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[Finality]

Thinking of doing some work to a bar & cabinet I'm about to make for my place and was looking for some LED lighting solutions. More specifically I have no idea what I should get.....

Basically I'm looking for an RGB solution to display multiple colors solid-on or special effects controller with fade, strobe, different colors, chase etc.

I found something on E-bay which looks like what I want but I'm worried about the quality of the lighting. The controller appears to be able to do what I want but I want to be able to contol the timing so that either its short fast sequences or longer sequences.

Secondly I'd like to be able to control the intensity of the LED bulbs ( I dont know if this is possible with LEDs but it would be nice).

Thirdly I'm looking for a strip thats about 4-5 meters long and then splits off ie a Y pattern to two more LED strips off about 3 meters each. I'd also like a solution of 3-4 pieces of seperated 2 meter length pieces running in an 'extended Y' configuration

If anyone knows any stores that sells custom lengths or could tell me what I should look out for in terms of features of which LED bulbs & controllers I should look out for. I dont mind paying a bit more for the higher end quality parts I'm looking for a simplified solution. I was talking to an EE friend of mine and his soluion was to plug a PC into the controller board to control everything........

To give you an idea I'm looking to build something like this:

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

They have a controller on their website but it looks like that plugs into the serial port to get the desired effects. I'm guessing I can just preprogram it and let it be? Would it be hard to code for something like that (I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff). I'm really not to keen on plugging my laptop in every time I want the effect change I would rather pay for an external controller box.

This is also something else I like:

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

One thing I dont like is what looks like color bleed in the white shot though I'm guessing there isn't much I could do about it?

If anyone could help me out I'd really appreciate it

 

[Dessert Tears]

Originally posted by: Finality
I found something on E-bay which looks like what I want but I'm worried about the quality of the lighting. The controller appears to be able to do what I want but I want to be able to contol the timing so that either its short fast sequences or longer sequences.

Have you asked the seller whether their controller does what you want? Changing the overall speed of a sequence can be easily done by altering the clock speed - as long as it's designed into the hardware.

Secondly I'd like to be able to control the intensity of the LED bulbs ( I dont know if this is possible with LEDs but it would be nice).

There is no harm in underdriving LEDs to make them dimmer.

I was talking to an EE friend of mine and his soluion was to plug a PC into the controller board to control everything........

I agree with this solution. It will probably be more expensive to buy something with a PC interface, but you'll be getting more flexibility. If you want a new feature, it's more likely that you can reprogram it instead of buying a new controller box. Furthermore, there are probably systems that do audio/visual integration when using a PC interface.

This is also something else I like:

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

One thing I dont like is what looks like color bleed in the white shot though I'm guessing there isn't much I could do about it?

This product clearly uses discrete single-color LEDs, so you probably can't eliminate the problem. You could put another diffuser over them, but it wouldn't be completely effective and would cut overall intensity. You could run a separate white-only strip that would help wash out the individual colors.

You might try posting here: CPF - General Light Discussion
It's more of a flashlight forum, so you may have to wait for replies, but I think you'll get more information there.

 

[Finality]

Originally posted by: Flatscan

Originally posted by: Finality
I found something on E-bay which looks like what I want but I'm worried about the quality of the lighting. The controller appears to be able to do what I want but I want to be able to contol the timing so that either its short fast sequences or longer sequences.

Have you asked the seller whether their controller does what you want? Changing the overall speed of a sequence can be easily done by altering the clock speed - as long as it's designed into the hardware.

Secondly I'd like to be able to control the intensity of the LED bulbs ( I dont know if this is possible with LEDs but it would be nice).

There is no harm in underdriving LEDs to make them dimmer.

I was talking to an EE friend of mine and his soluion was to plug a PC into the controller board to control everything........

I agree with this solution. It will probably be more expensive to buy something with a PC interface, but you'll be getting more flexibility. If you want a new feature, it's more likely that you can reprogram it instead of buying a new controller box. Furthermore, there are probably systems that do audio/visual integration when using a PC interface.

This is also something else I like:

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

One thing I dont like is what looks like color bleed in the white shot though I'm guessing there isn't much I could do about it?

This product clearly uses discrete single-color LEDs, so you probably can't eliminate the problem. You could put another diffuser over them, but it wouldn't be completely effective and would cut overall intensity. You could run a separate white-only strip that would help wash out the individual colors.

You might try posting here: CPF - General Light Discussion
It's more of a flashlight forum, so you may have to wait for replies, but I think you'll get more information there.

Thanks for the advice flatscan

Already posted on the forums just waiting for a response now. If anyone else has helpful info I'd appreciate it

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

My advice would have been to go to CPF as well, that will be a great resource

 

[Finality]

nm