The simple answer is they all support potentially thousands of LEDs.

I have boards that support 4, 6, 8, and 16 way parallel output. These should theoretically be able to drive 1,000 LEDs per output pin at ~30 frames per second. So, using one of my 16 output boards, for example, you should be able to drive ~16,000 LEDs at ~30 frames per second. Of course, that would require ~960 Amps to drive at max brightness, solid white color.

More detailed answer:

There are three main things that limit the number of LEDs you can drive:

Power: most LEDs requires a max of 60mA, at full brightness, solid white color. So 1,000 LEDs would require 60 Amps max, for example. In practice they usually require much less than that, but it's good to plan for the max for safety.

RAM: using the FastLED library, each LED requires 3 bytes of RAM. Most ESP8266 boards have between 64K and 96K of RAM, so they could theoretically support 20,000 to 30,000 LEDs.

CPU: It depends on the type of LED.

For four-wire (SPI) LEDs like DotStar, APA102, SK9822, etc, can be driven extremely quickly, and you'd likely run out of power before you hit the RAM or CPU limit.

Three-wire LEDs like NeoPixel, WS2811, WS2812, etc usually take ~30 microseconds each to write data for each LED. So you're limited by your desired frame rate.

You can drive 1,000 three wire LEDs on a single pin at about 30 frames per second. Using parallel output, like FastLED and my boards support, you can drive multiple sets of LEDs at the same rate. So, using 2 way parallel output, you could drive 2,000 at 30 FPS. Using 4 way you could drive 4,000, etc.
TLDR: I recommend the 6 Output Wemos D1 Mini Wi-Fi LED Controller for larger builds, and the SMD 6 Output Wemos D1 Mini Wi-Fi LED Controller for smaller builds. I have LED controller shields for a variety of dev boards. The first thing you should decide is whether to use an ESP8266 or ESP32 dev board.

I personally still use Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 boards in almost all of my projects, unless I need:
  • BLE (Bluetooth)
  • More than 6x parallel output, for driving thousands of LEDs at higher frame rates. See How many LEDs do your various boards support? above.
  • More memory, for more LEDs, patterns, animations, etc.
  • Better support for making HTTPS/SSL web requests.
If you need any of the above, then I would recommend using one of my ESP32 LED controller shields. They differ only by the specific dev board (Adafruit Feather, DevKitC, NodeMCU, Wemos, etc), and the number of parallel outputs supported (8 or 16).

My Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 LED controller shields differ in the following ways:

  • The SMD 6 Output Wemos D1 Mini Wi-Fi LED Controller is my most compact shield. It can be assembled without removable headers to a height as low as 10mm, for use in very small or shallow projects. It also comes with all SMD (surface mount) components (level shifter, small decoupling capacitor, and data line resistors) already assembled. It supports up to 6x parallel output, and has headers for 6 outputs, GND, and 5V connections. You can connect power to the controller, and use the shield to distribute power (up to 2A) to your LEDs. This is the controller I use in most of my builds, including all fully-assembled Fibonacci.
  • The 6 Output Wemos D1 Mini Wi-Fi LED Controller is a larger shield. The extra space is used to provide a spot for a large capacitor (for smoothing out power spikes when driving and powering a large number of LEDs) and large 5V and GND pads for connecting large gauge wire or a power barrel connector jack (although most of these jacks are only rated for up to ~2A). It uses THT (through hole) components, and comes as a kit if you'd like to assemble it yourself. It supports up to 6x parallel output, and has headers for 6 outputs, GND, and 5V connections. You can connect power to the controller, and use the shield to distribute power (up to 12A) to your LEDs. It also includes holes for mounting screws/bolts.
  • The Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 Level Shifter Mini Shield is another compact shield. It can also be assembled without removable headers to a height as low as 10mm, for use in very small or shallow projects. It uses THT (through hole) components, and comes as a kit if you'd like to assemble it yourself. It supports up to 4x parallel output, and has headers for 4 outputs, but only one GND and 5V connection. For parallel output builds, you can connect power to your LEDs, and use the GND and 5V header pins to power the controller from the LEDs.
  • The Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 LED & Level Shifter Shield is the original, and is now considered legacy. I do not recommend it, and would instead use one of the shields listed above. It has a spot for the large capacitor, but supports only 4x parallel output, and doesn't have the large 5V and GND pads or power barrel connector jack.
First-Person View (FPV) drone flying is a method used to control a radio-controlled vehicle from the pilot's view point. It is generally considered much easier than flying Line of Sight (LoS).

Kansas City Multi-Rotor

If you're in the Kansas City area, I recommend you join Kansas City Multi-Rotor. We'll do everything we can to help you get started!
Website: http://kcmultirotor.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/873336179435330

Equipment

Here's a basic list of equipment you could use to get started:

Complete FPV Ready-to-Fly (RTF) Kit: OR:

Quadcopter: Transmitter (Controller): Goggles:

More Resources

Here are some great resources for more information on getting started with FPV drones:

Blogs, articles, websites:

Simulators with Tutorials Video Reviews, Tutorials, etc.