Ultrasabers Emerald LED Driver is HERE

[borgishmorg]

So I know that people were already talking about sending in sabers for upgrading, but what about buying a stunt emerald saber, with li-ion setup and 4 channels, and then sending it in at a later date to have sound added? Would that be possible? If so, how much would that most likely cost? (The upgrade I mean)

[Deep]

Lol, that does seem a little odd to me when you put it like that although I have considered buying a saber with a kill key in the past but could never justify the cost, charging port on the other hand would be cool

Have been wondering if you choose to have the AV switch in series with a channel you keep the led but the AV switch led will be subject to what every you have decided to do with that channel led, so my question is, if you have the AV switch dedicated to a channel, lets say 4, will you be able to do funky things with the AV switch like getting it to pulse etc as you could with the white led it would otherwise be wired to ?

Correct,  the AV switch would "pulse" (as much as an AV switch can pulse) and turn on and off along with whatever LED diode color you have connected to that channel.

[Deep]

In addition to that question: Will you be able to change switch colours the same way as the blade colour when the switch has its own channel? And will this specific switch channel also be available for changing blade colours?

No, the AV switches will not change color.  They will remain the color of the AV switch you select in the listing.

[Racona Nova]

Okay, thanks Deep

[Azean]

Thanks Deep, that's what I though, trying to choose between the AV switch being on direct drive or dedicated to channel 4

[haldir]

Is channel 4 (white) only used for flash on clash, or can it also be used to make colors?   Are the different colors made using only the Red, Green, and Blue? (not sure if the white led mixes well with the other colors)

I am asking because im trying to decide if i will get the AV switch on its own channel (4).... or get it in series with one of the blade channels.  If the white led is just used for FOC then i would get the AV switch on its own channel.... however, if the white led IS utilized to help manipulate different colors ( like maybe it helps lighten them up or something?) then i wouldn't want to miss out on that and i would probably get the AV in series with a blade channel.

thanks for the help

[Kannik]

THIS is why I love ultrasabres -- what an amazing setup this is, with delicious programmability to boot!  No muss, no BS, and excellent service. 

You know, if I had to chose between a new roof and one of these beauts... it's a tough call.  (Well, actually the roof's already done, alas... )

I've got visions of more sabres to covet,

Peace,

Kannik

[Vyk]

Is channel 4 (white) only used for flash on clash, or can it also be used to make colors?   Are the different colors made using only the Red, Green, and Blue? (not sure if the white led mixes well with the other colors)

I am asking because im trying to decide if i will get the AV switch on its own channel (4).... or get it in series with one of the blade channels.  If the white led is just used for FOC then i would get the AV switch on its own channel.... however, if the white led IS utilized to help manipulate different colors ( like maybe it helps lighten them up or something?) then i wouldn't want to miss out on that and i would probably get the AV in series with a blade channel.

thanks for the help

Both.  You can use the white as a pure white just for FoC, or use it as a pure white as the normal blade color, or use it to make a light-colored saber.  That said, you can do all of that with just RGB, also, it's just going to be slightly more difficult and may take some tweaking to get the pure white you're looking for.

For example, let's say you wanted a pink saber (for some reason ).  With RGBA, you'd set perhaps 30,0,0,255 and end up with a fairly light pink.  If you assigned channel 4 to the AV switch only, you'd have to go for perhaps 255,230,230 to get a similar shade.  (Note that I don't have an Emerald yet--I'm just going from what I know of colors--so take these as examples, not as precise numbers.)

I'm having the same dilemma that you are.  Lose white and get independent control of the AV switch, or keep white and have them linked?  I think I'll assign channel 4 to AV only, since I don't think I'll lose much.  (Note that if you weren't using the white LED--perhaps you wanted the reddest red you could get--your AV switch wouldn't glow if it were on the same channel as white.)  Here's one other option I've considered, though: if I had a primary-colored AV switch (let's say green), I might assign it to that color's channel (in this case, channel 2).  If I had green off (thus a purple blade) I probably don't want a green AV switch shining anyway.

[haldir]

What colors are currently made using the amber LED? Aren't all the colors, even the forum colors, made using the RGB LED?

[Sciggs]

I could be wrong, but I believe FO is made using an amber LED.

[Darth Nekesus]

I believe FO is purely an amber LED and I think PO is made using an amber and red LED although I could be wrong.

[DARTH CH3M15T]

Just saw the post for the release of this new saber. I need it. lol. Looks amazing with all the possibilities. Like the idol pulse feature. Freakin fantastic. Bloody good work US. I don't want one tho. i think i need two of these bad boys. Time to start saving up.

[Wavebuster]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you have to interface with the computer to change colors through the emerald driver, right? That is, if you're actively using the emerald saber you can't change colors or anything without stopping to work on the computer first?

Just wondering if I have a reason to get this over the RBG options I've seen for true on-the-fly color switching.

[haldir]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you have to interface with the computer to change colors through the emerald driver, right? That is, if you're actively using the emerald saber you can't change colors or anything without stopping to work on the computer first?

Just wondering if I have a reason to get this over the RBG options I've seen for true on-the-fly color switching.

Ya it won't Be as convenient as the RGB but you'll have more control and u get the pulse mode

[Vyk]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you have to interface with the computer to change colors through the emerald driver, right? That is, if you're actively using the emerald saber you can't change colors or anything without stopping to work on the computer first?

Just wondering if I have a reason to get this over the RBG options I've seen for true on-the-fly color switching.

Basically, if you want to be able to switch colors whenever you like (you could do it mid-swing if you were so inclined), go with the classic RGB.  Emerald doesn't give you that sort of on-the-fly option, but gives you much more fine-grained control of color along with the new pulse feature.  Emerald gives you literally 600 million times as many color options as a classic RGB Ultrasaber (not counting pulse and FoC): 4.2 billion combinations vs 7.  I'm not very familiar with other LED drivers on the market, but I'm pretty confident none of them will switch between billions (or even millions) of colors on the fly.    (Although it would be kind of fun to see a hilt made entirely of DIP switches.)

Put differently, RGB effectively gives you 7 colors in one saber, selectable at any time.  Emerald gives you one color (or pulse combination), but it can be whatever you want it to be today.  If you want to change colors depending on who you're sparring with over the course of one day, go RGB.  If you want to make your saber match your mood/outfit/whim/whatever, go Emerald.