[SOLVED] led to bright after Shift register

[LukeVideo]

Hy all,
The title may seem weird,
So simple put, i am controlling 16 led's with to shift registers who are on 3.3 v. I added 16 resistors for the led's. But they are super bright and they are used as user interface and are really unpleasant to watch directly.
So i tested a few resistor values and find that 1K is the best resistance for my case.

Is it reasonable to replace 16 330ohm resistors by 1K resistors or will it take too much power for the ESP32 ?
Should i use PWM ?
Are they white 5mm leds that don't shine to bright just like a classic red led would ?

Luke.

[Roberthh]

A larger resistor value reduces the current rhrough the led and decreases the power. 1k vs. 330 Ohm means roughly one third of the power.

[LukeVideo]

Ok, thanks.
That means that less power is drawn out of the board. I was confused on the final result using so many resistors. Seems quite logic now that i think of it

[mcauser]

Alternatively, if you swap that simple shift register with a display driver IC, such as the MAX7219, you can drop your resistor count to 1x and drive 64x LEDs, or many more of you chain a few ICs. Even supports brightness control in software.
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/prod ... X7219.html