Christmas lighting 2020

[Dave_H]

Just thought to start a thread on lighting, including what's new out there.

I notice a proliferation of more expensive, elaborate lighting including lighted figures (e.g. wire-frame
reindeer, Santa etc.) and lighted trees, not really new; and projectors either of coloured dots/patterns (laser
or LED) or actual short seasonal video clips which can be projected on a translucent window blind or a wall
(mine includes Hallowe'en).

As far as basic lights themselves I see bigger choice of colour combos such as green/red/white etc.
I tend towards the simpler and lower cost.

I still have the first string of 35 LED Christmas lights bought the better part of two decades ago ($8)
and it's still in use.

As of now, some large stores have sold out (or nearly) of regular LED light strings, earlier than
usual. I wonder if it is a supply-side issue and/or high demand (both possibly related to COVID); maybe
some sort of "run" on them?


Dave

 

[Dave_H]

OK, everybody hopefully enjoying all their Christmas lighting, but not saying a whole lot...

People are tending to leave outdoor lights up longer, especially with low power consumption
of LEDs plus we could use a bit of a boost with winter and COVID situation (back into a "lockdown"
here). Also, Christmas lights are getting more use as patio lights year-round, typically white but have
seen some multi-colour left up all year.

A few years ago I picked up Tree Dazzler which is pretty impressive. I've seen them in-store as
recently as last year, but not this year. Consists of 8 strings of 8 balls, each with RGB LED, designed
to hang down from the top of a tree. In-line controller selects steady colours or flash/fade/change
effects. Whole thing runs from 12v wall adapter. Does anyone have one, or have seen them this year?

After-Christmas in-store deals on LED items where I've sometimes found up to 75% (or more) off have not
happened this year due to apparent early runout of inventory before Christmas

Dave

 

[Katherine Alicia]

I`m really glad to see the use of more Warm white LEDs this year, we have nearly 2000 lights on our tree all in warm white and it`s Sooooo much nicer than cool white ones.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I had to look up Tree Dazzler and I like this. I've always felt that LED Christmas lights, while very beautiful with their highly saturated colors, suffer from the problem of being a tiny point source of light. There's something about putting them in a translucent globe that adds a softness and warmth to the look.

I haven't seen anything new in stores this year. I'm hoping to someday see an LED string with bright enough LEDs to push through a large diffusing lens (similar to the tree dazzler) that will be comparable in brightness to the old school C9 incandescent lights.

There's one home in our area that has one of those animated, synchronized-to-FM-music Christmas displays that's visible from space. :laughing:

 

[Dave_H]

I had to look up Tree Dazzler and I like this. I've always felt that LED Christmas lights, while very beautiful with their highly saturated colors, suffer from the problem of being a tiny point source of light. There's something about putting them in a translucent globe that adds a softness and warmth to the look.

RGB LED in each ball is mounted on small PCB so visibility is largely hemispheric, except for
some dispersion around the back through the plastic, but far from uniform. It's designed to hang down
with LEDs facing outwards from tree. Mine right now is in a tangled ball on the floor...

One RGB LED observed up close has multiple small LED dice per colour, making them
less of a point source, more a "small-area" source, which helps optical mixing. Others appear
to use single or dual dice per colour.

Dave

 

[Dave_H]

I`m really glad to see the use of more Warm white LEDs this year, we have nearly 2000 lights on our tree all in warm white and it`s Sooooo much nicer than cool white ones.

Must be a fair-size tree with so many LEDs! Some outdoors as high as 40-50 feet decked out
in lights can be quite a sight. Wandering around at night viewing outdoor displays, some are
quite spectacular; and good exercise (here with gyms closed for at least another 4 weeks).

I don't use whites very much but agree at least inside the warmer look is more comfortable;
cool white better outside in the snow (!)?

Dave

Totally off-topic: Victoria Hesketh also known as Little Boots has re-written lyrics to her song
Remedy, to create "Corona Remedy" with many references to current situation...informal
and amusing...on YouTube.

(Well, maybe not completely OT. Little Boots uses a kind on compact synthesizer/rhythm generator
called Tenori-on which has a matrix of LEDs on the back, which flashes some patterns during
operation, and can display simple text but not very high resolution).

 

[stoffy]

I recommend purchasing table lamps. I bought myself at https://www.wood-presents.com/ loft style, very cool and smells delicious