Is it possible to control a 12v led matrix with an arduino? This is a bit home automation but if I want to control my 12v LEDs and I have 8 free pins would it be possible to drive 16 lights as a matrix. I was looking into running 8 LEDs with an 8 channel relay but the I got to thinking if I wire up 16 LEDs in a matrix I could still control them all with those 8 channels. Problem is I was looking at mechanical relays that would burn out very quickly with that kind of switching. Are there any other solutions?
You can use ULN2803 driver IC on sink side (cathode), P channel MOSFET on anode/source side of common anode LED matrix. Since you need only 4 sinks you can pair every 2 i/o of ULN2803 so you can drive/sink 1A max load per row. This IC is cheap and widely available.

MOSFET current and speed should match those of ULN2803. You can use BJT instead of MOSFET, but voltage drop on BJT will be higher.

Similar design is here: 8x8 LED matrix