Adafruit Piomatter Library Brings Hub75 RGB LED Matrix Support to Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 offers a more powerful CPU, GPU, and faster I/O compared to the Raspberry Pi 4, but it introduced some incompatibilities, including the loss of direct HUB75 RGB LED matrix support. This is because the Raspberry Pi 5 now uses the RP1 peripheral controller for GPIOs instead of the Broadcom processor. To address this, Adafruit utilized the PIO (Programmable I/O) block in the RP1 chip—similar to those in RP2040 or RP2350 microcontrollers—to enable HUB75 RGB LED matrix support. Their solution is available in the Adafruit-Blinka-Raspberry-Pi5-Piomatter repository on GitHub, restoring this functionality for Raspberry Pi 5 users.

To install the Adafruit Blinka Raspberry Pi 5 PioMatter library (or simply PioMatter), follow the instructions on Adafruit Learn. After setting up your RGB Matrix Bonnet or RGB Matrix HAT on the Raspberry Pi 5 and connecting a HUB75 RGB matrix, you can install the library on Raspberry Pi OS using the following steps:

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python -m venv ~/venvs/blinka_venv source ~/venvs/blinka_venv/bin/activate pip install adafruit-blinka pip install pillow pip install numpy pip install Adafruit-Blinka-Raspberry-Pi5-Piomatter

You’ll also need to configure the PIO subsystem by adding a rule. This can be done by editing the file located at /etc/udev/rules.d/99-com.rules

1.SUBSYSTEM=="*-pio", GROUP="gpio", MODE="0660"

After rebooting, you can start controlling your HUB75 RGB matrix by running commands in the terminal. For instance, the following script will render a square, circle, and triangle on the display:

1	python single_panel_simpletest.py

The Adafruit Learn platform offers additional examples on using the HUB75 RGB matrix, including playing GIFs, running scrolling text, mirroring the serial console, and even playing MP4 videos like Big Buck Bunny, as demonstrated in the video below.

https://youtu.be/Qb7yY5xZX2E

The PioMatter library is still in its early development phase, so occasional bugs may arise. However, using a Linux-based SBC isn’t the only way to drive HUB75 RGB matrices. Another option is the Pimoroni Interstate 75 W (RP2350) board, which is specifically designed for HUB75 LED matrix panels. While playing MP4 videos on an RP2350-based board can be more complex compared to a Raspberry Pi, it is still achievable with the right setup