Author Topic: New Product: NovaMatrix™ LED Marquee Light - GroovyGameGear (Read 22183 times)

RandyT · « **on:** July 28, 2007, 03:29:54 am »

Now shipping...

This one was born out of pure frustration. The original marquee light sockets and wiring in my cabinet were shot, so I needed a replacement. Just as well, as the tubes weren't inexpensive nor especially easy to find. That cheap fluorescent fixture at the home store seemed like a great idea at the time. Sure it was pain to install; bulky plastic case, fat 110v cord and plug needed to be fed around components in the cabinet and a vacant spot on the power strip was required. But the work was done and everything was fine....until a few months later when the thing just died. I don't know why, maybe because I leave it on all of the time or maybe due to the heat that builds up in that small area, but nonetheless, it no longer worked. So I bought another and went through the same tiresome steps of installing it. Just a few short months later, the tube blew. Figuring this was the weak link, I considered buying a quality tube. It would cost only a dollar less than a new fixture with a tube included. But I bought it anyway, hoping for the best...3 months later the new fixture started blinking like it had gone insane and wouldn't stop until I finally pulled the plug. Months passed. I could no longer endure the dead stare of the dark marquee....something needed to be done.

Enter the NovaMatrix™ LED Marquee Light.

Features:

Incredibly Bright - Each unit includes 16 intensely high output, wide-angle, "cool white" LEDs.
Low Voltage - 12v operation means that the marquee light may be connected directly to your PC power supply for simple "auto-on" operation .
Long Life - LEDs are rated at up to 100,000 hours of "on" time. That's up to 10 years longer than conventional lighting!
Low Operating Costs - Reduce your carbon footprint by 1/1500 and stave off the end of the world by several milliseconds for every fluorescent you replace!*
Small and Lightweight - 11.5" x .5" Can be mounted just about anywhere and on almost any surface. Optimal distance from marquee is 6" to 14".
Includes a 6" power cable with connector for attaching to unit, screws and plastic standoffs.

Price: $17.95

....

This should give some idea as to how versatile the NovaMatrix is. It's actually screwed to the plastic cases of the amplified speakers in the marquee area of the cabinet.
.

* Disclaimer: The NovaMatrix™ may not actually stave off the end of the world by the time specified, but you probably won't know one way or the other.

Xiaou2 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2007, 06:35:00 am »

Usually Im not to big on LED lighting for certain things because the
light is too focused. However, the pics look very good. LED tech
must be getting a lot better.

Great solution, Great job

Crowquill · « **Reply #2 on:** July 28, 2007, 07:06:15 am »

Awesome idea!

Is there any way to dim down the light? Having some control over the brightness could be another advantage over fluorescents.

fatfingers · « **Reply #3 on:** July 28, 2007, 08:38:50 am »

This is super cool. I have looked on the web and found similar solutions but I'm hoping yours will be cheaper!!!!

jfunk · « **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2007, 08:49:34 am »

It's ALMOST what I'm looking for

The "optimal distance" thing is what kills me.. I've got a bunch of old marquees I want to light, but I want to make a "thin" display.. And I'd love to chain them together to reduce wire clutter...

Anyways, my wish list.. But yours is DEFINITELY tempting to try...

fatfingers · « **Reply #5 on:** July 28, 2007, 10:01:20 am »

Quote from: jfunk on July 28, 2007, 08:49:34 am

It's ALMOST what I'm looking for The "optimal distance" thing is what kills me.. I've got a bunch of old marquees I want to light, but I want to make a "thin" display.. And I'd love to chain them together to reduce wire clutter...

Anyways, my wish list.. But yours is DEFINITELY tempting to try...

Yes, I hear you jfunk. That is also on my wish list.

notaburger · « **Reply #6 on:** July 28, 2007, 10:03:35 am »

i'm sure you could use a potentiometer to control the power to the bar
the lower the power, the lower the brightness
one would imagine that the lights are hooked up in a way (if i'm not having a mental lapse, i believe this would be in parallel) that it should dim all the lights and not just part of bar

just a thought

BORIStheBLADE · « **Reply #7 on:** July 28, 2007, 10:35:41 am »

Good idea. I think I'll be getting one of those for my build.

