What's your perfect UI?

[Fallingwater]

Low-high-off. Maybe a medium setting if the light is powerful enough that I might want something inbetween "good for reading" and "good for dazzling seagulls".
Anything else is useless to me, and I especially hate SOS and strobe mode.

 

[onthebeam]

I've used both a U2 and a VB-16 and find the VB-16 buttons on the side much easier and quicker to use than switching the U2.

Anyone care to weigh in on the Proton? I've never seen one but it's supposed to be similar to the VB-16 in how you control it.

 

[Long John]

I like the UI of the Flupic boards.:thumbsup:

I like the Fatman-driver from George, activated by the stock-D-Mag switch and 2-levels by Mac's tailcap-switch.:thumbsup:

I like the simplicity of the McE2s, press=low, press harder=high, twist=low, twist more=high:thumbsup:

I like the well constructed N-flex and Max-flex drivers.:thumbsup:

I like the full output by activating the Barbolights reliable Twisty:thumbsup:

So for me there is no perfect UI.

Simply good ones for different purposes

Best regards

____
Tom

 

[f22shift]

memory mode

 

[boosterboy]

U2 or Titan rheostat

 

[T4R06]

U2 and VB-16

 

[NeonLights]

For dual level lights I like the SF UI as it exists on my L1 and A2. Simple, perfect.

For single level lights I also prefer the SF UI, although I am divided between their clickie and twisty UI's.

 

[Anglepoise]

UI can make or break the enjoyment of a light.
Most manufacturers design what is cost effective and will keep the majority of their customers happy. Bad.

Member Georges80 , http://www.taskled.com/
has one of the best. No gimics and can be user configured to give the individual experience.

Only downside is the lack of lights available to purchase with his drivers.

Hopefully that will one day change.

 

[xiayi]

Photon Freedom!

 

[jsr]

I'd like the following:

1. Forward clicky for momentary.
2. Tighten head for momenary high only (no multi-levels).
3. Loosen head for multi-level via tailcap starting at low-high-strobe-SOS (I never need medium...I either need a lot of light, or just barely a little).

 

[karlthev]

Now I have indicated before that I EDC a SPY 005 because it is the best light for me and one of the best I have ever come upon. I am a big admirer of the (upcoming) NovaTac and the HDSs as well as the McLux PDs and I almost always EDC a modded Arc LS a true classic. If you want the most ergonomic design and one of the best UIs however, I have to lean to the Mr. Bulk series of LionHearts, Cubs and Chameleons---push button on the side, just like the old-timer lights! I like that, I'm an old-timer! Push the button and hold--the light gets brighter!! Push it again and hold and the light gets dimmer! Push and let go---light goes on and stays on. Push and let go one more time--the light goes off and stays off!!! Wow, wadaya think of that??!!! I still EDC my SPY 005 though--twist and bingo, the light goes from zero to 60 in nothing flat!!


Karl

 

[:)>]

I am gonna have to say an interface like the U2 is my favorite but I also really liked the Gladius' tail cap. I like being able to change levels with one hand.

 

[aceo07]

Without going too much like HDS... and keeping cycling, which I'm not a fan of..

I'd like:
Memory of last mode
Cycle of Ultra Low (less than 2lumen), Normal (10lumens), High (40-60lumens), Max
Restart cycle each time? So I don't need to go to Strobe or SoS unless I go through extra steps?

I'd definitely like memory or start at ultra low first.
I like the output levels to be designed so that it's not too close to each other. Having 40 lumens as a level and then 60 lumens seems like a waste of a level. They're pretty similar.

 

[musicalfruit]

The perfect UI is whatever I want.

So a programmable interface via USB would be ideal.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

For most uses the Photon Freedom UI would work for me -- I like the fact that the stuff I never use doesn't get in the way.

For all but the most demanding applications I've often thought that a two button UI (for up and down) would be handy.

 

[derfyled]

For most uses the Photon Freedom UI would work for me -- I like the fact that the stuff I never use doesn't get in the way.

Totally agree! I really like the ability to put it on maximum or minimum from the "off" state, all with a single button.

 

[Al_Havemann]

For the most part, just two modes, Low & High, with low about 12-15 lumens. No strobe, blinky, SOS or any of the other gimmick modes.

I have a lot of lights, many with 3,4,5 different modes (or more in the case of my Liteflux). The only multi-mode light I use at all is the Fenix L0D CE.

Most of the multi-modes are more aggravating than useful, always doing something I don't want at exactly the wrong time. Last week I was trying to help a girl find a dropped earing so I pulled out my L0D. I wanted Turbo mode (of course), but the comedy routine went more like this:

<twist on>, yup, Medium, <twist>, OK, low, <twist>, this should be turbo but I must have overshot because it's strobing instead, <twist>, now it's blinking (red face), <twist>, back to medium, <twist> yeah - low again, <twist>, All right!, finally Turbo mode (meanwhile the girl's cracking up).

