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SpectraLite vs. Ultralux vs. Paradise Arcade Illuminated Buttons
Donkbaca:
I used the paradise arcade buttons in mine, they light up well with no hotspots. For my inserts I just printed the design on a laser printer with good old regular paper, traced the diffuser and carefully cut out the design using sharp scissors. You can see them in my build thread in my sig
RandyT:
--- Quote from: markronz on June 29, 2011, 04:21:52 pm ---I happen to have a blue SpectraLite and a blue Ultralux button here. So my disclaimer is that I only have the color blue available to me. I have not tested other colors. But I believe that despite having only compared this one color, I can give some honest feedback regarding these two products.
--- End quote ---
There are a number of items which need commenting upon in this feedback, as some of the conclusions are not entirely accurate. So I'll do my best.
--- Quote ---The SpectraLite DOES come with a stock LED. This LED is a 12v LED.
--- End quote ---
It's not well known, but these LED's also work very nicely at 5v, albeit not as intensely (website updated to reflect this). Based on some of the commentary here, this may be just what you are after. Also, running it at only 5v will likely give it an incredible lifespan.
--- Quote ---The SpectraLite appears to be a little bit "murky" if you will.
...snip...
Now, I thought it only fair when testing the two buttons to use the same LED in each of them, so that the side by side photos would be equal. So in the pictures below I am using the Ultralux 5v LED in BOTH buttons. You can see that there is some color difference here as well. The SpectraLite button, on the right, appears to be brighter. The Ultralux button, on the left, is still bright, and the quality of the plastic looks a little more clear. Which makes the button look a little cleaner and more crisp.
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You probably shouldn't try to use the same LED in both buttons. That probably makes it more unfair than fair. If you look at the overall length of the buttons, you'll see that the Spectralite is shorter. If you install the lighting into the body of the button, you'll also notice that the LED in the Spectralite button sits much higher. Light works on the inverse square law, which states that a light half the distance away is 4 times brighter. You can see that this is roughly the situation here. Again, if you don't like the extra brightness, 5v would be the way to go. Keep in mind two other things as well; 1) slight "murkiness" aids in diffusion of the light and can be a desirable trait. This is probably partially responsible for the more even lighting across the bezel on the Spectralite. And, 2) brighter lighting is beneficial when used with inserts, especially when the material used is something like normal paper.
--- Quote ---The next thing you will notice, which is visible in this next picture, is how the light from the LED is diffused through the two buttons. The Ultralux on the left has the light dispersed really evenly, giving it that same clean, crisp look. The Spectralite, on the right has a pretty apparent circle of light showing in the middle. This is not the camera playing tricks on us, it looks that way to the naked eye as well.
Both buttons do have a diffuser disc in the top of the button. It just seems that one of them does a better job spreading the light out than the other.
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Again, the distance is different, so the comparison is not valid. If the distance between the LED on the Spectralite is half that of the other button (I believe it is actually less than half in this case) then 4 times the amount of light is striking the diffuser on the Spectralite button. As one can imagine, this would have an effect.
--- Quote ---I thought it was only fair to at least show one shot of the SpectraLite button lit up with it's stock 12v LED, so here it is. It seems to have a much more direct one light dot in the middle. This, I believe, just comes from the style of light bulb it is. It's a smaller LED, whereas the one from Ultimarc has a much wider bulb on it. The provided 12v LED appears to have some level of success getting rid of the distinct circle of light, however it replaces it with that more direct light in the very center.
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This is a camera artifact. The buttons do not look this way in use. The camera CCD becomes saturated, thanks to improper exposure settings, and goes to max at a certain level of light output. This is why the spot appears white, instead of blue, which would be impossible for a blue LED to do.
--- Quote ---I will not comment on the switches provided with the two buttons, as I am no expert on that sort of thing. They both feel fine to me. I believe both sites probably offer different options available for switches anyway.
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This is, however, an important consideration, unless one is purchasing "lights" with the button functionality being of secondary importance. Most won't approach the situation in that manner. Both styles of buttons are considerably stiffer than the normal concave arcade buttons, so switches are important. The Spectralites come standard with our "Soft Touch" switches, which improves the feel of them considerably. If one needs to purchase these separately, to get the same feel on other buttons, that cost also needs to be taken into account.
