Ultrasabers Emerald LED Driver is HERE

[haldir]

What does "S" stand for when selecting colors for the 2 channel driver?

[MikeOretta]

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.

Not to mention emerald is an only option for sabers that can't have rgb like the guardian or graflex.  I wouldn't even want rgb on those sabers but I would want emerald on an archon.

[Vyk]

What does "S" stand for when selecting colors for the 2 channel driver?

"Silver," aka white. 

[Avarius]

I thought it stood for "Sexy". Oh well... *shrugs shoulders*

[haldir]

I had a feeling that "S" stood for silver, but why label the white LED "W" on the 4 channel set up and "S" on the 2 channel set up?

[Rina Ascura]

Can I order the Emerald LED driver and a RGB LED separately to install them into my saber by myself?

[Aletani]

Can I order the Emerald LED driver and a RGB LED separately to install them into my saber by myself?

I'd say look at the "build your own" tab on their page, see if they're offering it there, if not you could probably email them to see what they'd do for you.

[Krace]

Can I order the Emerald LED driver and a RGB LED separately to install them into my saber by myself?

The Emerald 4-channel LEDs are not up in the DIY section nor do I see the new Emerald driver boards.  I also don't see any RGB parts.  I think the two systems are incompatible due to how the Emerald uses a new hardware.

[Vyk]

The Emerald 4-channel LEDs are not up in the DIY section nor do I see the new Emerald driver boards.  I also don't see any RGB parts.  I think the two systems are incompatible due to how the Emerald uses a new hardware.

The "classic" RGB system is definitely incompatible with the Emerald system.  They use the same LEDs, but drive them in different ways.  Essentially, a classic RGB saber has one power switch each for R, G, and B, and FoC of either white or amber, thus a RGBW or RGBA LED.  Emerald has a separate channel for each of those with the ability to split power between them arbitrarily.

I believe Rina Ascura's question was in line with this; I interpreted her question as asking if she could order the Emerald board and the RGBW or RGBA LED required to use it.  Unfortunately, the answer currently appears to be "no."  I expect that both will become available soon; in the meantime, while you can source the RGBW/RGBA LED elsewhere, Ultrasabers is the only source for the Emerald driver or the aluminum module that the LED sits in.

[Quildra]

Has there been any word on when the 4 channels will be available for "build your own lightsaber"? I'm looking at buying and building my first saber and would most likely wait for them to become available if it was too far off.

[Krace]

Has there been any word on when the 4 channels will be available for "build your own lightsaber"? I'm looking at buying and building my first saber and would most likely wait for them to become available if it was too far off.

There has been no official word on it yet.  Keep in mind, with the 2 or 4 channel Emerald LED, I think you'd have to get the Emerald board shown in the videos too and I believe that is a separate cost as I don't see it coming with the 2-channel Emerald LEDs that are listed already.  Also, this eliminates the need for the Buckpuck in your build plan, and would make going with Li-Ion even better.  I suggest also that you go for sound.  I know that cost hurts, but if you're going to go through the trouble of wiring up emerald, you might as well not have to do it again.

[realmoe]

My question is how do adjust the color and settings? Is it all in the soundboard software? Do you have to remove it and hook up via usb same as soundboard? Can you install a knob with a rotary switch to change color on the fly?

[Krace]

If you check the videos, there is a software interface to change colors.  You need to have the new Obsidian Launcher for the Emerald stuff.  I think even if you have a recharge port, you must remove the assembly to get to the USB port for the Emerald board.  I believe the recharge port, if you have one, connects to the Obsidian Sound board and the batteries only.  Perhaps in the future they might make a port able to connect to the Emerald.  Changing colors on the fly isn't available as far as I saw in the videos.  It seems to have to be done on the software.

[Darth Nekesus]

My question is how do adjust the color and settings? Is it all in the soundboard software? Do you have to remove it and hook up via usb same as soundboard? Can you install a knob with a rotary switch to change color on the fly?

No this can not be done unless you custom wire your LED but the Emerald would not be necessary to do this.

If you check the videos, there is a software interface to change colors.  You need to have the new Obsidian Launcher for the Emerald stuff.  I think even if you have a recharge port, you must remove the assembly to get to the USB port for the Emerald board.  I believe the recharge port, if you have one, connects to the Obsidian Sound board and the batteries only.  Perhaps in the future they might make a port able to connect to the Emerald.  Changing colors on the fly isn't available as far as I saw in the videos.  It seems to have to be done on the software.

The recharge port can only be used to charge your batteries.  It does not hook up to the Obsidian board.  For this you have to remove the battery assembly (which has the Obsidian and/or Emerald attached to it) and plug your soundboard directly into your computer via USB cable.  The same would be done for the Emerald.

Has there been any word on when the 4 channels will be available for "build your own lightsaber"? I'm looking at buying and building my first saber and would most likely wait for them to become available if it was too far off.

Unless you have experience with wiring than I would not suggest doing this because the wiring will be a lot more complex than just a standard saber or even one with sound.

[Jedijosh]

Good advice Nekesus, although the an emerald custom saber would be awesome in its own right.