Jouster · « **Reply #8 on:** July 28, 2007, 10:56:47 am »

I'm currently using some LEDs to light my marquee...if only your lights would have blown out sooner! This would have saved me some serious time! This goes on my list for the next cab.

Jouster

RandyT · « **Reply #9 on:** July 28, 2007, 11:57:53 am »

Quote from: Xiaou2 on July 28, 2007, 06:35:00 am

LED tech must be getting a lot better.

Great solution, Great job

Thanks. And yes, LEDs really seem to be entering the realm of real lighting. The technology appears to be approaching that critical point where high brightness and low cost are becoming a reality.

Quote from: Crowquill on July 28, 2007, 07:06:15 am

Is there any way to dim down the light? Having some control over the brightness could be another advantage over fluorescents.

For an average arcade cabinet, I don't think dimming will be necessary. To me, it's not too bright nor is it too dim, but that will vary based on the position of the lights and personal preference. That being said, you could actually hook this unit to an LED-Wiz and make it flash, pulsate, dim, whatever. There are some special wiring instructions for those who want to use an LED-Wiz with other than 5v devices (such as these.) Those who are interested in such things will need to contact me for more information.

A properly rated potentiometer should work for a dimmer as well.

Quote from: fatfingers on July 28, 2007, 08:38:50 am

This is super cool. I have looked on the web and found similar solutions but I'm hoping yours will be cheaper!!!!

Based on my research, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. At anywhere near this price point I could find only solutions which performed half as well.

Quote from: jfunk on July 28, 2007, 08:49:34 am

It's ALMOST what I'm looking for The "optimal distance" thing is what kills me.. I've got a bunch of old marquees I want to light, but I want to make a "thin" display.. And I'd love to chain them together to reduce wire clutter...

Anyways, my wish list.. But yours is DEFINITELY tempting to try...

I would give it a shot. With about an inch of space between the marquee and a piece of white material (lightly sanded white masonite, painted board, shelf paper, etc..), you should be able to place the unit at either the top or bottom and get the marquee to illuminate. To avoid the hot-spot at the edge, I would angle the unit away from the marquee at about 45 degrees. To prevent the possibility of a shadow, I would make the box about an inch deeper than the height of the marquee and place the NovaMatrix in that area. No guarantees, but you might be surprised by the result.

RandyT

Avrus · « **Reply #10 on:** July 28, 2007, 01:28:11 pm »

N/m, realized the 'shipping on tuesday' part.

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #11 on:** July 28, 2007, 04:09:56 pm »

Quote from: jfunk on July 28, 2007, 08:49:34 am

The "optimal distance" thing is what kills me.. I've got a bunch of old marquees I want to light, but I want to make a "thin" display..

You could place a piece of sanded plexi closer to the light source to diffuse it quite a bit... Worth a shot, it helped me with some of my lighting projects..

rockin_rick · « **Reply #12 on:** July 28, 2007, 07:23:20 pm »

Randy,

Could you post a pic of your marquee replaced with a piece of opaque white plexi and specify the distance from the marquee so that we can get a realistic idea of the quality of the light distribution? Your lit marquee in the pic of your first post makes the sides look dim. Is this the marquee artwork, or the light distribution? What is the distance from light to marquee in that pic? It appears to be mounted on the back panel of the cabinet?

Quote from: RandyT on July 28, 2007, 11:57:53 am

A properly rated potentiometer should work for a dimmer as well.

What would the rating of that be? Or, what are the ratings of the light strip so that one could calculate the proper rating?

Cool product!

