd like. I think I can fix this by just sawing off some of the edges - going to play with this later.
  
• I don't know for sure the tape is helping compared to light colored wood.
  
• I'm slightly concerned about heat, but I'm testing that now.
  
• I'd love to find a cheap 3-pin connector so I don't have to solder all of these.
  
• **The main problem I'm having is sufficiently diffusing the light over the square.** The camera makes it look more pronounced than it is, but there's a definite circle in the middle where the LED is. I've tried facing it the other way (towards the reflective tape), but then you get the shadow of the LED ribbon, which looks worse. I've also tried more/different layers of diffusion material. Materials I've tried (in many combinations and at many distances) include:
  
  • Tissues
    
  • Regular paper
    
  • Card stock drawing paper
    
  • Paper towel
    
  • Toilet paper
    
  • Nylon diffusion fabric
    
  • Tracing paper
    
    The ones that work the best are the tracing and nylon, but it's still not great.
    
    Happy to talk about the project, and would love advice if anyone has done something similar!
    
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    Edit: I just tried making the housing thicker (from 0.5in to 1.5in) and it made it a LOT better. I think I'm happy with it now as long as I can find a way to clean up the edges.