ThinkLight LED Colors

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denisky · #1 Post by **denisky** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:59 am

Why is my R51e thinklight LED color is amber while the rest of other model are white? Why IBM/Lenovo didn't just put white LED on all thinkpad models? I'm not complaining about the amber though, I am just curious why they differentiate the colors.

Radioguy · #2 Post by **Radioguy** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:07 am

Are you sure it's clean?

#3 Post by **erik** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:26 am

the R5x series were amber for whatever reason.

i believe a T42p's display cable will work in the R5x series. if it does then that would give you a white light.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:46 am

Yeah, Most R series were amber but my daughters R52 and my R61 is white. I have seen newer R61's that are amber. Who knows?

beGi · #5 Post by **beGi** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:01 am

I think it is amber because LED contains mercury...

Why do they have white and amber LED? Don't know...

#6 Post by **GomJabbar** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:37 am

Get the LED out!

j-dawg · #7 Post by **j-dawg** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:39 am

I would expect it is because of the neutrality of the color. Red, a "warm" color, is less distracting and easier on the eyes than white, blue, or other "cool" colors, and will light up the keyboard just fine because of the contrast of the white keys on a black background.

BMW puts red map lights in their cars so that maps can be read without forcing the driver's eyes to adjust to the bright light and without creating distracting reflections on the windows.

#8 Post by **erik** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:28 am

beGi wrote:I think it is amber because LED contains mercury...

an LED is a diode. there's no mercury inside.

joester · #9 Post by **joester** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:30 pm

They're also reasonably easy to change if you know what size and voltage they are. You could install any color you wish. I've been toying with installing a blue one in my T21.

Joe

denisky · #10 Post by **denisky** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:18 pm

j-dawg wrote:I would expect it is because of the neutrality of the color. Red, a "warm" color, is less distracting and easier on the eyes than white, blue, or other "cool" colors, and will light up the keyboard just fine because of the contrast of the white keys on a black background.

BMW puts red map lights in their cars so that maps can be read without forcing the driver's eyes to adjust to the bright light and without creating distracting reflections on the windows.

I agree with this. I find that red or other reddish colors seem to be easier on the eyes when reading in dark environment than other colors. My previous T43 white thinklight was too bright and too harsh for my eyes, making it uncomfortable to use the machine. But the amber thinklight in R51e has different story, so far it has been the most comfortable laptop to use in dark environment. The LED is not too bright, but no too dim, it is just perfect. I hope Lenovo will put multiple LED colors in thinklight in the future so that we will be able to switch the colors that we like the most.

USSS · #11 Post by **USSS** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:28 pm

GomJabbar wrote:Get the LED out!

LOL, GJ, you got me!

And I was expecting a tutorial on how to swap out my T43's white ThinkLight for a different color....

#12 Post by **GomJabbar** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:56 pm

USSS wrote:LOL, GJ, you got me!

And I was expecting a tutorial on how to swap out my T43's white ThinkLight for a different color....

I'm glad at least someone found that amusing. One of the local disk jockeys where I live uses that phrase before playing 'certain songs'.

What got me thinking about it was the mention of mercury, which is a heavy toxic metal, and it's relation to lead, another heavy toxic metal. So lead led to LED.

Radioguy · #13 Post by **Radioguy** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:42 am

While I'd want white for a Thinklight, I think Amber is the best color for aesthetics. Blues, reds and greens, the other most common LEDs, are too distracting. The beer-bottle amber LEDs are more soothing in their light, but white is far more bright.

By the way, has there ever been talk of, or a TP that actually had, a Thinklight dimmer? I remember a nice screen brightness slide on my 760XD, and I think it would be very nice to have one (or just a FN key combo with OSD) for the Thinklight.

Temetka · #14 Post by **Temetka** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:26 pm

So you guys got me thinking.

What would it take to swap the Thinklight LED on my T60 to a red one? I am very good at this kind of stuff. Just need some PN's and diagram and I can handle the rest.

USSS · #15 Post by **USSS** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:42 pm

^^^
Has anyone simply tried affixing a thin filter of red plastic film over the LED? It might provide acceptable results.

One time I thought about replacing the LED with an ultraviolet one, then using one of those invisible-ink marker pens and painting all of the white characters on the keyboard with it. Since the keyboard is black, there is little danger of ultraviolet light reflecting back into the eyes of the user.

But I chickened out, LOL. Still, I think it's an intriguing idea.

truk · #16 Post by **truk** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:49 pm

USSS, I don't know if I should hug you or hate you. I don't wanna hate you, but it's kinda creepy to hug a stranger. I have a UV LED right here, a t400 on its way, a desire for an excuse to buy a t61 NMB keyboard, and an extreme desire to one-up the nerds with the back-lit keyboards...

Radioguy · #17 Post by **Radioguy** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:23 am

Wow. That would be VERY cool.

Going back to Red; it would fit with the TP design theme, but isn't practical unless it had that UV effect turning the letters red too.

ThinkLight LED Colors

ThinkLight LED Colors

RE:UV thinklight

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