LED's on STTNG..

supadave1

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Ok, I put insert LEDS only on my STTNG last night. Below is a side by side comparison although the picture doesn't really do it justice. The LEDs are really beautiful on this machine but can be a bit blinding as well. Especially the whites around the saucer in the center. When they get to flashing it can be really tough to see the ball at times. The purple in the outlanes is really pretty as well as the much brighter borg ship. Overall I'm pleased with the LEDS. I used Coin Takers Ultra Brights that some friends picked up for me at the Chicago show.. Big thanks to them.. There is some ghosting in a few spots. I may look to replace those with some ablaze "Ghost Busters"

Anyways, Take a look and tell me what you think.. I'm doing the flashers and backbox next. GI will have to wait for now.. (PS, yes there is a light out in the pop bumper. I noticed it after the picture was taken)

Left Pic shows no LEDS: Actually there are 4 whites installed in the lower half of the saucer.
Right Pic shows LEDS: There are still a few I have to install, Jackpot ramp lights, and a few under the habitrail that will be a pain. I'm holding off until I get the GI kit before I dismantle.

Does anyone happen to have the no ghost patched latest wpc rom for this machine???

sttng_leds.jpg
 
I'm thinking about doing this, but I probably won't go so bright. I play it a ton and I don't want to have to wear sunglasses while playing. It looks AWESOME, though!

I have the patcher but haven't gotten around to applying it yet. I'd try that first before buying no-ghost LEDs. You might be able to buy a patched set from some of the people that burn ROMs....
 
I have the patcher but haven't gotten around to applying it yet. I'd try that first before buying no-ghost LEDs. You might be able to buy a patched set from some of the people that burn ROMs....

I have the pathcer as well, but it does me no good since Im not a rom burning person. It would be nice to find someone to burn me one.. hint hint..
 
Yeah.

Man. I'm so torn between what to do once I get our bills paid off. I want a third machine once I can sell this Supersonic and want a DMD. It's gonna be a real tear between STTNG, LOTR, Tron....so many machines I want and they're all hugely expensive, lol. :\
 
On the left I see a nice normal playable game, on the right I see a blinding fucking headache. Congrats...you've been suckered into THE FAD. At least you didn't go all "tard colored" with it.


I'll never get why anyone takes these pictures seriously as a viable comparison. Most people don't know enough about photography to even get these things to look as they do in real life, and the CMOS sensors pick up way more range of light than my eyes do.

Example, you can point an IR or UV source at a digital camera and if it's strong enough, it will effectively blind it unless there's a filter on there to block it. My Shuttle definately is NOT anywhere near as bright as his picture, but when I took pictures of it...looked the same way. Horribly over-bloomed on most inserts and no way you would look at those pictures and think it was an improvement.

*edit* Personally, I went with LEDs due to power/heat issues..has nothing to do with visual for me. I do think bulbs look better in practice, especially GI...but after seeing the damage to some older backglasses and even a few places on my Pinbot backglass due to bulbs, sticking with the LEDs....but probably the single LEDs, and most likely the "warm" color whites.
 
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LEDs done right look fantastic...LEDs done poorly look like a train wreck.

The problem is, you can never really tell by pictures alone. You really have to see them in person. I have them in a few of my machines (inserts only, no GI) and they look real nice. Some games also look much better with LEDs in the backbox, most notably Twilight Zone. See below.

Before

3634072769_1ca566952b.jpg


After

3634886996_3165dbcbb5.jpg


Huge improvement!
 
The STTNG looks good!. I agree with the inserts only and no GI. Also agree it needs to be done right or look terrible. I know not everyone likes LED's. *shrug* if you like it go with it I say.

I have did my FT and Doctor and like them both.
 
On the left I see a nice normal playable game, on the right I see a blinding fucking headache. Congrats...you've been suckered into THE FAD. At least you didn't go all "tard colored" with it.

EXACTLY what I was thinking! Do you guys actually try to play these games or just sit back and watch the pretty lights? After playing that for an hour or so I'd have a migraine....
LEDs have their place, but total conversion to ultra-bright LEDs is bullshit.... All flash, no game.
 
Seriously...nothing else was changed on that TZ other than bulbs? What, were they all yellow-condom bulbs? LOL.

That's insane if those were just 44 incancdescents -> LEDs...doesn't make any sense why it would go from practically monochrome to full color.
 
I have the pathcer as well, but it does me no good since Im not a rom burning person. It would be nice to find someone to burn me one.. hint hint..

Any chance I can get a copy of the patcher? I have a friend that might be able to burn the roms but I don't have the patcher.
 
I imagine everyone has a different tolerance to the brightness and everyone needs to decide for themselves what is too bright. Does seem like "ultra" "supers" or "coronal mass ejection" level LEDs are too bright for most people, though.

