Why oh why oh why oh why?

I mean, when I think about it, it couldnt have anything to do with cost. Cell phones these days are offering you a multitude of colours- red, blue, orange, purple; all ontop of the boring, plain green. Its nice that they give you that option. And the can offer the choice because the cost of doing so is probably not substantial at all.

Wouldnt it be nice to have a car that you could customize the interior colours? Honda- get on that.

But thats not my complaint. In a sleek shiny new car, with an amazingly sleek blue and white gage setup, with a sleek blue ambient light, with a sleek white and 'blueish' radio display and clock......

WHY ARENT THE OTHER BUTTONS BLUE OR WHITE? I mean come on, wouldnt that just make perfect sense? Blue lights + Blue lights = looks nicer.

Green is just so plain and ugly... its been so overused as the basic, lowest level light, people associate that colour with old cellphones and old cars.

I think that the tsx interior would look GREAT with blue/white lights underneath all of the buttons. Its things like that which could make an already amazing interior just that bit nicer.

J.

 

maybe its time to try the conversion

 

If I wasnt leasing, there would be no doubt in my mind- id do it in a sec.

J

 

I don't have confirmation on this, but here's my theory:

If you take a look at all the lights that are green, you will notice that they are 'on' all the time - whether or not the headlights are on. So, there's a chance you'll be staring at these buttons during low light conditions (i.e., sunset, but not dark)

Since I'm a shooter, I've spent more time than I should have studying color combinations and how the eyes interpret them. Green is the easiest color for the eye to see, followed by yellows and blues. So, this may have been the rationale for using green LED's in those locations.

 

I'm willing to bet that they are cheaper, and thats what honda has been using for years.

But interesting theory, nonetheless.

J.

 

Actually, I am an optometrist and I think TEOMBE is on to something.

I am convinced that automakers choose colors based on contrast with different illuminations. Its been awhile since I've studied the specifics, but light scatter will have something to do with it.

I will tell you that I didn't buy the Infiniti G35 because of their horrible amber (orange) displays! Yuck.

 

Interesting. I thought yellow was supposed to be easiest. Maybe it actually is, but everybody knows it sucks, so they move to the next one down the line.

Kind of like people asking why I don't drive a Lexus if I'm so concerned about "reliability."

 

Man,when I found out that the lights of the buttons inthe car were not blue, I was pretty upset. I'm picking up my car tonight, so I can't be thinking about what color the buttons are, but man.... that was a turn off. I was thinking since everything is blue/white, the buttons would be too. In ALL VWs the lights are red and blue, even the base jetta is. Could we change these light bulbs? is it possible?

 

Well, blue and white LEDs are approximately 20 times more expensive than red/yellow/green ones ($1.60 vs 8 cents), so that was probably the motivation (and that's why you rarely see blue LEDs anywhere). But I think Acura should have spent the extra $40 or so to make it blue all-around.

VW has the right idea: Use "blue and red" illumination. That way, they can use mostly cheap red LEDs and it will still look nice. But blue and white can get expensive.

 

Shaf,

Why are blue and white led's so much more expensive?




Joe D

 

They do have a car where you can pick the interiors colors and its called a Scion. barf.

Yellow is the easiest color for the human eye to see.

teombe, what kind of a shooter are you? Im cinematographer myself.

 

The short answer: They cost much more to manufacture due to the more expensive materials and process required (the process for creating blue LEDs is fairly new and completely different than green/red).

White LEDs are just a combination of red, blue, and green LED technologies, so that's why they also cost about the same amount (the majority of the cost being the blue part).

Here's a technical explanation: (post)

 

So the question still remains. Can they be switched? How difficult is it?

 

Already been working on it Here is an example of blue and white on the door:


I have also started changing the Radio/Navi lights to white, but my cammera sucks at dark pics so its hard to tell by a pic. But it does look very nice white vs green. I should have a write up for everyone within a week

 

The kind that uses guns instead of cameras

I usually try to get out and target shoot once a month or so.

Personally, I have found that yellow was easier to for my eye to identify in a tritium sight, but my instructors all say that Green is easiest. Well, now I know why.

 

all the leds can be switched.

the reason you cant switch colors like on a cell phone is price.

a car has several hundred LED's... a phone... 1 or 2.

 

I did a shitty job changing the colour from green to blue on an image.. if anyone wants to see it, tell me where to send it- i cant host myself.

J.

 

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289462787

To see what I mean, CHECK IT OUT!

J.

 

That is pretty nice but to do it in real life with that type of bright white bulbs? i think its really hard. Green is just naturally easy to see. And as someone said before ORANGE is one color i CAN'T STAND, esp in the g35 and i think audi?

 

i think that looks hot! How much and where did you buy the blue LEDs?

 

Just a theory.... I think it has to do with what items are important that need to stand out like the displays. Looking at bow's pictures you can clearly see the display but also the buttons. The light on the buttons before being switched are dimmer. The buttons that are yellow/green are ones that don't need to be bright.....
A/C controls are usually set it and forget it type. You turn it on and put it at a comfortable temp. and leave it. Radio controls are on the steering wheel so no need for those to be bright and easily noticeable.
Don't you think with all the buttons white it would be too bright inside the cabin therefore making the ambiant light obsolete?

With that said that picture is gorgeous.

 

For those that have not seen the radio completely torn apart, here is a pic of the lights on the circuit board.



Each of these is a circuit mount bulb, not LED. I'm working with a guy now for making replacements for these. I have a working prototype now, and the white does look a ton better.

 

e_lectro: That's some excellent work man. Keep on it! I'd be very interested in checking out your how-to and doing it myself!

 

I second that notion- Id love to check out what a finalized version looks like. Best of luck e_lectro!
Please inform us of the cost, and the time you put into it!

J.

 

hey e lectro, if possible, can u post a thread with how to do these conversions, it would be greatly appreciated and i'm sure a lot of us would like to join you in the light conversions.

 

just wanted to put my input in.......i am shopping for a car and i have the mitsubishi outlander and am getting the value due to totalling it and the mitsu endeavor has close to all blue lighting from buttons to the display it looks very classy

http://mitsucars.com/endeavor/image_...ml#normal_3_in

the red in the MAZDA6 is very sporty

i believe the green is simple and leans to be elegant its not blue that you might get bored of or red that you constantly think angerly lol just calming green lol

i plan on moving to a car and am waiting for a NHB/PARCH tsx to come into miami lol.... will have mine in september for sure lol

 

e_lectro, love the conversion!
Keep us updated with pics and how-to's please!

 

e_lectro, if they are bulbs, does that mean that they're just coated with green film? If so, can you scratch or cut it off or is that too difficult?

 

This guy scares the crap out of me. He took apart his navigation system.. Kind of reminds me of me

 

Interesting.

One of the 3 things I disliked about the 528i I had (the other two being the sound of the stereo and the am radio reception) was the orange/red night instrument panel. I read once that red was very difficult to see, and I certainly found that true.

And now I'm driving a 300M rental while waiting for the TSX, and the night panel is a soft green that is very easy on the eyes.

 

It is a good looking color, but the time/audio display has a really ugly font or something, IMO.

Excellent color choice! Besides looking great, the parchment interior doesn't heat up much in the sun.

 

Honestly, I hated the red. Reminds me of GM. Everything is bloodshot red. Looks like the whole car is having problems (red implies "ALERT!").

I do agree that green implies calmness (hence, green=Go!)... but blue is so much more serene; reminds me of blue waters of Hawaii.

 

And, it would fit in perfectly with the 'blue' scheme of the rest of the car.

J.