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I just started looking into electronics and circuits. I purchased the Arduino Starter Kit to help get me started. I have a question regarding one of the 15 projects it comes with. Specifically with project 4. Basically the the project introduces photoresistors, in this case 3, and the multi light LED, which I believe is a standard RGB LED.

The part I don't understand is that we have to make a calculation for the resistor readings. We have to convert the reading, which would be in a range of 0-1023 to a range of 0-255 for the analogWrite() function. The calculation is very simple, just divide the reading by 4 and you get a measurement within the 0-255 range.

I don't understand the need for the conversion. What is the need for it? Why is the sensor range 0-1023 and not some other range? All I get from the reading is that it is needed for the function and doesn't go into any more detail other than that. I'm sure it is something fundamental that I am just not seeing.

Any point in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks!

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If you look at the datasheet for the MCU at the center of the Arduino, the ATmega328, you'll see that it has 10-bit ADCs and 8-bit PWM (some can be 9- or 10-bit, but the Arduino libraries restrict them to 8).

Dividing the 10-bit ADC result (0 to 1023, 210-1) by 4 (22) scales it down to a 8-bit value (0 to 255, 28-1), which will fit in the PWM registers.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Ahh ok interesting. I looked up ATmega328 looks like I have a ton of learning to do. I don't fully ADC but it seems to make sense. Thanks \$\endgroup\$
    – Schanckopotamus
    Feb 24, 2014 at 0:02

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