LED Strip lights?

Bezzaboy1234 · 6 Jan 2015 at 21:56

Hi guys,

So I have seen around a lot of people using these LED RGB Strip lights to have a sort of ambient back light behind their monitors.

I purchased a roll of 5 meters online and it came with a standard DC plug which is nice but 5 meters is a lot of bloody LEDs!

Does anyone have any idea how to go about cutting and reconnecting them to more suitable lengths? I was thinking USB would be the best option for me as I have a nice 4 port USB hub with switches on that be brilliant for this. Realistically I only need 3 strips of varying lengths (1M, 2x30cms).

Any help would be appreciated

Rob

elmuzzy66. · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:47

Ive got an led strip around my tv and just cut it to size, it was 5m as well. Its got various colours but only use white. It reduces eye strain when I use white. Just cut the strip in between led's, mine had a marked lined where to cut it.

wunkley · 7 Jan 2015 at 19:21

Antec do a usb powered 6500k colour temp white strip (called sound science), about 1 m long, slightly less maybe. I have one on the back of my rog, and just ordered another for the back of a new sony 50" tv. About £15 from the rainforest.

richardsim7 · 7 Jan 2015 at 22:22

wunkley said:
Antec do a usb powered 6500k colour temp white strip (called sound science), about 1 m long, slightly less maybe. I have one on the back of my rog, and just ordered another for the back of a new sony 50" tv. About £15 from the rainforest.

I wondered about that. I'm wondering if it's big or bright enough for my TV...
I haven't looked into Bias Lighting that much but isn't the brightness of the light supposed to be approx 10% of the brightness of the screen?

wunkley · 8 Jan 2015 at 09:46

I'll tell you later today when it's all set up. My TV set up is across a corner though, so not sure myself if one strip will be bright enough. If right up against a wall, then I think it's meant to be more effective.
My tv has 2 USB ports though, so if I think it's looking good but needs more powahhh, I may get another.

spoffle · 8 Jan 2015 at 10:47

The RGB strips use 12v, so runn them off USB ports is probably more hassle than it's worth. I would get one of those molex out back panels for your PC, connect your RGB LED strip to the molex 12v connection.

Bezzaboy1234 · 24 Jan 2015 at 01:00

Need to run them out of the Computer case as its simply too far to reach, the wiring would be horrendous.

I have done some more research and you can run them off a laptop power supply? Just wondering how the laptop power supply a 12v would cope with a splitter with 3 strips of different sizes?

HalfBakedJake · 24 Jan 2015 at 02:04

This looks pretty awesome http://lightpack.tv/

Legend · 24 Jan 2015 at 02:22

HalfBakedJake said:
This looks pretty awesome http://lightpack.tv/

That does look cool actually. Wonder how well it works in reality.

perosus · 28 Jan 2015 at 09:51

Legend said:
That does look cool actually. Wonder how well it works in reality.

I actually just had a Lightpack delivered this weekend, and it works pretty much as advertised. There are plenty of video's on youtube (eg:

).

The default software (Prismatik) doesnt work in full screen game applications, but there is a 3rd party app (AmbiBox) which does, and also offers other customizability and some more advanced features (automatic profile switching, etc). Have only tried it with Borderlands 2 so far, but I didnt notice any performance hit/lag. Using it browsing/for movies works perfectly. All white screens (webpages, etc.) will definitely light up your room though, and I cant see how that is good for your eyes, but you can turn the overall brightness down.

I have seen a few bugs in the AmbiBox software which on occasion will cut out the lights and require the app to be restarted, and once or twice it won't recognize the Lightpack as being connected. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with it.

Bezzaboy1234 · 1 Feb 2015 at 20:06

That lightpack looks cool, But just seems a bit pricey for my needs, Only need some brightness in the dark and a switch to turn them off and on again. Will have to think about it.

coupe69 · 1 Feb 2015 at 23:14

Bezzaboy1234 said:
That lightpack looks cool, But just seems a bit pricey for my needs, Only need some brightness in the dark and a switch to turn them off and on again. Will have to think about it.

Funnily enough I've just today fitted some RGB LEDs to the rear of my monitor. You can get the LED strip packs complete with remote and AC adapter for less than twenty quid on the bay.

Couple of pics of mine, excuse the poor camera phone quality...

Legend · 2 Feb 2015 at 00:50

What's the little device on the left, next to the speaker, changing colour?

Buddy · 2 Feb 2015 at 01:22

Coupr69 where did you get your set from? Looks great

coupe69 · 2 Feb 2015 at 01:30

Legend said:
What's the little device on the left, next to the speaker, changing colour?

It's the Razer Mamba mouse wireless charging dock. You can change the colour of the dock and the mouse scroll wheel.

Buddy said:
Coupe69 where did you get your set from? Looks great

coupe69 said:
You can get the LED strip packs complete with remote and AC adapter for less than twenty quid on the bay.

spoffle · 2 Feb 2015 at 02:27

If you pick up the other type of controller, you can make your own colours.