How?

The frosted bulbs are garbage for slings.
You can do mini's, retros, or these new babies. (CT Premium 2 LED's)

CTP2.jpeg

It all depends on how dark the plastic is above the light...

You can also combine the new and old technologies for lighting by adding condoms over retro bulbs for things that are above the PF and in the line of sight.
Here is an example of a warm white retro with a green condom over it. IMG_1313.jpg
You just trim the condom to fit the new shape...
It keeps the look and feel of the old incandescent while increasing it's lifespan.
Good for any games that have bulbs with condoms out in the open.

1. Agreed

2. Disagree. In some games (not all), I think a brighter cooler light enhances the artwork a great deal, especially if we are talking about plastics. Many times plastics all the way in the back are completely forgotten and hiding in a sea of darkness.

EDIT: Funny I was just thinking this weekend that the "I hate LEDs" movement had goen away...but seems to be back in a couple threads. Nothing wrong with that...everyone get's to have their own opinions.

Its just the angle I took the picture at I think. When you are actually playing and using the triggers, you don't see them at all. I asked everyone who played it to specifically look right at those because when I saw the picture I thought the same thing, and they said it was fine, but with other people could be different, who knows. Thanks for the compliment on it though.

If done right having different colors in a pin can look very appealing. It has to be done tastefully to look good though without question. IMO having one color for all GI is bland and a little boring. Also, incandescent bulbs are a little too dim for my liking making games dark and providing absolutely no pop for the plastics. I guess everyone has their likes and dislikes as always to each their own.

Cool, thanks1

I had a whole bunch of retros and hated them.. I do want to try these premium though. I want to get a whole bunch to eliminate ghosting on my STTNG.

I'm trying some ablaze outs now to try to get the cost down a bit.
Are You having issues with ghosting from under the playfield or above lights?

"Warm White" LEDs are neither. It's very hard to get a convincing warm white out of an LED, by the nature of LEDs - LEDs start with single wavelengths of light, and you're somehow trying to make it look like it's a continuous distribution of wavelengths. So they use multiple LED elements, phosphors, and the like, and they end up with something that looks kinda-white (by virtue of the fact that humans sense color with 3 types of cone cells, and you can make white by mixing three other colors in the right ratios), at least until you pass it through something that blocks some colors of light more than others - it most cases, this will produce a different color than you would otherwise expect (hard to explain without drawing it out). That's why "warm white" LEDs look green under plastics. The whites actually look okay in the spotlights pointing down at the PF, except for the strobing, which pretty well kills that use of them.

I like LEDs for insert lighting on some machines (they look great in my No Fear, but terrible in TZ imo. Actually, from pictures, i'd even go so far as to say they look good in Ritchies and bad in Lawlors. NGG and TZ and FH look like crap with LEDs, but NF and Tomcat look great, and ACDC looks good too with LEDs in inserts (though not in the GI, ugh!)).

It looks way too harsh with LEDs for general illumination. Even when it's like that from the factory (ex, ACDC LE).

I'm sort of investigating this now. NF certainly looks better with LEDs no doubt about it.
Personally, I think my TZ looks better w/LEDs...but I'm going to stick some in my RBION and see what the deal is. I popped in a few here and there and it wasn't "wowing" me like the NF.

Well, yeah...it's your game...lol. If you like it - enjoy...I just hate games that are bathed in LED colored GI....plastics and playfield art monochromed out in purples, reds, blues, etc. just looks terrible. If LEDs are used to enhanced the natural colors of the art - I can hang....but using colored lights to color-splotch the game looks awful. I find it strange that so many people are doing this -and even copy others. Like - Spider-Mans where the whole Venom area is blue....why should Venom's area be blue!? Because his modes and flashers are blue? C'mon...let the area be naturally lit and then when the blue flashers go off, there's the color contrast against the natural colors! ...and then Doc Ock is all red...makes him look like Hellboy...it's ridiculous.

GI LEDs = Bad. Even worse is when people have to go and change every white GI light to a color LED...ugg.

Yup

What about adding huge action figures that are holding LEDs?

Get a patched ROM for the game and you won't have to worry about ghosting OR buying expensive bulbs to avaiod it.

Is this a reference to something? Ya lost me.

I use both and have a very simple system.

First off lets start with LEDS do not burn or make inserts sink or plastics warp. With that said most 70's and early 80's look best with lamps.

You have to remember the designers of late 80's 90's did not have LEDS so they use what they had.

There is zero blanket rule. Each machine determines itself. Like SpaceSation looks killer with white leds I am sure the designers would have wanted that if they could get them.

Leds can look 90% like lamps so the question is more on color selections then LED vs Lamps.

Lamps are on they way out and will be in limited supply. Every year LED tech gets better and more Lamp like so it will be a matter of time when you cannot even buy them for cheap.

Like Cathode Tube TV's. Do some people think they are nicer looking.

I bet soon there will be a LED 100% lamp replacement where it looks just like it and even has the fade time to off.

Has anyone really experienced this once their games are in home use? I think I play my games A LOT considering they're in home use, and I've never experienced damage to inserts or plastics from incandescent bulbs.

Looks Terrible Rascal.... Get those Leds back in...

Hah, maybe. I'm constantly changing stuff around. Honestly looks better in person.

I think people tend to be overparanoid about their "babies" ...I just don't think it's likely that the games are on long enough in a home environment to sustain any kind of damage from bulbs. I hate how #47s look...too dim. I've bought plenty of games w/ #47s and swapped them back to #44. Now - these games were usually from routes - so perhaps it was a good thing they had #47s at the time!