I must say that the LED upgrades for pinball machines is awesome if done tastefully. I have been to numerous pinball arcades in Colorado and Texas. What I am finding is that a lot of the machines in these locations have had the GI lighting replaced with color LEDS, and the lighting in the room has been turned down. This presents a problem for me in seeing / tracking the ball. What this situation does is makes me gravitate toward the newer machines that have well lit playfields, passing up a chance to play older machines that I really like but
have difficulty seeing. I have owned / refurbished quite a few games and I love the colored LEDS, but I leave the GI some flavor of white. So, is this by design in arcades these days to turn down the lighting and make the playfields difficult to see pushing customers toward the newer, brighter, more $$ gameplay?

#2 5 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 236K 31,311 268 14

OP
Quoted from Higloss67:
So, is this by design in arcades these days to turn down the lighting and make the playfields difficult to see pushing customers toward the newer, brighter, more $$ gameplay?

It's effectively mood lighting. Arcades have always done this.

Have you been in a brightly lit arcade before? Ever notice how strange it seems? Or how empty it usually is?

People seem to like the lights turned down a bit. Heck, look at the lighting in home game rooms. How many are brightly lit?

#3 5 years ago

BJB

BrianBannon

Pinside+ Frequent

St Charles, MO

11y 81,400 1,031 40 14

OP
Quoted from Higloss67:
I must say that the LED upgrades for pinball machines is awesome if done tastefully. I have been to numerous pinball arcades in Colorado and Texas. What I am finding is that a lot of the machines in these locations have had the GI lighting replaced with color LEDS, and the lighting in the room has been turned down. This presents a problem for me in seeing / tracking the ball. What this situation does is makes me gravitate toward the newer machines that have well lit playfields, passing up a chance to play older machines that I really like but
have difficulty seeing. I have owned / refurbished quite a few games and I love the colored LEDS, but I leave the GI some flavor of white. So, is this by design in arcades these days to turn down the lighting and make the playfields difficult to see pushing customers toward the newer, brighter, more $$ gameplay?

I believe it is just a case of poor utilization of LED lighting. IMHO, colored LEDs in the GI is just a bad choice. As far as the theory of pushing customers to games of better balanced lighting, I think you are giving them too much credit. Probably just some guys trying to save money on lighting costs so they place LEDs everywhere without one solid thought on why there is a lamp there in the first place.

#4 5 years ago

BOY

vid1900

Pinside+ Member

Sana'a

12y 164K 40,185 18

OP
Quoted from Higloss67:
What I am finding is that a lot of the machines in these locations have had the GI lighting replaced with color LEDS, and the lighting in the room has been turned down.

Most pinball players are not on Pinside.

When they see the classics with color GI, they can't understand WTF they are seeing, and avoid those games.

#5 5 years ago

MAT

Higloss67

Pinside member

Hutto, TX

9y 45,550 310 2 1

Quoted from BrianBannon:
I believe it is just a case of poor utilization of LED lighting. IMHO, colored LEDs in the GI is just a bad choice. As far as the theory of pushing customers to games of better balanced lighting, I think you are giving them too much credit. Probably just some guys trying to save money on lighting costs so they place LEDs everywhere without one solid thought on why there is a lamp there in the first place.

I must admit that on the first couple pins that I refurbished, I installed color coordinating LEDS in the GI. It looked nice, but didn’t do much for the playability in low light situations. I guess the Ops have inadvertenly created a situation where they get more of my $$. Good for them. So glad to see a pinball comeback.

-1

#6 5 years ago

MSW

ToucanF16

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 122K 5,190

Get rid of the colored GI and pit a Pinstadium kit in those old games.

#7 5 years ago

MJS

schudel5

Pinside member

20y 166K 6,388 27

I have 6 on route. I just went with Comet 1SMD white frosted for GI and inserts. Just kept it simple and you can see just fine. No need for color anything in the games. I'm hoping that fad is over with...

#8 5 years ago

???

Marvin

Blocked

7y 966

Quoted from ToucanF16:
Get rid of the colored GI and pit a Pinstadium kit in those old games.

The first half of your comment is correct at least.

#9 5 years ago

MAT

Higloss67

Pinside member

Hutto, TX

9y 45,550 310 2 1

Quoted from schudel5:
I have 6 on route. I just went with Comet 1SMD white frosted for GI and inserts. Just kept it simple and you can see just fine. No need for color anything in the games. I'm hoping that fad is over with...

Agree. You summed it up, keep it simple.

#10 5 years ago

MSW

ToucanF16

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 122K 5,190

#11 5 years ago

MSW

ToucanF16

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 122K 5,190

Quoted from Marvin:
The first half of your comment is correct at least.

Marvin is right. Plus the fact OPs won’t see the need for Pinstadium on routed pins. Cost:return ratio is way too high!

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