Thanks,
Rick

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #13 on:** July 28, 2007, 08:57:50 pm »

VERY cool ... wow!

my neighbor gave me an old tube fixture (all metal! looks like it's from the 50's... and it may be!) which seems like it's going to work OK - my marquee is not printed or installed yet)

BUT

If it fails on me one day and needs replacement, I'll make sure to look into ordering this new solution.

Keep up the good work!

RandyT · « **Reply #14 on:** July 28, 2007, 09:45:26 pm »

Quote from: rockin_rick on July 28, 2007, 07:23:20 pm

Could you post a pic of your marquee replaced with a piece of opaque white plexi and specify the distance from the marquee so that we can get a realistic idea of the quality of the light distribution?

I don't have a piece of white plexi available to do this. Even if I did, photographing what would essentially be a diffused light is so difficult that the result would probably not be particularly meaningful. Likewise, the pictures above really don't do justice to the end result.

Quote

Your lit marquee in the pic of your first post makes the sides look dim. Is this the marquee artwork, or the light distribution?

I'm not sure if you noticed, but just in case, you can get a little larger image by clicking it. If you look at the upper left section of my marquee, you'll see where the shadow from the interior marquee frame has a gap and where the light is being cast into that far corner. Even with a fairly bright light on in the room, I can still see that shadow of the frame, so it is well illuminated.

What you are seeing is a lot of the artwork and a little of the light distribution. The background at the edges is a shade lighter than that which is behind the O and C in the middle. The Red on the ends is also a much darker shade than the rest of the colors in the text. The skewed rectangular frame is a gradient, which gets darker at the upper right and lower left of the frame.

Quote

What is the distance from light to marquee in that pic? It appears to be mounted on the back panel of the cabinet?

No, it's mounted directly to the sides of some downward facing amplified speakers. The lights are about 6" away from the back face of the marquee.

There are 16 LEDs on each board, spaced about .65" apart on centers. The cone for each LED is about 110 degrees. With these pieces of data, you should be able to calculate relative light density and distribution

Quote

Quote from: RandyT on July 28, 2007, 11:57:53 am

A properly rated potentiometer should work for a dimmer as well.
What would the rating of that be? Or, what are the ratings of the light strip so that one could calculate the proper rating?

Unless you use two units together in one cabinet, I doubt that a potentiometer will be necessary. Each unit draws about 370ma, so 5 watts should be sufficient. But, whatever one decides to do there is ultimately up to them. I take no responsibility if the potentiometer one decides to use melts or catches fire.

RandyT

Kaytrim · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2007, 01:25:28 pm »

Man go away for the weekend and see what I miss. Similar to what I did for Dad's Bartop only much nicer.

Quote from: RandyT on July 28, 2007, 09:45:26 pm

Quote from: rockin_rick on July 28, 2007, 07:23:20 pm
Could you post a pic of your marquee replaced with a piece of opaque white plexi and specify the distance from the marquee so that we can get a realistic idea of the quality of the light distribution?

I don't have a piece of white plexi available to do this. Even if I did, photographing what would essentially be a diffused light is so difficult that the result would probably not be particularly meaningful. Likewise, the pictures above really don't do justice to the end result.

This is easy to do. Just take a piece of clear plexi and use 80grit paper on an orbital sander. Sand both sides of the plexi and whala, an excellent light defuser. (again Dad's Bartop) Randy is right though about photographing LED lights or any lit object. Very difficult to get the full effect.

TTFN

Kaytrim

fjl · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2007, 04:06:47 pm »

SOLD!

Havok · « **Reply #17 on:** July 30, 2007, 04:31:32 pm »

Avrus · « **Reply #18 on:** July 31, 2007, 02:18:24 am »

Put it up so I can order a couple already!

ahofle · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2007, 11:10:39 am »

Now I can't wait for my fluorescent to burn out.

fatfingers · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:05:25 pm »

Quote from: Avrus on July 31, 2007, 02:18:24 am

Put it up so I can order a couple already!

They're up!

RandyT · « **Reply #21 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:06:25 pm »

Quote from: ahofle on July 31, 2007, 11:10:39 am

Now I can't wait for my fluorescent to burn out.

