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> I think blue was the most expensive. yes. Which is why to this day so many "cool" accessories insist on blue LEDs as a power indicator making them completely
by pilif 10y ago
> I think blue was the most expensive.
yes. Which is why to this day so many "cool" accessories insist on blue LEDs as a power indicator making them completely useless whenever too much light would actually be harmful to the experience (like the Playstation Power LED, or any other power LED on devices you have in your bedroom).
The blue LEDs feel so incredibly bright compared to all other LED types to the point where they become very distracting.
Blue light isn't cool any more (I would argue that it never was in the first place). Stop adding blue LEDs to all your devices. Please.
- joezydeco 10y agoThere is also increasing concern about eye health risks involved with blue LEDs, so tread carefully. I recently had to swap vendors on a project because the cheaper blue LEDs threw too much of the hazardous spectrum. The EU is way ahead of the US on this. http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/XLamp%20Application%20Notes/XLamp_EyeSafety.pdf http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20an...
- Diederich 10y agoI had no idea, thank you!
- ambicapter 10y agoI can barely look at existing blue LEDs these days, which sucks because they're on every emergency phone beacon on college campuses (which I live around).
- Freak_NL 10y agoToo late. Semiotically blue now means 'power LED/main button', so monitors, computer cases, etcetera all have one blue LED for the power button. Even your toaster has a blue LED on its on/off-switch. Changing this will take years. Perhaps premium brands will start making red power LEDs hip again, and we will enter a period of red LEDs (again). On the other hand, violet power LEDs might become fashionable, so count your blessings. I was amused that the HTPC computer case I chose had a small slider just below the blue power indicator; you can slide it to the right, and the blue is no longer visible.
- linker3000 10y agoA customer currently wants to return a 12 bay NAS because the blue power LED is too bright for their office.
- venomsnake 10y agoDid you tell him to put a piece of tape over it?
- woliveirajr 10y agoThinkGeek used to have it, I found on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/LightDims-Original-Strength-Electronics-Appliances/dp/B009WSJNCW https://www.amazon.com/LightDims-Original-Strength-Electroni...
- weaksauce 10y agoI just use gaffers tape. Edit and if you need to see the light sometimes the I make a flap by folding it over so it covers it up but some parts are not sticky.
- Bud 10y agoAnother idea is to use a black Sharpie on the offending LED. Blocks most, but not all, of the light.
- Bartweiss 10y agoThis is a really clever trick, I'm surprised I haven't heard it before. "Hide your indicator lights" really isn't reasonable, but marker or masking tape would be good candidates for blocking 80%+ of the light.
- pbhjpbhj 10y agoIt might be a good proxy for quality. A company that used such devices, that they made, would almost certainly have a problem with the eye-melting brightness of the LEDs. A good company would be expected to correct it.
- gaius 10y agoRed is still best because night vision... that's why bedside clocks are still mostly red.
- foobarian 10y agoThey are very annoying. I have several layers of electrical tape over most of my electronics--one layer is usually not enough!
- tunap 10y agoElectrical tape does the job in one application. You can even buy matching colors if standard black contrasts with your device/bezel/case. edit: sorry, did not see 'electrical' in your post. What device has luminosity to shine through e*tape? My electric toothbrush can illuminate entire bathroom, hall and most of my attached bedroom. 1 strip cured it.
- foobarian 10y agoHDD light on a run of the mill tower PC case. The random blinking makes it particularly bad in a dark room. I could see the whole room light up with HDD activity through one layer of e. tape.
- linker3000 10y ago> I think blue was the most expensive. When blue LEDs were first available in sample quantities, the R&D Lab in which I worked ordered a few 5mm blues for £35 each - no free samples available!
- Bartweiss 10y agoThis is a real shame. Dim red lights are the hallmark of standby/warning for good reason - they're non-distracting and comfortable to have lots of. It's a real shame that blue took over when it's probably the worst color available. And as an aside, having a light that turns on to tell you when a product is off/asleep is just offensively bad design.
- baldeagle 10y agoI literally put tape and nail polish over any blue leds. Leave it so just a little light gets out and they become tolerable for non-bedroom use. All bedroom leds are duck taped over and phones are put led side down.
- apk17 10y agoThe blue light were brighter - they have a mechanism different from the old LEDs that is much more efficient. I guess the designers just dropped in the blue leds, and voilá, terrible bright lights. The other colors later followed suit - the brightness you now get with a few mA is amazing when you know the old LEDs.