There’s no reason why it wouldn’t work by skipping the first LED (only VCC and GND). It’s the same trace. It’s the data line that, when connected in between, will not use the first LED (since it’s before where the data is coming in.) If you want it to still use the first LED, then connect the data line at the end still, but VCC and GND in the middle.
I’ve done that many times myself. I’ve injected power in the middle of the string, and connected the data line at the end and it works just fine.
Well, I can promise you, on the 144 LEDs/m WS2812B strips I have here, skipping the first LED on the strip and soldering the data line to the second pad in, it doesn’t work.
Very strange.
… when I’m taking the signal from the second LED in on the previous strip.
Fuck me. Of course it won’t.
And of course, cutting one LED out of the data-in strip doesn’t help me—there’s no way to solder to the data-out strip either, without sacrificing an LED at the end of that.
Right, the first LED on that second strip won’t work, but the rest should. And if you take the signal from the one-before-last on the previous strip, the last LED should still work, except the first working LED on the second strip will also display the exact same thing. As far as the signal is concerned, it’s jumping from one strip to the next, it doesn’t know that you have an extra LED hanging parallel to the next. So those two will display the same thing.
Well, it didn’t work like that in practice. No idea why.
Hrm, I don’t have any 144 px/m at the moment so I can’t do any testing. That’s not to say that I don’t believe you, but more that I want to figure out why it doesn’t work.
I know it works like that because i have a few strips with the pads cut i just skipped them every time i use the strip. Ill take a video when i get home.