Based on my experiences, it will be any moment now

Quote from: Avrus on July 31, 2007, 02:18:24 am

Put it up so I can order a couple already!

Come get some.

RandyT

Avrus · « **Reply #22 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:39:57 pm »

Quote from: RandyT on July 31, 2007, 12:06:25 pm

Quote from: ahofle on July 31, 2007, 11:10:39 am
Now I can't wait for my fluorescent to burn out.

Based on my experiences, it will be any moment now

Quote from: Avrus on July 31, 2007, 02:18:24 am
Put it up so I can order a couple already!

Come get some.

RandyT

Trigger pulled on a red Omnistick and a pair of LED Marquee lights. Now the waiting...

ElfShotTheFood · « **Reply #23 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:17:48 pm »

i am almost a little bit leery about ordering from ggg anymore, as soon as i order something he comes out with another awesome product a few days later.

I'm probably going to have to get one of these for my dkjr cab, i think i remember reading about the Nintendo cabs having some weird marquee lights that are hard to replace.

Kaytrim · « **Reply #24 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:29:51 pm »

Quote from: ElfShotTheFood on July 31, 2007, 01:17:48 pm

i am almost a little bit leery about ordering from ggg anymore, as soon as i order something he comes out with another awesome product a few days later.

And this is a problem?

Let the innovation continue.

DarkBubble · « **Reply #25 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:31:29 pm »

Quote from: Kaytrim on July 31, 2007, 01:29:51 pm

Quote from: ElfShotTheFood on July 31, 2007, 01:17:48 pm
i am almost a little bit leery about ordering from ggg anymore, as soon as i order something he comes out with another awesome product a few days later.

And this is a problem? Let the innovation continue.

Hell, this is the reason I'm glad I've not been able to (and procrastinated about) getting started. The longer I wait, the more options there are and the lower the price is. My cab still has the original fixture and ballast, but I don't want to replace the 25-year old wiring and hope that it doesn't set my house on fire. I was going to get a cheapo fluorescant fixture and stick it in there, but this looks much better.

Now, if only he could get marquee-sized LCD screens for use as a second monitor to display the marquee of the game you're playing...I know it's not cost-effective, but with the stuff that you keep putting out, Randy, I know that this has had to have crossed your mind.

PsychoAU · « **Reply #26 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:45:28 pm »

Quote from: DarkBubble on July 31, 2007, 05:31:29 pm

Now, if only he could get marquee-sized LCD screens for use as a second monitor to display the marquee of the game you're playing...I know it's not cost-effective, but with the stuff that you keep putting out, Randy, I know that this has had to have crossed your mind.

Now that would be totally worth spending a couple hundred bucks on. It could have boot up animations could even display the score on the bottom of the image while you are playing. Then you could use for the PinMAME screen on pinball games. That would be sweet.

RandyT · « **Reply #27 on:** August 01, 2007, 12:45:48 am »

Quote from: DarkBubble on July 31, 2007, 05:31:29 pm

Now, if only he could get marquee-sized LCD screens for use as a second monitor to display the marquee of the game you're playing...I know it's not cost-effective, but with the stuff that you keep putting out, Randy, I know that this has had to have crossed your mind.

This is off-topic, but I had to say something

....It's just not feasible to offer something like this, but I've brought up the LCD Marquee in the past, and finally took the first step. The local Kmart had a closeout 23" widescreen LCD TV / VGA Monitor that ended up being $210 after all the discounts. While it doesn't span the full distance across my cab (misses by about 2" on each side,) it will still make for an excellent marquee, and the smaller size means it won't extend so high above. Just as a test, I threw together a little program which displays a marquee image on the second screen and it looks great. The next step is to de-case it and build it into the cabinet...As I make progress on this down the road, I'll post it to a different thread.

