Correct Way to Reduce # of Channels?

[cwshep]

I would like to reduce the number of channels for two reasons:

1. The current configuration only has enough memory to drive ~600 pixels per strip, and I would like to do more.
2. I would like to minimize the CPU usage.

My current approach was to:

1. Change #define LEDSCAPE_NUM_STRIPS 8 in ledscape.h
2. Define the GPIOs in ledscape.c, eg.:

static const uint8_t gpios0[] = {
2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14
};
(and no others; well actually I chose all 8 on the right side of P9, but you get the idea)

1. Change "48" to "8" in pru/templates/ws281x.p.

Is that correct? I'm having some odd tearing/flickering issues, but I'm not sure if they are related.