That back box difference is amazing every time I see it.
 
Seriously...nothing else was changed on that TZ other than bulbs? What, were they all yellow-condom bulbs? LOL.

That's insane if those were just 44 incancdescents -> LEDs...doesn't make any sense why it would go from practically monochrome to full color.

Some translights with regular bulbs are just very "red"....my Popeye and Whitewater translights are like that and I've considered trying cool white LEDs behind them.

Funny thing is, the tubes behind Stern translights bring out the colors similar to that LED'd TZ....but some pinguys actually WANT it to have that warmer/red look - there's a "Stern tube filter kit" that is sold to make games look more like that TZ. I'm like...what?
 
Seriously...nothing else was changed on that TZ other than bulbs? What, were they all yellow-condom bulbs? LOL.

That's insane if those were just 44 incancdescents -> LEDs...doesn't make any sense why it would go from practically monochrome to full color.

Yeah, I just went from regular incandescents to cool white LEDs.
 
Must be a translite thing. In my experience, when dealing with any color OTHER than white or blues, using the cool white LEDs actually changes the color, and not in a good way. Orange inserts are yellow. Bright green inserts go yellow-green.

I think it's best to use bulbs behind warm colors, and LEDs behind cool colors, but socket placement from the factory doesn't always make that a viable option. =\
 
For myself instead of going with a total LED conversion with my STTNG I want to go with a more targeted approach. Bendable LEDs in a couple GI spots to give a little more illumination to the playfield. STTNG has some dark spots on the PF due to bad GI placement.

The borg ship has a green film in the windows with some white lighting inside the ship. Those white lights illuminate the PF below the ship during borg multiball. I am planning to go with Green LEDs to really make the windows pop and to give a green glow to the PF under the borg ship.

I might go with a color changer in the Command Decision insert. I will go with LEDs in the backbox to really make it pop. After that I might experiment with different elements and see what I like or don't.
 
I'll never get why anyone takes these pictures seriously as a viable comparison. Most people don't know enough about photography to even get these things to look as they do in real life, and the CMOS sensors pick up way more range of light than my eyes do.

That's why my first line says that the pictures don't do it justice. It was my iphone as well. The leds look amazing on this machine in real life. Not as blinding as the right photo shows. that is due to the camera issue as Frax stated.

On the left I see a nice normal playable game, on the right I see a blinding fucking headache. Congrats...you've been suckered into THE FAD. At least you didn't go all "tard colored" with it.

Saving some energy, avoiding heat issues, improving the overall outlook.. If done right this FAD is very much a solid improvement. I've seen some ugly ones and I waited over a year to finally pull the trigger and I'm glad I did.

I imagine everyone has a different tolerance to the brightness and everyone needs to decide for themselves what is too bright. Does seem like "ultra" "supers" or "coronal mass ejection" level LEDs are too bright for most people, though.

That back box difference is amazing every time I see it.

I did the back box and it was definetly a positive improvement. It has a mix of warms and brights, Warms over the peoples face area and whites in the outer space areas. That turned out awesome but I will agree with the ultra brights on the white saucer insert part being too much. I will most likely be yanking those and downgrading to warm. The rest of the inserts are not an issue.. Just the white saucer area. I didn't realize how bright it would be until it was done.. If you play with the lights in the room on it is not an issue at all.. but if the room is dark then it's just a bit too much.

For myself instead of going with a total LED conversion with my STTNG I want to go with a more targeted approach. Bendable LEDs in a couple GI spots to give a little more illumination to the playfield. STTNG has some dark spots on the PF due to bad GI placement.

The borg ship has a green film in the windows with some white lighting inside the ship. Those white lights illuminate the PF below the ship during borg multiball. I am planning to go with Green LEDs to really make the windows pop and to give a green glow to the PF under the borg ship.

Flex LEDs are in mine as well and yes, those are much handier.. My borg ship has blue and it's an improvement but i'm worndering if green would of been better as well.. It does get rid of that white glow which is nice..
 
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Super brights are way too bright. I have my STTNG LED'd, but there is no way I would go that bright. It looks terrible and really makes it hard to play in low light. There is something to be said for subtlety. Best part of LEDs in a STTNG is the borg ship on borg multiball startup...really impressive.
 
Super brights are way too bright. I have my STTNG LED'd, but there is no way I would go that bright. It looks terrible and really makes it hard to play in low light. There is something to be said for subtlety. Best part of LEDs in a STTNG is the borg ship on borg multiball startup...really impressive.

He wasn't using Super Brights, he was using Ultra Brights, which are even brighter!

I don't think Ultra Brights have any business being used under inserts. Way too bright.
 
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