RandyT

johnperkins21 · « **Reply #28 on:** August 01, 2007, 07:16:21 pm »

Quote from: jfunk on July 28, 2007, 08:49:34 am

It's ALMOST what I'm looking for The "optimal distance" thing is what kills me.. I've got a bunch of old marquees I want to light, but I want to make a "thin" display.. And I'd love to chain them together to reduce wire clutter...

Anyways, my wish list.. But yours is DEFINITELY tempting to try...

Not sure if this would work or not, but wouldn't you get a pretty good result by using mirrors? I'm thinking you could point the LED Marquee light towards the back, then have two mirrors pointing down at a 45 degree angle to start diffusing the light, then have a mirror on the top and bottom of your marquee box. This should illuminate the entire box and not take up too much room. Just a suggestion.

Here's a side view of the idea at work:

vrf · « **Reply #29 on:** August 02, 2007, 05:33:44 am »

I've been looking at LED solutions for my micro-cab, but this looks like a nice pre-made option. Unfortunately, my marquee area is only 9.5" wide.

Any way clip off a couple of inches? I don't mind losing a couple of the bulbs...

Great product, by the way!

Neilyboy · « **Reply #30 on:** August 02, 2007, 08:29:18 am »

oh damn!! im going to have to get one of these bad boys!! well two actually.. one for my DK cab and one for my mame build!! thanks so much Randy! you are the man!!

ok so i did it haha.. 2 of them and some quick disconnects thanks a ton randy
"Your Order Number is: 4204"

this can run off of any 12 power supply I assume. i am restoring a DK cab and figured I would do the restore much like markvp did in the project announcements thread. I will be using a happ power supply. Like Markvp did here->
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51522.0

Neil

Avrus · « **Reply #31 on:** August 14, 2007, 02:10:30 pm »

Mine arrived yesterday. Smaller than what I expected but wow, do these puppies every light up. Randy wasn't kidding, the pictures don't do them justice.

Santoro · « **Reply #32 on:** August 14, 2007, 05:52:46 pm »

Randy, I gotta give you credit, you have a great mind for designing products the hobby needs. Such a simple but great idea.

If I ever get around to building the "Kneivel Woody" (ew) clone I've been mulling, this is what I'll be using for the Marquee.

TheDriver · « **Reply #33 on:** August 15, 2007, 12:52:27 pm »

I agree with the above comments, just installed mine after it arrived yesterday and I am
very happy & impressed with the results.

Quote

Mine arrived yesterday. Smaller than what I expected but wow, do these puppies every light up. Randy wasn't kidding, the pictures don't do them justice.

That went through my head also, could'nt believe the size of the strip when I seen it!!!

Regards.

*pic's soon to be posted.

BobA · « **Reply #34 on:** August 15, 2007, 07:11:08 pm »

Got mine and it works great. Used it in a shadowbox for a marquee that only had about 1.5 inches of backspace. Pointed it down and used foil to help distribute the light. Works great and does not get hot liike the lightrope that I tried to use previously.

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #35 on:** August 15, 2007, 07:36:11 pm »

Awww I think I may just order one of these!!! Randy look at what you've done!

... I really like the fact that it doesn't get hot, and that there is no lightbulb to change.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #36 on:** August 15, 2007, 08:42:52 pm »

So one of these is enough to light a typical marquee evenly? Trying to decide if I need two for my super big 11" tall marquee or if I'll need more.

csa3d · « **Reply #37 on:** August 15, 2007, 10:43:58 pm »

Quote from: Avrus on August 14, 2007, 02:10:30 pm

Mine arrived yesterday. Smaller than what I expected but wow, do these puppies every light up. Randy wasn't kidding, the pictures don't do them justice.

Out of curiosity, what are the dimensions of this thing?

-csa

fatfingers · « **Reply #38 on:** August 16, 2007, 07:58:23 am »

They are approximately 11.5" X 0.5".

Enjoy.

Neilyboy · « **Reply #39 on:** August 16, 2007, 09:09:22 am »

I got the two I ordered the other day. Opened one up to try it out.. I absolutely love them.

-neil


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