Blacklighting of marquee/CP

[Brad Lee]

My CP is gonna be a wrap around, bottom header type, and Im considering putting either a regular white fluoro behind it, or a blacklight

Does anyone have suggestions on colors that show up great in front of a blacklight? I know white, so that will probably be the main logo to focus on, but it'll probably be red/orange/yellows as the background. I dont have ablacklight to test with(yet) so I dont wanna get something printed nicely, that looks good under normal light, but when blacklit it shows up muddy or all blurred together

Also, since it'll most likely be printed on either regular backlight material or adhesive vinyl(like a CP) will that make a difference since it's a white backed material- is the whole thing gonna glow, or will black ink still block out the light from behind?

[Minwah]

Dumb question but what is a backlight (in this app)?  I just thought everyone used flourescent tubes...

Anyway, it might be some interest to check the review of classicarcadegraphics (there is a thread about them on the main page) at www.retroblast.com.  Kev shows a MAME marquee which contains quite a lot of black - the black sections seem to block out the light very nicely.

I don't know much about what the marquee is printed on or how it is lit - I'll have to read the review properly...

[patrickl]

You want to light up your control panel from the inside? I doubt that could work since there would be cables and controls blocking the light. 1UP started a thread about backlighting his CP. There was a lot of talk about the UV light damaging the plastics.

[Brad Lee]

I mean exactly what you do, a flouresent tube BEHIND the marquee, lighting it from the back

take a look here    See how the CP has graphics on the front of it? THats exactly like a marquee, with a light behind it and all.. THats how MY cp will be, with the controls on top and then a graphic front that Id like to light up

I was thinking of a black light behind there but it's looking like unless you use flouresnt paints, it doesnt glow, except for white


Maybe I'll go with sound activated strobes.. that'd be cool  

[Brad Lee]

You want to light up your control panel from the inside? I doubt that could work since there would be cables and controls blocking the light. 1UP started a thread about backlighting his CP. There was a lot of talk about the UV light damaging the plastics.

For space, Ive got it real tidy underneath, Ill get some pics tonight, I havent gotten any updated ones recently heh
Ill read up that thread and see what he came up with

[patrickl]

Ah ok, the CP has a marquee built-in as well. I thought you wanted to light up the area in between the buttons. I have seen some CP's with translucent buttons and trackballs that were lit up.

If you want to use a blacklight to light up this thing then the best effect is with flourescent inks. Allthough I doubt you can get those in printed form.

[Minwah]

Ooops I read properly now, you said 'blacklight' not 'backlight'