Quoted from irobot:I don't understand what the point is to any of this bickering.
There's no convincing to be done on either side.
Obviously, the vendors are selling LED kits and people are buying them. So clown puke is very popular. Which matters not. It's not an election.
And.. there's no right or wrong answer. If you like your LOTR glowing bright red, then you like it. If you don't you don't.
Changing the bulbs doesn't actually hurt the game, so it's a morally neutral act.
From an objective standpoint, there are actual pros and cons to using LEDs.
CONS:
Because the games were designed for white incandescent bulbs, there are a few functional negatives to using LEDs.
1. A colored light shining on a painted surface will wash out the painted surface, it turns the other colors grey and black. So the game gets monochromatic. This problem wasn't considered when the game artwork was originally created. If they had colored LEDs back in 1990, they would have made the artwork more LED friendly. As it is, you end up with the original artwork disappearing into a muddy purple haze.
2. Similarly, because the games were mostly designed for white bulbs to be used as illumination, the bulb light spreads all over. So there is some clumsiness if you try to use bulbs for accent lighting, because the accent color bleeds everywhere. Like when colored bulbs are used in the translite and the color bleeds all over the artwork or turns into a circular blob that doesn't match the shape of the item being accented.
3. Some games have variable lighting effects which don't work with LEDs.
PROs:
1. A situation where the LEDs can be exploited to good effect is a game that is under-illuminated, where the brighter bulb could be used here and there.
2. Or for inserts, where the color of the bulb matches the insert color and the color bleed is controlled by the shape of the insert cutout in the playfield. Why not used a colored bulb to make some tired old insert look better? Within reason.
The above are the practical aspects of using LEDs. The philosophical and aesthetic aspects are not subject to any logic, so there's no point in arguing.
For anyone questioning the point of the topic. Look at the magazine rack in the checkout aise of any supermarket. There’s bound to be a few gossipy titles like “Best / Worst Dressed” or “SHE WORE WHAT?!”.
Now apply it to pinball. We’re having fun judging our picks for “worst dressed”. Nothing more than that. I don’t think anyone here is really trying make someone change their ways.