Color 13 Click as its foundation uses the APDS-9999, an RGB and proximity sensor with 940nm VCSEL from Broadcom Limited. The APDS-9999 uses four individual channels of red, green, blue, and IR in a specially designed matrix arrangement allowing the device to have an optimal angular response and accurate RGB spectral response with high Lux accuracy over various light sources. The device detects light intensity under multiple lighting conditions and through different attenuation materials, including dark glass.

The APDS-9999 is configurable as ambient light and RGB sensor. It is also fast enough to provide proximity detection (PS) information at a high repetition rate, operating well from bright sunlight to dark rooms. PS resolution can be varied from 8 to 11 bits, with the measurement rate from 6.25ms to 400ms. To offset unwanted reflected light from the cover glass, a PS intelligent cancellation level register allows for an on-chip subtraction of the ADC count contributed by any unwanted reflected light from the cover glass.

The addition of the micro-optics lenses within the module provides highly efficient transmission and reception of infrared energy, lowering overall power dissipation. In addition, the APDS-9999 can be put into a low-power standby mode providing low average power consumption.

Color 13 Click communicates with MCU using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface to read data and configure settings, supporting Fast Mode operation with a clock frequency up to 400kHz. It also features an intelligent interrupt function that generates independent light and proximity interrupt signals, available on the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, which reduces power consumption by eliminating polling communication traffic between the sensor and MCU.

This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before use with MCUs with different logic levels. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.