I'd also like to address the "no printed inserts" situation as it applies to the Spectralites. I planned to do this, but these buttons really work well for the DIY'er in that regard, especially with the amount of light they are capable of applying to the insert. I can't possibly keep a library of all of the different designs folks will likely want, and they are so simple (with these buttons) for the user to customize themselves. Blind_dado has the right idea, but cutting them out is even simpler than using a compass. Here's how to do it.....
Using your favorite drawing program, make a fine outline of a circle about .850" in diameter.
Put your artwork in the center of the circle, being mindful to leave a some space from the edges.
Print your design on whatever paper you want, so long as you can hold it up to a light and see a desired amount pass through, and it goes through your printer without a problem. The more dense the print, the better.
After your design is printed, take the diffuser disc from one of the buttons and put it face down on your printed design. It should be very easy to center it by eye, as the template circle is larger.
Then, while applying pressure to the disc, carefully cut around the diffuser disc with a hobby knife or razor blade. This should give you a perfectly centered design on a disc that is both cleanly round and just the right size for the button.
Insert into the button, snap on the plastic cap and admire your creativity ;).
RandyT
Donkbaca:
I agree with Randy, just print your own.
markronz:
I won't spend the time trying to argue with any of your points. I was merely giving my amateur opinions comparing the two buttons side by side.
I hear your points with the LEDs and everything. I struggling with trying to figure out how to fairly compare the two. So I apologize that I had chosen wrong. However, when I hold the two buttons next to each other, they do appear to be the same lengths to me. Also, when I hold the light holders + LEDs next to each other, they also appear to be very similar in lengths. So I really don't think there's that much of a difference there. But irregardless, you are right, I should probably have used the stock LEDs to do the comparisons. I don't have the time at the moment to redo this. But as you can see I did do use the stock LED at one point. You can make the claim that my camera did have some affect on what the picture looked like. However, my naked eye picked up on the same type of lighting I've described. So while it may look worse in the pictures, than in real life, the main point is still true. For my money, when you compare the Ultralux with stock LED vs the SpectraLite with stock LED, the Ultralux spreads the light more evenly, and the plastic used appears more clear, crisp and vibrant colored. So if you want to discount the rest of my comparisons, that one point is still true, in my opinion, when I compare them side by side. Perhaps trying the SpectraLite stock LED at 5v would yield better results.
Your method for cutting the buttons, while it seems like the obvious way to do it, is actually harder than it sounds. That's precisely what I tried to do on my first attempt. You just have to make the cuts very concise around the circle. If you take multiple swipes at it with the hobby knife, you can see those slight spots where you stopped and started cutting. Ideally you would want to make one single cut all the way around the circle, but that's just not easy to do. So I myself would prefer the hole punch or compass method mentioned here. But to each their own. Maybe everyone is better at making cleaner cuts than I am. All I know is that when I tried it, I could see the ragged edges around the edges, while the insert was in the button. But anyway, the main point is that, yes, it's easy to make your own inserts. I don't personally feel it's necessary for your store to offer inserts. People can make their own, and can use whatever they want. That's why I like these buttons so much.
Well anyway Randy, I hope you know that I wasn't intentionally trashing your products, or trying to do any sort of unfair comparisons here. I've always loved all the products you offer, and I even like the Spectralites. As I said in my original review, there's nothing wrong with the buttons, they work fine, and are acceptable. If you're willing to spend the extra money (which is a fair amount of money actually) then I personally prefer the Ultralux ones. Anyone else is free to buy the two and compare them themselves. This is just my opinion.
RandyT:
--- Quote from: markronz on July 01, 2011, 04:32:21 pm ---However, when I hold the two buttons next to each other, they do appear to be the same lengths to me. Also, when I hold the light holders + LEDs next to each other, they also appear to be very similar in lengths.
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I haven't taken anything as a slam, but it is important to understand why things are as they are. The SpectraLites are definitely shorter. However, this is not what is actually important. What is important, is the distance between the emitter and the diffuser. The only way to know this is to remove the caps and diffusers from the plunger and measure the distance to the LED's. It will be very apparent when you check this way.
The reason you are seeing what you see is because the SpectraLite is putting much more light on the diffuser. This is actually a good thing if one intends to use legends in them, which is really what they are designed for. Our ChromaLite buttons are of the same design as the one you are comparing the SpectraLites to. In testing, the SpectraLites outperform the ChromaLites in lighting efficiency, using the same light at the same voltage. This is due to the distance difference. The SpectraLites can actually be used at 3vDC, whereas the ChromaLites need 5vDC for the same output levels. In the end, they are simply two different designs, each with their own strengths.
RandyT
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