My ideal UI

OK, so I have no actual experience but I am reading lots of guides and watching youtube vids etc, and I'm not sure I've found a UI I really like the look of.

How about this:

1. Give the head a series of very subtle (but countable) clicks - say every 10 degrees.
2. Add a 'detent' at, say, 300 degrees so you hit a positive resistance before you can actually remove the head
2. Assign virtually zero (eg 0.01) lumens to this position
3. Assign full output to the fully tightened (0deg) position
4. Assign infinitely variable output in between
5. Add some numbers around the head and a pointer on the body (or vice versa)

That way:
-Momentary on half-push at whatever brightness you like
-First full push of the clicky is constant output at selected brightness
-Subsequent half-clicks cycle through 'freak' modes (strobe/beacon/sos etc)
-Freak modes use any brightness level and can be adjusted on the fly
-If you want full power, just hit the switch with the head tight (reduce power if required by turning head anticlockwise)
-If you want low power, just hit the switch with the head 'undone' to the detent (increase power if required by turning head clockwise)
-If you want the last used level, just turn it on
-If you have certain favourite levels, just remember where they are on the dial

Any reason this would be impossible / undesirable?

What would your ideal UI be?

It's somewhat been done before, sans dedents in the SF titan and saint. I would like a variation of this UI, only with a momentary twisty. Harder you press, more light OTF. Flash rapidly for a few seconds to activate strobe, flash slowly 3 times to activate SOS.

I can just imagine this on an new A2l with high CRI P4 and TIR optics for the main beam. The flood transitioning to spot as you press the button down.

The selector ring + tail switch concept is already available on lights like the Surefire U2 and JetBeam Raptor. There are probably others that I am missing.

Sounds similar to the UI of the mythical Surefire UA2 and UB2 -- the lights that exist only in surefire catalogs.

Maybe Jetbeam will combine its infinitely variable UI with its newer selector ring UI.

The simpler the better for me.

For 2-mode (low hi) lights, the UI of the Surefire L2/LX2 is just about perfect. It's simple and fast to use and you always know what level the light will come on at without looking or having to remember. If they could implement this system without losing any efficiency, that would be perfect.

For a 3 or 4-mode light, the surefire U2 interface is ideal, only with fewer levels and distinct notches (stops) at each setting. Also the settings should be marked on the light. Sort of like the Jetbeam raptor rrt1 / 2 but without the "off" and "strobe" settings.

IMO a light should only have 3-4 levels at the most, no strobe, and no "moon mode". My 5 lumen Arc AAA is about as low as I would want from a light to still be useful. I don't like infinitely variable levels since you have no idea what the battery life will be. I guess few people can agree on what the ideal UI would be, which is why there are so many different types of UI out there.

I'm a fan of just 2-3 levels, selected by turning the head (or a ring) but with each level customizeable. Come to think of it I'm basically after an extension of the Quark tactical UI -- just needs one more level and clearer marks or detents for turning the head so I know at which level it'll come on.