LED Questions

[442much]

I'm using the LED ring method for lighting my buttons and I have a few questions. 

Are most people using 5mm? 

Does the viewing angle make much of a difference when mounting them sideways into the LED rings? 

Can anybody recommend where to buy the LEDs and resistors.

BTW -- If anybody is looking target has a good price on plain white cutting boards.  Two boards should be plenty for a two player cab.

[Rudi]

5mm is the size I've seen in most cases.

A wide angle is typically used so that you don't have bright/dark spots.  The wider the angle, the more evenly distributed the light will appear.

Where to get them?  I got mine from ebay.  Many of the auctioneers have ebay stores and sell various colors and types.

Rudi

[442much]

I was specifically wondering how much the angle mattered when the LEDs were used to light the LED rings around the buttons.  Basically, I was going to use 2 LEDs firing into the ring.  I definitely see how the angle mattered when the LEDs were mounted from beneath and pointed upwards.

[NickG]

I got 50 10,000 MCD white superbrights from this ebay store for cheap.

I bought one translucent white cutting board from a wal-mart.

I used two leds per button, in holes drilled straight through to the button.  I originally wished to use the cutting board for light diffusion.  I would have drilled the led receptacles only halfway into the material, so that the cutting board would have helped spread the light.  I can't remeber if the glow was bright enough that way. .The only other reason I drilled all the way through was because my cutting board was just one piece per player and I could not drill them that way.

Here are my results (blue fxbuttons):


I included this shot with the trackball so you can gauge the high contrast of my camera.  ITo the eye, the track ball and the buttons have a soft blue glow.  The trackball has just one centered white led and seems evenly lit from normal view.  Also you might note the rough edges on my middle button on the right.  This is the shadow of my laminate that bothers me but noone else seems to bother to notice.
If I build another lit panel I will use plexiglass over art instead of laminate, so that the entire ring of the button can be lit without shadows.


I this shot u can probably tell that my leds for eash of my trackball buttons are on each side; left and right.

They look beter in real life;  more similar to this photo:


For light angle the wider the better, it would seem.
Edit:  I could not find my light angle, my leds are 5mm.