Hi, Robert

just consider you need a certain amount of energy to make your lights glow ...

WHATEVER the way you give them that energy.

NO miracle, as I told you ...

so, the only way to get them all together lit is to reduce current to the minimum " readable " ... ( here PWM can be useful ... )

or use very high efficiency leds ... as there's a lot here ... current can be reduced to ~ 5 mA per Led to get a nice visible glow.

Alain