E4 LED LIGHTHEAD Pattern

[tait 700]

Hi,


Was wondering if the clever people here could give me some info on what would be the best course of action to take regarding the placement and syncing of a set of 4 of the above Lightheads ?


The units are Dual colour and will be mounted behind the perforated Grille on a Plain Sedan, the owner has asked that they be as nondescript as possible when not in use.


I have read the Posting about the "splitfail" mistakes that occur when the dual colour heads are not matched and synch'd correctly and would like to avoid having to redo this if things don't look effective when in operation.


The distance between the heads would be approx 600mm sideways and probably 300mm vertically. ( i can adjust the vertical distance but the sideways distance is fixed pretty close to 600mm )


Any links to info regarding the correct orientation colour wise and and ideas on how to synch them so they have an effective pattern would be most appreciated.


This may lead to further work if i can impress the owner with this install so i would like to do the best setup i can.


All replies gratefully received.


Regards,

 

[Zoe]

The two big concerns are 1) color usage and 2) physical placement.


If light heads of different colors are going to be physically close together, the key is to only flash one color at a time (to avoid "split fail"). As the physical separation between lights increases, so does the appropriateness of flashing multiple colors at once.


The way to maximize emergency light warning power is to create a perception of "movement" with the lights, either through a physical separation of the light itself, or through changes in color.


(*I'm going on primary forward warning for this... I'm not even going to bring up the new "flicker" patterns for rear warning, etc)


Beyond those general rules, there are different ideas regarding what color patterns are best.


It's kind of difficult to show via printed words, but I'll try.


One common application would be:


Rb-------rB


then


rB-------Rb


Notice each color alternate sides, but are always isolated compared to the other color.


Another technique is to flash just one color at a time. This may be necessary if the light heads are physically close together:


Rb-------Rb


then


rB-------rB


What you DON'T want to do is:


RB-------rb


then


rb-------RB


If you have 4 light heads, I like to do an "X" pattern in the grill, where you get the alternating "diagonal" warning.


something like:


Rb-------rB


rB-------Rb


then


rB-------Rb


Rb-------rB


Notice there is physical separation of the respective colors that are flashing at any moment. This maximizes the contrast between the changing colors and enhances your warning power.


Whatever you do, DON'T do this:


RB-------rb


rb-------RB


then


rb-------RB


RB-------rb


Not only do you confuse the colors with one another, you also lose some of the "footprint" of your warning by having whole corners of that "X" unlit for half the cycle.


If they are in a line either:


Rb Rb Br Br


then


rB rB Rb Rb


OR


Rb Rb Rb Rb


then


rB rB rB rB


Again, this considers using both the differences in colors as well as the physical separation of the lights to show changes/warning.


Oh god, did this make any sense?

 

[pdk9]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the X-pattern in the grill of a vehicle. However, to yield the best footprint of 4 dual colored lightheads, I think that the following (using blue & red as an example) will be most effective: flash all 4 lightheads blue simultaneously, then flash all 4 lightheads red simultaneously. I prefer this over an X-pattern because "why flash half the lights when you can flash all of them?" The key here, however, is to alternate between the colors on a speed that is not to fast: if you triple flash each color (ie BBB RRR BBB RRR) or alternate them on a single flash at a wigwag speed (B R B R B R), then you'll be good; on the ther hand, if you flicker them rapidly alternating colors (ie BRBRBRBR), then you'll have a purple blur thy looks like junk. Besides the E4 lightheads, another lighthead to consider is the Brookings/Axixtech Extreme series "chameleon" dual color lightheads. I like them for the grill, because they have a little bit bigger of a footprint than the slimmer E series & nForce lightheads

 

[acala91]

Mount them on top of each other and flash them like this.


xR xR


xR xR


Bx Bx


Bx Bx


Because they are a small light head which is made even smaller by the split color you want to make as bog of a footprint as possible and they is the way to do it.

 

[tait 700]

The two big concerns are 1) color usage and 2) physical placement.

If light heads of different colors are going to be physically close together, the key is to only flash one color at a time (to avoid "split fail"). As the physical separation between lights increases, so does the appropriateness of flashing multiple colors at once.


The way to maximize emergency light warning power is to create a perception of "movement" with the lights, either through a physical separation of the light itself, or through changes in color.


(*I'm going on primary forward warning for this... I'm not even going to bring up the new "flicker" patterns for rear warning, etc)


Beyond those general rules, there are different ideas regarding what color patterns are best.


It's kind of difficult to show via printed words, but I'll try.


One common application would be:


Rb-------rB


then


rB-------Rb


Notice each color alternate sides, but are always isolated compared to the other color.


Another technique is to flash just one color at a time. This may be necessary if the light heads are physically close together:


Rb-------Rb


then


rB-------rB


Oh god, did this make any sense?

Thanks very much Zack,


Yes it does make sense, appreciate you taking the time to reply.


The Customer is supplying the Lightheads after i suspect being unhappy with a previous installation done elsewhere. I am guessing that the two colours will be green and white but will have to wait until the vehicle is delivered to confirm this.


Thanks again for your help.


Regards,


Chris S.

 

[tait 700]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the X-pattern in the grill of a vehicle. However, to yield the best footprint of 4 dual colored lightheads, I think that the following (using blue & red as an example) will be most effective: flash all 4 lightheads blue simultaneously, then flash all 4 lightheads red simultaneously. I prefer this over an X-pattern because "why flash half the lights when you can flash all of them?" The key here, however, is to alternate between the colors on a speed that is not to fast: if you triple flash each color (ie BBB RRR BBB RRR) or alternate them on a single flash at a wigwag speed (B R B R B R), then you'll be good; on the ther hand, if you flicker them rapidly alternating colors (ie BRBRBRBR), then you'll have a purple blur thy looks like junk. Besides the E4 lightheads, another lighthead to consider is the Brookings/Axixtech Extreme series "chameleon" dual color lightheads. I like them for the grill, because they have a little bit bigger of a footprint than the slimmer E series & nForce lightheads

Thanks PDK9 for your reply.


Because the lightheads are behind the Grille i agree that to get max effect it may be a good idea to flash 4 together the same colour and then the other colour. The grille has quite large opennings but the angle of vision is restricted vertically by the height of the vehicle.


The Light heads are being supplied for this vehicle but if they require any further done i will definately look at the Brookings/Axixtech dual colour heads.


Thanks again for your help,


Regards


Chris S.

 

[tait 700]

Mount them on top of each other and flash them like this.

xR xR


xR xR


Bx Bx


Bx Bx


Because they are a small light head which is made even smaller by the split color you want to make as bog of a footprint as possible and they is the way to do it.

Thanks ACALA91, for your reply.


Because of the limited visibility behind the Grille i agree with you about the max. block of colour at one time alternating with the other colour.


Thanks again for your help,


Regards,


Chris S.

 

[jhallgren22]

Mount them on top of each other and flash them like this.

xR xR


xR xR


Bx Bx


Bx Bx


Because they are a small light head which is made even smaller by the split color you want to make as bog of a footprint as possible and they is the way to do it.

I like this idea and second it. If they are looking to be really undercover maybe tint the light head? i was reading a thread on here yesterday that showed how it worked and hid the lights well.