<Sigh!>, yeah, I know, it's not the lights fault I overshot, but still, I like simplicity.

I carry an Arc AAA-P as a pocket light (2nd gen.) just because so tiny and simple to use. I have a Fenix L0D CE with a 4-pack of 10440s' always in my bag for a power light. Except for the L0D CE all the rest of the multi-mode lights I have never get used at all. The Liteflux is pretty good once you master the programming, but the programming is awkward and has limits, it's also a very specialized product for a very narrow customer base, not the average user or mass market.

I wouldn't mind a multi-mode light if it had a full rotary twist head with 4 click stops, Low, Medium, High, Off. Full rotary means you would could go backwards as well as forwards, and so you could use just the modes you need without having to cycle through all the modes every time.

My personal preference is not to have a tail switch since it increases the overall length, but if you could screw on an optional tail switch, that would allow you to leave the bezel to your preferred output level. That I'd like.

Al

 

[Luminescent]

The best switch for me by far would be simple multi-step twisty with nice solid progressive rotation detents about 60 degrees apart for OFF, LOW, MED, HIGH, STROBE, SOS (with optical switching to insure good reliability).

Unfortunatly, most multi-mode lights available now are sequential with single pole clicky or twisty switches.

For these multi-mode lights which use twisty or clicky switch cycles to sequence between modes, I think that the sequence should be user selectable, but if I had to pick a single mode sequence it would be:

MED, LOW, HIGH, STROBE, SOS

(This is the sequence used by lights like the Jetbeam C-LE and Fenix L0D-CE)

I know some seem to also like a simple LOW, MED, HIGH sequence on these cyclic lights, but for this type of light I hate this sequence, because sometimes these lights miss a switch or skip a mode, and with changes in ambient light, it then becomes very difficult to reliably tell sometimes what output level you really have selected. So you could be in high when you think you are in medium. If you were changing a tire at night for example, this could be a disaster if your runtime was much shorter than you were expecting and your light gave out before the job was done.

With the MED, LOW, HIGH sequence on the other hand, the brightness change sequence is very distinct and lends itself well to unambiguously identifying each mode change, and detecting when a mode has been skipped (guess that's why Fenix and Jetbeam do it that way).

I realize that reasonable folks will disagree when it comes to what the best sequence is, so the best thing by far would be to make the mode sequence user programmable.

Unfortunately, that complicates things even a bit more, because now we have to have a UI to select the UI!

Here is how I would do it . . .

To select the mode programming mode, the user fast cycles the switch 5 times to send the light into mode programming mode.

Light responds with 5 quick flashes

Then you would cycle the switch quickly the number of times corresponding to the mode table number for the mode sequence you want (simple as that).

The light will occasionally miscount, so to confirm the mode, the mode number will be flashed back to the user. To make the flashes easier to count we use a 2000 year old trick from the Romans, and group the flashes into groups of five (Like Roman Numerals).

For example mode 8 would be

FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH (5 flashes)
pause 1 second
FLASH, FLASH, FLASH (three flashes)
pause 2 seconds
Then the light would demo mode 8 by sequencing through it.

Mode 14 would be
FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH (five flashes)
pause 1 second
FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH (five flashes)
pause 1 second
FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH (four flashes)
pause 2 second
Demo mode 14 by sequencing through it.

The table of available mode sequences would look something like this:

01. MED, LOW, HIGH, STROBE, SOS (Jetbeam C-LE and Fenix L0D default)
02. HIGH, LOW, MED, STROBE, SOS
03. LOW, MED, HIGH, STROBE, SOS
04. HIGH, MED, LOW, STROBE, SOS
05. MED, LOW, HIGH, STROBE
06. HIGH, LOW, MED, STROBE
07. LOW, MED, HIGH, STROBE
08. HIGH, MED, LOW, STROBE
09. MED, LOW, HIGH, SOS
10. HIGH, LOW, MED, SOS
11. LOW, MED, HIGH, SOS
12. HIGH, MED, LOW, SOS
13. LOW, HIGH
14. LOW, MED
15. MED, HIGH

Of course programming the desired mode sequence would be a pain without the book, but with the demo readout at the end of each selection, and only 15 sequences to pick from, you would hit it eventually.

I would think that you normally would not be changing mode sequences once you found one you liked, and if you did have two that you found useful, you would quickly memorize the numbers associated with them.

 

[kiely23+]

Spy005 or Bulk´s LionCube...

 

[iapyx]

I have the choice between one:
The U2, because I own one.