Finally giving in to LED's

[Jerry-Rigs]

...when I say it like that it sounds like a life changing event....it's Christmas lights...

Exactly right. It is a life changing event.

[ctmal]

So, good news...well, fantastic news(for me).
We had an issue with the lights tonight(that's not the good news part) so I went to my brothers house to help fix the issue. After fixing it, we got talking about LED's. He is 100% in on going all LED, including whites. So, all my worries about the different dimming patterns is gone...ha...
Now, I'll just wait for the CDI presale.

[ctmal]

Oh, I forgot to mention, one of the reasons he's all in is I asked him to read this thread. So, thanks for all the help.

[jchuchla]

So now it's ok to mention that I need to go outside to troubleshoot the blue lights on one of my CDI trees?

Don't worry. I'm 95% sure that it's the Cat5 connector or the SSR. I'm sure the lights themselves are fine.

[ctmal]

So now it's ok to mention that I need to go outside to troubleshoot the blue lights on one of my CDI trees?

Don't worry. I'm 95% sure that it's the Cat5 connector or the SSR. I'm sure the lights themselves are fine.

hahaha...we don't have any blue....no worries.

[Wayne J]

Yes, I'm getting excited now about going LED's. Especially hearing about all of the good things people are saying about the CDI lights. It's amazing how many people people here and on the other site have praised their products.
Now it have to learn how to mix them....LEDs and incans. At least for the first couple of years. I'm still using Vixen 2.1, although I've been itching to write my own sequencer...or addin. Hmmm.

Me too! I still sequence with it and use it to play the show.

[P. Short]

A little bit off-topic, but since people mentioned dimming curves...

I'm wondering if there have been any attempts to modify controller firmware to implement 'dimming curves' there to see if that has a more pleasing effect than doing it in host software. I'm not set up to do this at the moment (I only have a few big-box strings). I'm not sure how successful this would be, but the idea is to modify pulse intervals over the course of each AC half-cycle to attain a more uniform change in perceived brightness as the requested level changes. Of course, there is a lot more interest in DC RGB pixels these days than in AC lights, but I thought that I would ask...

[jchuchla]

Just got the presale email from CDI. Their presale will start on January 21. They didn't include any links to pricing yet though

[jchuchla]

A little bit off-topic, but since people mentioned dimming curves...

I'm wondering if there have been any attempts to modify controller firmware to implement 'dimming curves' there to see if that has a more pleasing effect than doing it in host software. I'm not set up to do this at the moment (I only have a few big-box strings). I'm not sure how successful this would be, but the idea is to modify pulse intervals over the course of each AC half-cycle to attain a more uniform change in perceived brightness as the requested level changes. Of course, there is a lot more interest in DC RGB pixels these days than in AC lights, but I thought that I would ask...

I haven't seen anyone do it in the hobby type AC controllers. That is a feature you find in professional dimmers though. I've never put a renard with software dimming curves alongside a professional dimmer rack to see if there's a perceivable difference.

[P. Short]

Thanks. Having noticed the occasional comments about the aesthetics of LED strings (vs incan strings) driven by Renard, I would suspect that the commercial gear is a lot better at attaining smooth effects.