So whats the advantages of a Seoul P4?

[xwingband]

"holy grail"???

White + filters will never replace colored LED if mearly for saturation.

Our eyes see changes on logs. So to appear double as bright as a 100 lumen white it'd need to be 1000 lumens. Add to the fact that each filter acts differently in how much it filters and even some 900 lumen LED may not appear to be as crazy as you may think.

Say a 80% Red filter is on a 900 lumen White. That's 180 we'll see assuming there is no loss in the optics (90% efficiancy there). Next to the normal 190 Red-Orange III you'd be wondering what's up!

Change to a 15% Yellow though and you'll be blown away.

[Eandori]

Makes sense. Seems right

Yeah, I can't wait for P7's!!! Unfortunately though... I may have to wait for optics for the P7's...

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I have to agree with Xwing. I have a P4 with a yellow filter, and it looks great. When I tried it with "darker" colors, it was nothing to write home about.

I managed to make a pretty good pink, a decent amber, and a nice pale blue that I kind of like, but other than that, if you're trying for red, blue, or green, I would recommend just using the LED of that color and forget about white with filters.

I'll take some photos and post them later if anyone wants to see the colors I got.

[Novastar]

Without ever having tried the goal of yellow with a filter (but have tried all sorts of reddish/blue/purple/fuscia combos back in the day with a Lux III white... WAAAY back in 2006...)...

...I would say that X-Wing and Obi-Dar are totally on the money with the whole "yellow" thing.

The *LESS* light you need to filter out to get the desired color... the *BETTER* your result will be.

And since SOME white LEDs already sort of favor that yellowish tint... it's not a farcry to get yellow. Purple... I don't know. Pretty tough. And trying to get REALLY deep colors--good luck. They'll just look like arse.

[xwingband]

Ooo, that's a good point. Most of what we use are cool whites which tend to be bluish. I haven't directly seen a drastic difference (for lack of looking), but some whites are "warm" which are meant to be more yellow. Warms are made to mimic normal lighting better.

[Voice]

"holy grail"???

White + filters will never replace colored LED if mearly for saturation.

Our eyes see changes on logs. So to appear double as bright as a 100 lumen white it'd need to be 1000 lumens. Add to the fact that each filter acts differently in how much it filters and even some 900 lumen LED may not appear to be as crazy as you may think.

Say a 80% Red filter is on a 900 lumen White. That's 180 we'll see assuming there is no loss in the optics (90% efficiancy there). Next to the normal 190 Red-Orange III you'd be wondering what's up!

Change to a 15% Yellow though and you'll be blown away.

Sure, I may have over-stated it a bit, but if you assume a 75% red filter, you're looking at 225 lumen (202 if you assume your 90% efficiency with the optics). Next to a 190 red-orange Lux 3, it'll be a bit brighter.

Then again, I've got to assume that the light lost to the optics will be essentially the same proportion regardless of the LED color, so if you lose 10% on the white after the red filter, you'd lose about 10% on the red without the filter as well.

It looks like each color will have a different break-even point on getting a better color from a specialized LED as compared to the P7, but it looks like there should be a bit of room to play with before you get that far. As soon as I can find a P7 on a star, I'll be getting one for my saber.

My hilt parts should be arriving Monday, and I'll be ordering the basic electronics soon. (Probably with a P4 for now since I'm looking to end up with a yellow blade.)

Regardless, I figure it's worth checking out. If I can end up with a saber that I can change to a range of colors simply by swapping filters so much the better if I ever change my mind. If it's not bright enough for that, I can always drop back down to a P4, keep it yellow, and relish the longer battery life.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

If you want to do yellow, check out garage sales and stores that sell used sporting goods. The yellow filter I use is simply a disc cut from a pair of yellow ski goggles. I like a paler yellow, so I only use one disc, but if you double it up, it's a nice rich yellow.

I just got home from my second job, but I'll take those pictures, and probably post them tomorrow.

[Arm on Fire]

Just hooked up one tonight with a 1000 mA puck, I was expecting more, dont get me wrong, Its brighter than a K2 white, but I couldnt get any thing I liked but yellow.

[Eandori]

Just hooked up one tonight with a 1000 mA puck, I was expecting more, dont get me wrong, Its brighter than a K2 white, but I couldnt get any thing I liked but yellow.

Yep, this was about my findings as well.

[xl97]

both my P4's are 'duds' direct from DealExtreme.. (I wish I could be disappointed like you guys)




I guess I got faulty LED's? not even direct batt. wires to the LED make it light up..

I even tried the reverse polarity pads like the site suggested... no love.

lol