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Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

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Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#111
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> have to admit I don't fully get the "bling" thing for PCs Me neither. Today it's hard to find TVs that are just TVs and not smart TVs and similar thing is happening in the PC builders ecosystem. Built a new desktop computer recently, and had to spend more time searching for things that don't have RGB things in them, seems most components nowadays have some sort of RGB lights in them, even when it's completely not n…

My "smart TV" is a pile of junk. We wanted a large TV for home theatre, but couldn't find anything over 65" that wasn't "smart". It takes 3-5 seconds to turn on, then another 10-20 seconds to react to input from the remote (at which time it will rapidly replay all input provided that it didn't react to in this time, sometimes turning itself back off for no reason). All of the "apps" are barely responsive and crash re…

My samsung tv is like this. All I want to do is turn the tv on and switch to HDMI 1. Something that used to be fast and trivial now takes ages of waiting for laggy animations.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My LG CX turns on in less than 2s and shows the picture from the HDMI input. The TV can’t access the internet. I use OpenRGB to disable all lights, or sometimes I’m in the Cyberpunk 2077 mood and make it yellow. I’m curious that people want to pay more to get less.

> I’m curious that people want to pay more to get less. Actually a fairly old adage when it comes to lots of things, not just TVs. Sometimes it's for creativity (limiting yourself to only using specific set of hardware for music production) and sometimes for better user experience (like in industrial design, Dieter Rams' (Braun) simpler radios with less functionality is a famous example, ~1960). Dieter Ram also had a…

The thing is the core idea of smart TVs is good. I _do_ want to be able to stream content to my tv. Its just that TV OEMs can't pull it off or support it for the lifetime of the TV so I would rather nothing than something that makes the tv worse.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Id pay significantly more to have a good panel that is dumb. no apps, no privacy concerns, fast boot. Pioneer years ago used to make the elite panels that were exactly this.

Have a look at commercial-grade tv lines from your preferred manufacturer. Often lacking the smart features but otherwise match or exceed consumer specs. There is a price premium, and you may have to go through more niche retailers that typically supply businesses.

Every time someone links one there is no way to just buy it. You have to contact some sales person and order at least 10.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#114
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I built a new PC recently, I got RGB everything. I just keep it all set to a dark blue. I think it looks nice, that's really all there is to it.

Ok... so why not just buy some dark blue LEDs and put them anywhere you want without the complexity of interfacing them with your computer?

Because then you have to wire it all up manually which is a lot of work and likely won't look good. No one sells fans, gpus and mobos in the exact color you want so its easier to buy RGB everything and configure it to be the color you want.

Installing openrgb is infinitely easier than wiring up LEDs inside fans imo.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#115
post #88

Anyone here who was into case modding back in the 2000s? I ran a semi-popular German case-modding website and forum 19 years ago. We put windows in our boring grey computer cases and bought blue LEDs for 2 EUR a piece to light up the internals. As LEDs were so expensive we often opted to use CCFL tubes. We put electroluminescent wire everywhere, even into keyboards. We built our own fan controllers from scratch to fi…

I remember in college back then taking a dremel to the side of my steel PC case to cut out a hole for a plexiglass window. Lit up the internals with a blue CCFL. Pretty weird the effort that went into stuff like that. I made fun of people who put ground effects lighting under their car, but was I really any different? Ha!

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#116
I recently built a new desktop after my motherboard died. I was surprised that the cheapest cases, which were little more than steel boxes with cutouts for ports and fans, were more than twice the price of cases with side windows and half a dozen RGB fans.

I also followed posts for component sales and saw a lot of people complaining when a sale didn't apply to RGB RAM or some such.

I ended up buying a case with a side window and incredibly bright fans. I couldn't disable just the fan lights without an additional motherboard adapter, so I cut the LED leads on the fans and called it a day.

All this to say, am I alone in wanting my computer to be a plain box? All those extra lights are just distracting to me.

Edit: after a cursory glance at the comments, it's obvious I am not alone. Maybe I'm just curious why there's such a large market for light-up components.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#117
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing this in Linux seems like a lot more time/trouble than just putting the side of the case on (and not getting one of those silly cases with a window in it).

When I went to build a PC recently, I was disappointed to find out that the most cost effective cases that otherwise met my requirements all had those silly windows, and that some RGB components were actually cheaper than non-RGB. So I ended up with a window and RGB, despite having no desire for either! I had to hunt around for the correct software to disable the stuff. Little did I know that this project existed at…

I'm not sure what you're price range was but a lot of Fractal Design cases have solid side panels. I have their Meshify C case and the temps are great with a Noctua cooler.

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#118
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it either. If I was to buy LEDs, I would buy them and use them around the house. I have seen what some hotels do and it is amazing . I have seen LED strips behind the mirror, so when you wake up at night you can get your way around but don't get blinded by the light. However, here we are, with people buying RGB fans and having their desktops on the desk taking up space and making more noise (because they…

Do you have any other ideas you recommend? I thought this mirror idea was brilliant!

I've read that putting an LED strip (or other light source, I guess) behind a monitor reduces eye strain. Can't speak to its veracity, but it would at least reduce glare!

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#119
post #3

The supported devices list[1] looks pretty good. The support for individually addressable LEDs (WS2812 and friends) also means you could do pretty much any custom setup you wanted. Though I have to admit I don't fully get the "bling" thing for PCs. I'd rather, for example, drive a little OLED matrix screen to display temperatures, etc. [1] https://gitlab.com/CalcProgrammer1/OpenRGB/-/wikis/Supported...

> have to admit I don't fully get the "bling" thing for PCs Me neither. Today it's hard to find TVs that are just TVs and not smart TVs and similar thing is happening in the PC builders ecosystem. Built a new desktop computer recently, and had to spend more time searching for things that don't have RGB things in them, seems most components nowadays have some sort of RGB lights in them, even when it's completely not n…

I am not a big fan of LEDs in computers as I do not look at my computer (I already have 8 million individually addressable lights connected to my computer), but it seems that RGB can't be avoided these days. It adds pretty much no BOM cost and people like it, so there's probably nothing that can be done.

But! You can use OpenRGB to turn off the lights, so this article still may be relevant for you :)

Re: Open-source RGB lighting control for keyboards, fans, etc

#120
post #9

I found this last week and was really happy to come across it. I ditched Windows for my main desktop/gaming machine in 2020 partially because there are some fantastic open source projects that replace many of the Windows vendor-specific utilities that look like they were designed by teenagers in the 90s. https://github.com/libratbag/piper is another great example that handles mouse configuration.

Nice! If only that supported Corsair hardware (issue exists, not yet implemented) it'd solve an actual problem I have - years ago I configured my mouse buttons with some game-specific keycodes using the Windows software so I could throw fragmentation grenades and knife people more easily; years later on Linux I keep inadvertently typing 'f' like a seasoned Redditor.
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