Diffusing LEDs

[saab_gobbler]

Has anyone here ever used diffuser film/gels to diffuse LEDs in a case? There is an area in the front of my case which I want to illuminate, but I don't want to be blinded by a strip of LEDs pointed right at me lol

[W-L]

Has anyone here ever used diffuser film/gels to diffuse LEDs in a case? There is an area in the front of my case which I want to illuminate, but I don't want to be blinded by a strip of LEDs pointed right at me lol

 

LED diffuser are good for cases where they are very open and you have a direct line of sight to the LED's or have reflections off of surfaces to minimize the spot lighting. Channels like theses to put the strip in tend to work really well:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43349&p=71702

[EmeraldKiwi]

I would also like to know the answer. I don't have any place to put the film, but its a great idea. I wouldn't put it on the side panel window unless you had a negative logo or image cutout to illuminate instead of just having the window to look at the inside of your case. Great idea, but great question too.

[saab_gobbler]

LED diffuser are good for cases where they are very open and you have a direct line of sight to the LED's or have reflections off of surfaces to minimize the spot lighting. Channels like theses to put the strip in tend to work really well:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43349&p=71702

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep those in mind. Ideally I'd like to diffuse the light over the entire area to give it more of an aural look, which is why I was looking at films.

 

I would also like to know the answer. I don't have any place to put the film, but its a great idea. I wouldn't put it on the side panel window unless you had a negative logo or image cutout to illuminate instead of just having the window to look at the inside of your case. Great idea, but great question too.

Hmm, that gave me another idea, that window frosting vinyl (aka privacy film, like you would use on a bathroom window) would be perfect for what you described and might work for what I'm trying to do (even though my area isn't a window). Looks like it's cheaper than diffuser film/gels too...

 

I'd like to see different opacities & distances from the light source before buying but it's a hard thing to find examples of though =/ I think I'll pull the trigger on some anyway, see how it works. If anyone else has used something similar for this purpose I'd love to see the results! 

[W-L]

 

-SNIP-

 

I've seen some others also look for a similar setup to what your wanting to have almost like a glow or line of light along the front or the case or sidepanels, while LED's with diffused strips and having them on low do work they don't give as even type of glow I think your looking for. If the panel has some channels for the diffused strips to sit in that would work a bit better.

 

There is one product out there which I have been looking into myself to see if it's a viable solution or option which is EL lights, they give this all around glow without harsh bright spots like LED's but aren't as easy to work with. As of right now most I've seen have a lot of coil whine since EL lights run of AC voltage that is right in the range of high pitch frequencies.

https://www.adafruit.com/products/416

[saab_gobbler]

-snip-

 

Wow! I was familiar with EL wire, but I've never seen the tape or panels before! I can't believe I've never seen those in builds before!

[W-L]

Wow! I was familiar with EL wire, but I've never seen the tape or panels before! I can't believe I've never seen those in builds before!

 

I ordered some version of those kinds tape strips and rope lights for testing and they should arrive soon so I can give you an idea how well they work but one thing I do know is they need to find a way to stop the coil whine even when potted with resin which is probably going to be the kicker for this to be put inside a case.

[CableMod]

EL looks great but please note that the inverter of every EL solution is quite loud and you would hear it for sure in your case - tested A LOT of them and all had this issue.

[W-L]

EL looks great but please note that the inverter of every EL solution is quite loud and you would hear it for sure in your case - tested A LOT of them and all had this issue.

 

Hmm unfortunate to hear that, since they do work at an audible frequency range for the AC voltage. 

[CableMod]

yes - we were planning to launch a Series of EL strips but none of the solutions could pass our "noise check" - the inverter sound was always too annoying!

 

However we developed something to improve the lighting (more even lighting effect) on LED strips and will launch something shortly!

[W-L]

yes - we were planning to launch a Series of EL strips but none of the solutions could pass our "noise check" - the inverter sound was always too annoying!

However we developed something to improve the lighting (more even lighting effect) on LED strips and will launch something shortly!

 

Cool love more LED stuff  

Would it be something like a COB based LED type strip but flexible, I've seen a few of those around but not many as of right now. 

[CableMod]

developed something completely new that hasn't been available yet - but thats for your idea - will forward that to the PM department!