LEDWholesalers.com has two products that can replace the flourescent tube in your Stern backbox.

The Warm White tube (3100-3400K) is $24:
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=966

The Neutral White tube (4100-4500K) is $22:
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=956

I'll abbreviate these as 3100K and 4100K. I ordered 2 of each to try them out on my Sterns, which set me back about $100. Here's a quick summary of the pros and cons:

Pros:
* They turn on in about 1/2 second.
* The ballast is bypassed, so they should produce less heat.
* They use about 50% less power, and should last much longer.
* The 3100K tube is warmer and about 10% dimmer than the flourescent tube. This works well for translites with skin tones, such as LOTR.
* The 4100K tube is an almost perfect match for color and brightness

Cons:
* Light dispersion is not quite as good as flourescent.
* Wiring must be modified before installation.

I'll go over the installation next.

Here's the lineup with LED tubes. Metallica and LOTR got 3100K tubes; Avatar and CSI looked better with 4100K because they have a lot of blue in them.

The photos exaggerate the difference in brightness between the middle and edges of the translite; this is not really noticeable in person.

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Installation:

The wiring diagram on the LEDWholesalers website is wrong, but the tubes come with the correct diagram. It's only necessary to wire one side of the tube to 120V AC ("line" and "neutral"). I found it easiest to run power to the left side pillar, since it already has one wire directly from the connector. All we need to do is connect the other side to the black wire, and disconnect the other pillar entirely.

1. Cut the two wires coming out of the ballast, and cut the black-and-white wire at a location near the ballast. It should look like the first picture below.

2. Tape back the 2 black wires coming out of the ballast; these are no longer used.

3. Connect the black wire to the cut side of the black-and-white wire that leads down the left side. It should look like the second picture below.

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The 4100K tube comes with a clever device that they call an "LED starter". This replaces the fluorescent starter, and it shorts the connection between the 2 lug sockets. Unfortunately the 3100K tube does NOT come with this, so I had to modify the wiring shown above. Basically you're just trying to get 120-130V AC on the left pillar.

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In summary: I'm happy with the change, but a little disappointed. They are not "instant on", but they're close enough at around 1/2 second. My Metallica, in particular, sometimes took 5-10 seconds for the old tube to come on. It probably just needed a new starter, but I like the LED tube because it's a "permanent" solution.

I hope you enjoyed this review.

Definitely true for cheaper LED products (like these). I replaced all of my home's can lights about 4 years ago with Cree LED lights, and haven't had any fail yet.

I debated whether to post these pics, as they really do exaggerate the poor dispersion. If they actually looked like they did in the pics, I'd stick with fluorescent.

I wouldn't recommend doing this mod; there's not enough in the "Pro" column to offset the time and cost. I'd love to put light panels in all of my games, and will probably try something like that at some point.

I'll try to take better photos tonight with my good camera.

I looked at T8 LED tubes for my workshop, but nothing came close to the brightness of a standard 4' fluorescent tube. Also, I have 8 of them so it would have been pretty expensive.

I converted my home's recessed lighting to LED at a time when I despised LEDs in pins (I'm more open-minded now). I think of them as completely different beasts.

EDIT: I highly recommend these:

http://www.polar-ray.com/Cree-CR6-800L-_p_399.html

They pay for themselves in 3-4 years (in my house), and they have a 4-year warranty. I love never having to replace a bulb, and I don't yell at my family anymore (about lights).

I have a lot more sympathy for people trying to post a good picture of games with LEDs now.

I've tried altering the aperture to try to get a better representation of what my eye is actually seeing, but this is as close as I could get. It's really not dim at the edges when you look at it in person. Very strange.

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