DMX Controller – IS3715

We love the KISS principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid. And this DMX integrated circuit was built with that philosophy in mind.

The IS3715 is dead simple to use. It performs one job: sending DMX data for you.

Just grab your microcontroller, FPGA, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or pretty much anything with I2C, and write your DMX data directly into its internal memory map. Want to send a DMX value of 128 on channel 8? Easy. Just write 128 to address 8 on the IS3715. That’s it.

Since data is written via I2C, you don’t need any special DMX libraries. Just use your regular I2C functions. Forget about DMX timing, frame building, or protocol headaches — the chip handles all that.

The IS3715 buffers and streams the DMX data internally, so you only need to update what changes. Your microcontroller can chill — save a timer, save flash memory, save RAM. Let your microcontroller focus on the cool parts of your project, not reinventing the DMX wheel.

Bonus: using I2C means you don’t need to sacrifice a UART. Plus, I2C is a shared bus, so you can hook up other devices too. Speeds? Works at 100kHz, 400kHz, and 1MHz. And yes, the I2C pins are 3.3V and 5V tolerant, so go ahead and use whatever MCU voltage you like.

It supports up to 512 DMX channels — full universe addressable.

Its output is TTL level, so just pair it with your favorite RS485 transceiver to make it DMX-compatible. There are tons of RS485 chips out there — cheap ones, industrial ones, 3.3V, 5V… they all work. We like the THVD1400 — rugged, reliable, and affordable.

Using the IS3715 chip helps you create reliable DMX products faster, with shorter prototyping cycles and quicker time-to-market.

The IS3715 comes in an easy-to-solder SO8N package.

To recap: Connect your microcontroller (3.3V or 5V) via I2C to the IS3715, and the IS3715 to an RS485 transceiver (3.3V or 5V). Done. DMX sorted. Now focus on the fun, innovative parts of your project.

(Oh, and yeah — 5V RS485 transceivers do get you a bit longer cable runs. We like those.)

We’ve also made two evaluation boards so you can test and play with our chip: one Arduino shield, and one Raspberry Pi hat.

Any questions? Just hit up our store. We love chatting about this stuff.